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Free 1920s jazz concert in Capitol Theatre honors Chambersburg drummer Chauncey Morehouse


CHAMBERSBURG >> Dance tunes as performed in the early days of jazz will resound again July 22 in Capitol Theatre, when The Graystone Monarchs 10-piece ensemble will perform a free concert honoring a Chambersburg big band drummer.

Beginning at 7 p.m. in the theater at 159 S. Main St., The Chauncey Morehouse Tribute Concert will feature jazz percussionist Josh Duffee performing on drums.

For the first time since 1927, Chambersburg residents can hear the music of The Jean Goldkette Orchestra, the Detroit jazz ensemble with whom the late Chauncey Morehouse performed. The Monarchs will play music that the Goldkette orchestra played in a benefit concert May 4, 1927, in The Capitol Theatre, as well as other music Morehouse played during his career.

Morehouse lived in Chambersburg from the age of 3 until he graduated from high school and left to play in dance bands in the early 1920s. In a music career that extended into the 1970s, he recorded and performed with such musical stars as Bing Crosby and The Dorsey Brothers, and he was also a studio musician for NBC Radio.

The Graystone Monarchs specialize in music from the 1920s and '30s. Their concert is in conjunction with the tour of The Hot Jazz Alliance, a six-piece jazz ensemble of four musicians from Australia and two from the U.S. They performed on Monday in Lincoln Center in New York. The group will add four musicians to their line-up for this one-night only performance.

In addition to the concert, the band will have historical photographs, home movies and other information pertaining to Chambersburg, The Capitol Theatre and life in the 1920s.

Members of Morehouse's family expects to attend, coming from New York, Florida and all other parts of the country.

A sound engineer will record the entire program, with hopes of releasing a special cdition featuring music from the concert.

Funding for the event was raised through gofundme.com and includes souvenir programs for those attending.