The Sheriff's Support Group of Altadena continues its summer concert series Sat.,July 17, with the Crown City Dixieland Band at Farnsworth Park. The show is free, and starts at 7 PM.
The Crown City Dixieland Band hails from, and is aptly named after, the City of Pasadena ("Crown of the Valley").
This popular Dixieland band has been providing Wednesday night entertainment for the past quarter century (25 years!) at Pasadena's Burger Continental Restaurant (Lake at California).
Although the band's roots are in hand-clappin' Dixieland music, Crown City hasa varied repertoire and is known for adding songs from many different music genres. Don't be surprised if you hear some Cole Porter and Walt Disney mixed in with Louie Armstrong. But whatever the band is playing, it is "Happy Music" that gets the audience moving and involved.
Phil and Carol Andreen are at the heart of the band. Carol, the band's vocalist,
was once featured with the Lawrence Welk Band at Disneyland. Carol, whose father grew up in Altadena, is an elementary school teacher. Carol's husband, Phil, who leads the band on trombone, played with the Mickey Finn Band and Earl "Fatha" Hines. Phil recently retired as Pasadena's Assistant City Attorney.
The Crown City Dixieland Band plays Dixieland festivals (the San Diego Dixieland Festival was started by Phil) and summer concert series throughout Southern California (e.g. Pasadena, Arcadia, Alhambra, Sierra Madre, Upland, Laguna Niguel, Rancho Bernardo, Coronado, Desert Hot Springs, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga, San Diego and South Pasadena), and enjoys providing sing-a-long gospel services to southland churches.
Described as "One of Southern California's most popular Dixieland bands" by
the Society for the Preservation of Dixieland Jazz (SPDJ), perhaps one jazz festival review says it best: "Crown City blows that Dixieland sound right into your heart."
