Bob Page, the blues and boogie woogie pianist and songwriter, IS a Mainer, although he has lived for the past 15 years in Atlanta. He followed his wife, who got a job down there that she couldn’t refuse. He has found that life is easier for a musician in a big city. "Down here I rarely have to travel more than 15 minutes to work". But Bob always comes back to Maine in the summer (for example this month, July), and at other times as well. He recalls flying to the University of Maine in Augusta for a single night’s performance in February when it was 30 degrees below, and windy to boot. The worst thing about being a musician in Maine is the hassle of working in the winter, driving 60 or 100 miles to work at night in a blizzard. (Something we dancers should think about when we hire musicians. Let’s make it comfortable for them!)

Bob started playing piano and singing as a youngster in the midcoast area in the 1960's. He recalls participating in a Battle of the Bands, when he was in 8^th grade, at the Merry Barn in Edgecomb on the River Road to Boothbay Harbor. (That’s when he met Jeff Davison of Big Chief, another young musician.) This barn started as a square dance venue and later became a kid’s dance club, hosted by Jeff’s uncle. They held dances every week.

In the early 1970's, Bob started playing jazz and swing. There were numerous clubs in Maine at the time, notably "The Pier" and "Northey Square" where his band used to play all night long. Other bands whose evening gigs had ended would come join Bob and his musicians for these all-night sessions. "It was a lot of fun". The club scene in Maine, and the money to pay the musicians, seemed to dry up a bit in the late 1970's-early1980's. Private parties and corporate gigs have become the better venues for musicians.

Although the music that Bob has played all his life is eminently swing-danceable, and he has played and sung at many dances, he’s not into the commercialization that followed the swing dance revival of the 1990's. He has observed that some of the newer bands seem more interested in dressing in 1930's suits and making a buck, than they are into making good music. People will eventually lose interest in the flashy stuff. Among the dances he has played, one stands out in his memory as being unique. This was a private party in Washington DC for kids from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. About 30 kids, ages 10 to15, had worked out dance routines to two of his tunes ("I’m Goin Fishin" and "Double Barrel Boogie"), and he was asked to come up from Atlanta and play while they did their routines. "It was kinda neat", he says.

Bob’s band in Maine, the Jazz Babies (originally the Downeast Jazz Babies) consists of a small core group with Bob on piano and vocals, his brother Dave on drums, and Jack Tukey on bass. The horn section is expandable depending on who is available and the requirements of the performance. The selection of tunes goes along with the musicians who are playing. The Jazz Babies will be performing at the following Maine venues in July 2001.  They aren't dances, but maybe those of us who just can’t sit still, can find a spot to dance anyway:

Saturday, July 7, Schooner Landing, Damariscotta, 9 pm - 1 am

Sunday, July 8, Lobsterman’s Wharf, East Boothbay, 2-5 pm

Thursday, July 12, Waldo Theater, 8 pm, WBYA 105.5 FM-sponsored performance

Sunday, July 15, Schooner Landing, Damariscotta, 2-5 pm

Bob has recorded several CD’s. The two I have, "Cash is a Problem" (recorded and mixed in Bremen at Rosewood Studios) and "Poor Man Shuffle" are filled with his original songs, which have catchy titles like ""Things Could be a Whole Lot Worse" and "Behave Yourself", as well as some great covers ("Your Feets Too Big", "Roll 'em Pete"). There are a couple of chachas and some slow blues, but it’s mostly lindy hop/triplestep medium-tempo swing in the 3 to 4 minute range, great for dances. It’s really hard to find Bob Page’s cd’s, unless you have the inside scoop, and here it is: you can pick them up at his brother’s convenience store! That’s Big Dave’s on Business Route 1, just north of Damariscotta. You can also get them direct from Bob at 1449 Lively Ridge Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30329 for $15 each. You might also pick them up from him directly at one of his Maine performances.

What does Bob miss most about Maine? The neighborliness. The ability to go to anyone’s home any time and not feel like you are a big imposition. The friends he has known all his life. He’s happy with the way his two children are growing up in Atlanta, but he values his own experience growing up in a small Maine town. People he meets in his travels are always surprised by the quality of Maine musicians. Here, musicians need to know a wide variety of music just to be able to work. In more populated areas, musicians tend to specialize, which limits them. He knows more really good musicians in Maine than in the Atlanta area, which has four times the population. Bob plans on being a musician for the rest of his life, which is good news for us! We just hope he spends more time here at home, in Maine.