First and foremost, I went there to see Nick Willet (with Dave Sisson and Brad Ber backing him up) play to a packed house of over 600 people. Nick was in beautiful voice, and Dave's "Kay" sounded pure and rich. Brad was right in the pocket, and the three of them filled that big room with an excellent tone and sound. For those of you who may never have made the trip out to the Willowbrook, it is a beautiful place. It's a leftover from the big band heyday. In fact, the Willowbrook hosted most of the big bands of the day, from the Goodman band to the Basie band, on their way West out of Chicago. It has a giant spring loaded dance floor, two tiered stage, original fixtures and deco silhouette cutouts of dancers surrounding the floor, and a backdrop curtain that must have been stolen from the set decorators of "The Girl Can't Help It." It has indeed retained its charm with few annoying detractions.

The rest of the bill was devoted to that fine line of life imitating art or art imitating life depending on where you see it. i.e.; John Muller (Buddy Holly) Fernado Vega (Richie Valens. . . .by the way didn't Richie play guitar? Fernando, if you've gone as far as pretending to be Richie Valens then at least hold a damn guitar), and J.P. Richiardson Jr., portraying his late father the Big Bopper. By the way, this is where the restaurant analogy fits in nicely. This is certainly familiar territory. Many of us having cut our teeth on the music of these fellows. Not to mention the Willowbrook's ample parking and a heck of a bunch of good friends to enjoy the evening with . . .Like I said though, this restaurant has excellent atmosphere but serves lousy food. Let me make myself perfectly clear, I have no problem with the service.

These guys all try faithfully to reproduce the sounds of the late performers they are portraying. The problem is the fine line that they cross trying to pretend that they are something-other then musical theatre. Don't get me wrong there either, I love a good production of West Side Story, just don't try to tell me that the guys up there are the "original" Jet's and Shark's trying to stab each other. Just think, "West Side Story" starring Carmine Nordacci! Original Jet from 1956!! Which would lend a whole new authenticity to the performance, but lets leave that topic to another magazine entirely.

I'd say the average age of those in attendance was probably a shade over forty-five, except for the five male teenagers standing in front of the stage shouting along with every lyric. One of them wearing what's got to be the best (and only) pompadour in his sophomore class. That's got to be the smartest sixteen-year-old around. If only I had that kind of insight at that age.

I think I can safely say that a show such as this one is nothing more then a sip at the Fountain of Youth for the oldie radio crowd. We are all very much aware of the incredible amount of talent that runs through our circles. I can only imagine the pigeonholing that would go on if some of these Winter Dance Party folks got hold of a Big Sandy or Wayne Hancock record. Just imagine the ridiculous comparisons to Richie Valens and Buddy Holly happening there. Say what you want, but I believe that people like Big Sandy and Wayne to be wholly original in their own rights, creating uplifting and vibrant music and material.

Which begs the question. (Please use this as an open forum) Why is it that young jazz artists such as Joshua Redman and Nicholas Payton, are never thought of being revivalists? Almost all artists performing rockabilly of the same ilk are always considered revisionists. I ask this question, as I admittedly too, bask in the wonderful footage of Ken Burn's latest documentary, "Jazz" on PBS. And as I hear over and over how jazz is the only contemporary original musical art form in America, I have to consider the thought, that if people would just close their eyes and open their ears, they just might find another one.