“Now a slower one, so don’t fall asleep.”
Sean Fleming stood at a microphone on a hot summer Sunday. Fleming, along with his Red Hot Peppers bandmates, played the Dixieland classic “Basin Street Blues” to a crowd of about 100 at Johnson Field Preserve on Bailey Island, against the backdrop of Mackerel Cove.
The Red Hot Peppers, led by Fleming, play jazz from the 1910s and 1920s, specifically Dixieland and ragtime tunes.
“I love doing small-town events. It’s so Maine-ish,” Fleming said with a laugh. “It was a great crowd, an enthusiastic crowd.”
The July 28 concert was hosted by the Islands Community Church as part of its new concert series. It was the third show in the series, which began this year.
Gayle Hays, a board member at the church, said the series is bringing people together.
“We’re very community-oriented as a church and we want people to know more about Islands Community Church and the outreach that we do, so we have started the concert series,” Hays said. “I was watching people’s faces and they certainly were enjoying the event.”
Throughout the show, Fleming would explain the background of the songs and invite the audience to sing or hum along.
Under a beating sun, the band played songs from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. No song was complete without an emotional trumpet solo or Fleming bouncing along on the piano. And, of course, the show ended with “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
“That whole group was wonderful,” Hays said. “(Fleming) kept us moving here today, and he certainly didn’t sit still.”
Peg Orlando, a member of the team that organizes the concerts, said the series is designed to spread awareness about the church and bring people together. The final show in the series will take place in December before the church prepares for year two.
“We want to expand our church and make the community aware of who we are and what we’re doing,” Orlando said. “We think music is a great way to bond people.”
