JIM GALLOWAY'S 'ECHOES OF SWING' CRUISE BAND
LAUNCHES FIRST-EVER RECORDING
ON RESPECTED CORNERSTONE LABEL
Swinging Six-Man Collective Marks 30 Years
Entertaining Holiday-Makers on Board Holland America Luxury Liners
TORONTO (January 26, 2004) – Recapturing the "feel good" musical mood of
The Swing Era, Jim Galloway's six-piece Echoes of Swing band promises to help
listeners remember the music of those friendlier, more worry-free days gone by.
Although leader Jim Galloway was not around when swing was the thing, he learned
first-hand, sharing the bandstand with some of the greatest names from that golden age
including Buck Clayton, Yank Lawson, and Buddy Tate.
With Jim Galloway's Echoes of Swing, leader Galloway has assembled a group of
musicians as equally at home in the "leave your troubles behind" world of swing as he
is. Laurie Bower (trombone) and Dave Johnston (trumpet) with their collective wealth
of big band experience are never more musical than when they are interpreting the
great standards or a popular song. Ian Bargh (piano), Don Vickey (drums), and Dave
Field (bass) make up a rhythm section that swings from the word 'go'.
With an enviable fan base numbering thousands of people around the globe, and a
three-decade history of eloquently interpreting musical memories of the toe-taping
Swing Era, Jim Galloway's Echoes of Swing band, despite a staggering collection of
jazz credentials, had never performed from the bandstand of a club or the stage of a
concert venue – at least not on solid ground.
It was just the Spring of 2003 when at long last, they mounted the Montreal Bistro
bandstand to record their first CD for the Cornerstone Label, before an audience of loyal
followers who were there to help commemorate the 30th time Jim Galloway and his
group of outstanding jazz musicians would take to the high seas as the featured band
on another jazz cruise aboard another Holland America luxury liner in November.
The concept for a cruising jazz band came out of a casual invitation from the venerable
Jack Britton (long-time President of respected Brotherton's Travel) to colourful Toronto
Sun columnist Paul Rimstead suggesting he "host" one of the popular Celebrity
Cruises Briton was organizing aboard Holland America annually at the time.
Rimstead – arguably the greatest character to ever grace the annals of journalism in
Canada – who spent most of his off-duty hours playing drums or just hanging out with
old pal Jim Galloway's bar band, countered with the suggestion he bring the boys
along. The rest, as they say, is history.
The first Brotherton's Travel "Jazz Cruise" aboard Holland America's SS Statendam,
embarked on a 7-day Bermuda Cruise on October, 26, 1974, sailing to the swinging
sounds of Jim Galloway's saxophones, Ron Sorley on piano, Danny Mastri on bass,
and Paul Rimstead at the drums.
Two years later, the band expanded to six, with billing that touted "Paul Rimstead with
Jim Galloway and The Metro Stompers", and it has remained a six-man
contingent ever since.
Over the years, many of Canada's finest musicians have come aboard to lend their
considerable talents to a Jim Galloway Jazz Cruise band – names like Ron Sorley,
Bob Price, Charlie Mountford, Hart Wheeler, Danny Mastri, Russ Fearon, Ken
Dean, Peter Sagermann, Ken Turner, Mike Lawson, Archie Alleyne, Fred Sargent,
and singer Jodie Drake – most of them on occasion, some often, and a few for most of
the past three decades.
When Jack Britton passed away in 1988, his son, business partner, and long-time
Brotherton's Vice President John continued the tradition his father had established so
many years before, successfully melding his greatest loves, travel and jazz, to help put
the cruise-going traveler into the 'swing of things', Jim Galloway style. It's a legacy
that lives on through the professional excellence and compelling personalities of John
and his beloved life partner, Rose Britton.
The band's version of "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll" on the 'Echoes
of Swing' CD is decidated to the memory of Jack. He requested it each and every time
he heard the cruise band play, and although Jim Galloway prides himself on never
playing the same tune twice on any given cruise, this is the exception, played in tribute
to Jack Britton at every onboard cruise group party.
