WHOLLY CATS

Wholly Cats: Brad Ulrich, reeds; Chris Tyle, cornet; Hal Smith, drums; Dan Presley, string bass; Beck Kilgore, guitar/vocals. Photo by Jerry LaRocca.

Homebase: Portland, OR
Stats: 1979-1984
Misc Notes: Wholly Cats (the name taken from a tune written by Benny Goodman and Count Basie) was a swing quartet/quintet formed in 1979 and based in Portland, Oregon. Cornetist / trumpeter / vocalist Chris Tyle and bassist Dan Presley assembled the musicians to play small band swing of the 1930s and '40s. Following the lead of the popular Django Reinhardt-inspired group Everything's Jake, Tyle and Presley felt a band playing similar music but with horns would offer something different in the Portland market. The initial group included clarinetist / saxophonist Bud Gerlach (who Tyle had worked with previously in Don Kinch's Conductors Ragtime Band), and guitarist Ru Searson (who Presley had worked with in bluegrass groups). In mid-1981 Searson left and was replaced by Cindy Smith (another bluegrass veteran), who added another element to the band's sound with her vocals. When Smith left she suggested as a replacement Rebecca "Becky" Kilgore, a talented vocalist and guitarist. In mid-1982, reed player Brad Ulrich replaced Gerlach.  At the beginning the group played a number of local Portland area venues mostly on weekends, frequently working at the Brasserie Montmartre in downtown Portland, subbing for their regular group, Everything's Jake. When they disbanded in June 1980, Wholly Cats was their replacement. The band continued there until the fall of 1982, when they became the "house band" at a newly opened 1930s-themed downtown Portland restaurant / bar, Father's American Broiler and Nightclub, playing five nights a week. Also at this time well-known (in the traditional jazz world) drummer Hal Smith joined the group. 

During the stint at Father's the band attained it's greatest local popularity, with appearances on local television (Live at Noon and Faces and Places) and frequent special engagements outside the steady gig at Father's. Father's agreed to the concept of having special guest artists during this time, with appearances by ex-Duke Ellington cornetist and Concord Records artist Bill Berry; Concord Records artist tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton; pianist/composer/vocalist Dave Frishberg (before he moved to Portland); Concord Records artist pianist Dave McKenna; and Prarie Home Companion pianist and recording artist Butch Thompson. At the end of 1983 Father's made the decision to change their music program to a popular local jazz trio, although Wholly Cats made a few more appearances there in the summer of 1984, and also played off and on in the bar at the Sheraton airport hotel, but by the fall of 1984 the band came to a parting of the ways. They recorded an LP in 1981, Doggin' Around on the Grassroots label, and a privately issued cassette tape in 1982. 
[Notes by Chris Tyle]

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