One potato, two potato

 Mike Essoudry is a well-known drummer about town who also has a jazz octet which bears his name; in addition to his other work (scoring silent films and ear-training at Carleton, for example) he apparently decide he's like to combine a New Orleans parade band with a bunch of other stuff. Lo and behold, the Mash Potato Mashers were born. They had their debut about a year ago and have since gathered a great deal of acclaim for their party-hearty shows. At this gig they were opening for the Hi Lo Trons at Babylon.

First, a  little warmup near the washrooms.



And they're off, with Matthew Ouimet and Mike Essoudry on drums and Linsey Wellman on the saxophone.



Mike on the march.



Trumpet action with Craig Pedersen!



More Mike!



Ryan Purchase extends his range.



Flashy action with tuba wrangler (and one-time Silver Heart) Brian Saunderson.



Mike Schulz gets in some Trombone action.



Tyler Cyr is the only guy I haven't mentioned yet. Trumpeter Richard Ragno apparently couldn't make this show.



Walk this way ...



Warm headgear is apparently a must in this outfit.



Megaphonic action!



Matt hits!



The overhead view.



Tyler rocks the brass.



More Craig!



Lying down on the job ...



I guess I should be taking a picture of what Mike is gesturing at and not Mike, but oh well.



Wait, it's Brian!



More drumming!



Linsey takes a pre-end break.



The end!



They've got several gigs lined up, including a performance at the Ottawa International Jazz Fest; on February 14 they'll try to squeeze into the Manx and on April 9 they'll be performing at Irene's.

• Show reminder: The calendar at Zaphod Beeblebrox seems to be filling up - Eugene and The Eugenics, Noah Moses and Courtney Thorman are there tonight; Amanda LeBlanc joins River City Junction at the Avant-Garde Bar.