Getting Acquainted with

The Bob Boyd Sounds

 

With the renewal of interest in music of the Swing and Big Band Era, The Bob Boyd Sounds, David, Randy, Pat and Bob, are having the time of their lives playing and singing songs from the thirties through the nineties. Word has gotten around that these four guys will knock you out when they play music of the big bands. All four of them sing, solo and in harmony, music from Sinatra, the Four Freshmen and the Modernaires, to Stevie Wonder! They play smooth, listenable jazz, if you can manage to keep your feet still. But when they play, unlike much jazz, in their music you can always recognize the melody!

David Higginbotham's lyrical bass playing (he plays both the old-style standup bass fiddle AND an Alembic Fretless Electric Bass) and his beautiful tenor voice provide the lead for many of their songs, whether they are punching out an Ellington tune or a lovely ballad like "A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square", or an old blues tune from Otis Redding. Randy McDonald, drummer extraordinary, also plays piano and bass, is a computer expert and a recording engineer, sings background harmony, and if that isn't enough, sings a mean country ballad or lively pop tune. Pat Henry on trumpet, valve trombone and
fleugelhorn, also plays piano, bass, drums and other instruments. You'll enjoy his beautiful, graceful trumpet work on "Tenderly", his sensitive vocal on "How Insensitive," or his realistic impressions of Louis Armstrong's trumpet and vocals. Bob Boyd, who classifies himself as a "piano stylist" rather than a jazz pianist, plays a variety of piano styles and enjoys singing, too. Bob says, "It's such a joy for me to work with this band. David, Randy and I formed the Trio almost 10 years ago. David Higginbotham plays upright bass, plays guitar in our mariachi and Italian groups, and sings lead beautifully. He is a superb music director and a very gifted songwriter.

Randy McDonald plays drums and sings in the group. He also doubles on piano and bass, is a master sound recording engineer at Zanbeck Studios, is a computer expert and is a gifted songwriter. In addition to a busy calendar of private parties, we have played at the Unity Church every Sunday for 6 years and produced an album of original inspirational music, The Unity Trio.

Pat Henry in recent years, has become our bands welcome 4th member. Pat plays trumpet, trombone and fluegelhorn, sings lead and alto (but not at the same time.) He is also adept on flute, piano, guitar and bass, and has recorded several albums playing all instruments himself. (Pat says I had a lot of cheap help!)

All 4 of us are bandleaders in our own right. But the sum is greater than the parts. We have played together so much that we can anticipate each others every move, every note. The joy in playing I first had is back! I enjoy writing vocal arrangements for us. I look forward to every concert, to every tune. Sometimes all our new ideas just tumble over each other in exuberance. Jazz began as fun music and we have put the fun back into it.

Everyone tends to want to classify or pigeonhole a band as playing a particular style of music. So far, we have successfully resisted that. We have presented Dixieland, Cajun, Polka, Mariachi, Italian, Irish and Western Swing-style band shows. But most of the time, we play a mix of popular standards, swing and popular jazz from all the decades. All four of us sing lead on some tunes, and we present many tunes in 4 part harmony, a la the Four Freshmen ('Its A Blue World') or Manhattan Transfer ('Tuxedo Junction.')"

WHO IS BOB BOYD?

Bob Boyd produced and performed on his own live radio show series in 1952 at the age of 16. He played original piano stylings of requested tunes called in and written in by his radio audience. He traveled with several professional gospel music groups, then in 1955 was engaged by Jim Ed Brown and the Brown Family Trio. This led to engagements in New Orleans and St. Louis as a solo performer of piano stylings, and as a member of several pop and jazz groups. He returned to Arkansas in 1957 and accepted a position on the teaching staff of Rosen Music Studios. There, he taught accordion for five years and founded and was co-leader of "The Blue Notes" with Joe Brandt, who was well known as "Mr. Guitar" in central Arkansas.

In 1962 Bob founded BOYD MUSIC CENTER, a music school andstore, which he owned and operated for 38 years. With Pat Lee, former clarinetist with the Glen Gray Casa Loma Band, in 1963 he founded the Pastels, a trio featuring accordion, clarinet and drums. This group appeared frequently at the Davy Crockett Club in Little Rock, Little Rock Country Club and many other venues. In 1966 he founded the BOB BOYD TRIO with drummer Herman Branton and bassist Bill Nelson. They played the then-popular Ramsey Lewis "In Crowd" style which has a strong black gospel flavor. The trio was expanded later to be called "THE BOB BOYD SOUND," with the addition of guitar and sometimes trumpet, the SOUND played hundreds of wedding receptions, golf tournaments, club dances and other special occasions from 1966 to 1978.

Bob then joined the Joe Holland Dixieland Band in 1980 and played regularly at Cajun's Wharf. From 1983 to 1988 he played the piano and tenor banjo with the Happytymes Jazzband at the S.O.B. On The River, with whom he traveled To Sacramento, California to represent the state of Arkansas in the 15th Annual International Traditional Jazz Festival. Bob then took a sabbatical and played with a variety of groups including country, 50s rock and gospel.

In 1990, with David Higginbotham and Randy McDonald, he re-formed the BOB BOYD TRIO. For 6 years, they played private parties and provided the music for the Unity Church of Little Rock. As a solo piano stylist, Bob has recently presented well-received informal solo piano concert talks, in which he plays an all request program interspersed with anecdotes about how the tunes came to be written. With the welcome addition of Pat Henry on trumpet, trombone, fleugelhorn and vocals, The TRIO has now expanded to 4 members, and perform many original songs, as well as 4-part vocal arrangements.

Bob Boyd is now approaching his sixth decade of pleasing his listeners. His music provides an atmosphere of elegance for wedding receptions and private parties of all types. He also presents a well-received informal piano concert, playing and singing all requests, and giving informative and entertaining stories about the songs and the composers. He plays original stylings of familiar and memorable standard tunes, and an all-request program of dance music and show tunes from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

  

BOB BOYD SOUNDS PLAYLIST
What songs do we play? To give you some idea of the scope of our repertoire, here is a partial list of the more than 10,000 tunes we can play. (We also play all requests.)