Memphis Nighthawks
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In the 1970s, the Memphis Nighthawks were a traditional jazz band based in Champaign, Illinois. Founded and led by Ron Dewar, a music professor at the University of Illinois, the Nighthawks performed compositions from the early days of jazz.
The band members were university music students, for the most part. Under saxophonist Dewar's direction they brought to pre-1930 jazz compositions a precision born of studying classical and modern orchestral music. They achieved a discipline that, combined with their youthful enthusiasm, distinguished them from the far looser, laid-back style of traditional jazz bands labeled as Dixieland.
One distinctive aspect of their style was the use of a bass saxophone instead of a string double bass to anchor the band's rhythm section. In this, and in their name, the Memphis Nighthawks prefigured the later Nighthawks Orchestra of New York City, led by Vince Giordano.
Personnel included Dewar on soprano saxophone and clarinet, Steve Jensen on trumpet, Joel Helleny on trombone, Dave Feinman on the above-mentioned bass sax, Mike Miller on banjo and guitar and sometimes Bob Kornacher on drums.
Recordings included the albums Jazz Lips on the Delmark label and Live at the Stabilizer on Golden Crest .
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