State Street Traditional Jazz Band Has Been Playing on Lower Exchange Street for Over  30 Years.  Wes English, on Trombone; John Page, on Trumpet; P, K, on Tuba; and Peter  Dunphy, 0n a 1921 Tenor Banjo.  The Man on the Clarinet, (Far Right) Did Not Give His Name.

Tenor Banjo Player Peter Dunphy Tumbled to the Sidewalk from His Stool During the Concert This Afternoon;  Fortunately, Neither He Nor His Banjo Were Hurt.

For over 30 years now, the State Street Traditional Jazz Band has  entertained shoppers and restaurant patrons on lower Exchange Street on Sunday afternoons – and today was no exception.  Usually the concerts run from 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm.  But today the concert was earlier in the afternoon becaue of the impending storm expected for the Portland area.

John Page, organizer of the Band,  the trumpet player and sometimes vocalist, introduces the foot stomping, finger snapping music as 100 year old music that began in New Orleans.  Fortunately, for Mainers this group has carried on the tradition in Portland.  “We’ll be here until the snow flies, or until it just gets too cold to continue,” said Page.

Toward the end of the concert, tenor banjo player and sometime vocalist, Peter Dunphy, a Maine native, tumbled to the ground from his stool.  He hardly missed a beat, saying:  “It was a soft landing.”

For more background information on this band, please visit post herein dated September 16, 2018 – “State Street Traditional Jazz Band Plays to Preserve Original Music.”

For more, please visit:  www.statestreetraditionaljazzband.com.  The Band is available for hire for special events.