Meet the Ramblers...
Jim Sindelar, clarinet and sax (
music
director). A Hopkinton (NH) resident, Jim hails from Wisconsin where he grew
up playing in his dad's dance band and is a veteran of the UW Marching Band. He plays the tuba as well as the woodwinds and has been known to blow a mean polka on either instrument when on break from jazz. Jim's a retired N.H.T.I. electrical engineering professor and an expert white-water kayaker who has paddled major rapids in the U.S. and the Andes. He plays clarinet with the Hopkinton Town Band, bass clarinet with the Upper Valley Community Band, and tuba with the
Carter Mountain Brass Band. Jim collects vintage horns and admires clarinetist Pete Fountain, The Bob Crosby Bob Cats, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, bassist/
composer Bob Haggert, and tuba players who paid their dues in Milwaukee.
Jim Burkhardt, piano. Jim led his own dance band in
high school in upstate New York before attending M.I.T., where he founded the M.I.T. Concert Band and just
happened to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear physics in his spare time. He is also an accomplished clarinetist and plays that instrument in the Hopkinton Town Band and New Hampshire's historic Nevers 2nd Regt. Band. He's retired in Hopkinton where he's an amateur winemaker (Schloss Burkhardt), invents things in his workshop, skates on Turkey Pond whenever possible, and arranges music for the Fountain Square Ramblers and the Hopkinton Town Band.
Bill Halacy, bass. Bill's first instrument is the trumpet, which he plays in the Hopkinton Town Band. On inheriting a stand-up bass, however, this retired Concord (NH) police chief decided it would be a crime to leave such a fine old instrument under the bed and became a charter member of the Ramblers. When not playing music, Bill seeks out and appreciates an amazing amount of jazz, teaches law enforcement at the New Hampshire Technical Institute, and studies and teaches traditional East Asian healing arts.
Michael White, lead cornet. Michael lives in Amherst (NH)
and spends family time on Highland Lake when not toiling for Liberty Mutual. In the 1970s, when still in his teens, Michael led the Scollay Square Stompers in Boston and there are those who still remember hearing him back in the day. After nearly 30 years in remission, his trad-jazz habit caught up with him again, powered by a Besson cornet. Mike's wife Ninette and kids Sarah and Adam tolerate Dad's Dixieland riffs emanating from the basement and his frequent Ramblers escapades, an indulgence for which he is eternally grateful! His jazz heroes are Wild Bill Davison, Bix Beiderbecke, and Bobby Hackett.
Iris Sindelar, cornet/trumpet. A software engineer by profession, Iris plays the French horn in the Hopkinton Town Band and Upper Valley Community Band, and the flugelhorn and cornet in the Carter Mountain Brass Band. Another Wisconsin native, she played trumpet for 16 years with the AT&T / Lucent Jazz Band during her career in information technology firms in Massachusetts. In addition to her professional and musical talents, Iris is proficient in Russian and German and is an accomplished artist, chef and seamstress who made the Ramblers' red vests. She runs a software company in Hopkinton, NH.
Ray Heath, drums. Known in three states as The Man With The Megawatt Smile, Ray grew up in New London (NH) where he still resides and works for the library, reads about military history and the evolution of jazz, collects vintage drumsets, and is active in dance bands covering a variety of styles. He's a Plymouth State College alumnus who prefers playing small drumsets. Ray's drum heroes range from Ringo Starr and Ginger Baker to Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Baby Dodds. He likes just about all kinds of music except for anything involving fat ladies singing while wearing helmets or
carrying spears!
Dave Humphrey, trombone. Dave is a Systems Engineer whose career has taken him across the country first as an Air Force officer, then for the Air Force as a member of the MITRE Corporation. He directed church choirs and played in community bands and other ensembles in Texas, Maryland, Washington State, California, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 2006, he moved from Nashua to Weare, leaving behind the Grace Chapel (Lexington, MA) Orchestra, Chelmsford Community Band and several other big bands where he played either trombone or bass guitar. He is a member of the Kearsarge Community and Hopkinton Town bands, and substitutes in jazz ensembles (down South- like Lowell) whenever he gets the chance.
David A. Dustin, emeritus. The Ramblers' trombonist and manager from 2001-07, David continues to play music from the Swing era in his Tall Granite Jazz Band and is a member of the Hopkinton Town Band. He lives in Contoocook (NH) where he works as a consultant on federal contracts and procurement.
Ralph Bowie, emeritus. The Ramblers' first lead trumpet and vocalist, Ralph continues to play in the Carter Mountain Brass Band and the Upper Valley Community Band. He's retired in Lebanon (NH) after a 34-year career as a high school choral director. Ralph's a Boston Conservatory alumnus whose main instrument for many years was the French horn.