South Shore Syncopators Sizzle As They Recreate the Spirit of the Jazz Age

The second of four performances in the Outdoor Summer Concerts 2011 series at the was held indoors last week due to extreme temperatures in the 90s (the first was moved inside due to rain).

Lauren Gilbert, the library's head of community services, thanked everyone for "coming out on a very hot night for some hot jazz", as she introduced The South Shore Syncopators, who recreate, not imitate, the golden days of the 1920s and '30s dance orchestras and the radio shows that made them legendary.

Painstakingly accurate renditions of timeless tunes from the pre-swing years of 1924 to 1934 were interwoven into a remote radio broadcast format circa 1930. It included period commercials, comedy and banter.

The full audience delighted in two hours of the singular songs of Bing Crosby, Helen (Boop-a-Doop) Kane, Eddie Cantor, Annette Hatshaw, Maurice Chevalier, The Boswell Sisters, Ruby Keeler, Al Jolson and other greats and lesser known talents performed by a ten-piece ensemble with six vocalists and an announcer.

The often undeservedly overlooked era of the Harlem cabaret, the Ziegfeld Follies, Vaudeville and the Art Deco world of film musicals got the chance to shine as the ensemble served as a time-traveling portal of Jazz Age panache and prohibition-era decadence. One could almost taste the Bathtub gin as the evocative orchestrations soared, faithfully following only original scores printed in the '20s and '30s, imbuing the performance with an almost preternatural verisimilitude.

"This is the 1920s without the scratchy records. This is exactly what your parents and grandparents listened to," said bandleader Raymond Osnato.

So devoted are these musicians, that what they cannot find in printed music is meticulously transcribed from vintage recordings of the original artists.

The South Shore Syncopators were founded in 2007 by their trombonist/ arranger/ musical director Massapequa native, Osnato, 54. Their first concert sealed their fate as the premiere dance orchestra on Long Island, and they immediately became an overnight sensation, amassing a large following of zealous fans. Today, they are a prolific ensemble with hundreds of period arrangements including ballads, hot jazz tunes, show tunes and novelty numbers.

"We're looking for a few good audience members to take on the road with us — and we think this is the one," Osnato quipped toward the end of the second set in response to the warm reception.

Osnato encouraged those who appreciated the evening's performance to continue to support local live acts.

"Long Island has bands doing this every night of the week," he said.

Ed Bradley, 71, from St. James, was impressed with the orchestra's uncanny ability to breathe new life into a past he remembers fondly.

"I grew up listening to radio — comedy shows, singers, mysteries — this is a good recreation of it," he said. "One of the reasons I came here tonight was to bring back memories. It's hard to find good radio today."

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