Help a brotha' out
Download one of our club posters and help us promote a much anticipated live show. Just print from the 150 dpi [244k] PDF and write in the particulars at the bottom, or post the 72 dpi [124k] PDF online.

150 dpi | 72 dpi

Friday Night

7.30.10 | CHRIS' JAZZ CAFE

CAN I GET AN AMEN?! Hoppin' John will be making our first Friday night appearance at Chris' Jazz Cafe. It's gonna be hot, It's gonna be foot stompin' and it's gonna be Friday. So plan to stay in town and have too much summer ale while we work our way through a summer smack down of the big sound that can only come from the Hoppin' John Orchestra.

Blinded

6.19.10 | SUMMER SOLSTICE FESTIVAL

Tell the new guy from Canada to take the afternoon off as Hoppin John will be at the Kimmel Center this month to kick off the Summer Solstice celebration. SUMMER SOLTICE 10 at the Kimmel is going to be an all night party in the very "all night party" sense. In other words, live music, dance, stuff for the kids and stuff for party crazed insomniacs. The Zoo will be there, low cost art will be for sale. People who can sing and people who choose not to. Basically, anything that can attract attention from anyone and everyone, will be there. It goes from 3:00 in the afternoon until dawn. Contact The Kimmel Center for tickets. Skip the nap and come join us. We go on around 4:00pm.

Magic and Mardi Gras

June 7th, 2010 | Mardis Gras Night | WORLD CAFE LIVE

I realize we've been talking about beer a lot lately but, it's Beer Week, and that can only mean one thing: BEER!.. Well two things really. Hoppin John and Philly Gumbo play street band and NOLA style sets in June at the World Cafe Live. I almost forgot to mention that it's sponsored by Magic Hat Brewing Company. I don't want to miss it, you don't want to miss it, so get out the house this Monday and tell the work week to wait. This is great beer and better music we're talking about here!

More importantly, enjoy give-a-ways and help raise money for Bayou Rebirth.

Beer for a Better You

March 14th, 2010 | BREWERS PLATE | UPENN MUSEUM

Now in it's sixth year, the Brewer's plate is Fair Food's marquee fundraising event. It highlights Philadelphia's priemier local restaurant and craft breweries.

This is Hoppin' John's third year playing the event and we wouldn't have it any other way.

The Brewer's Plate sells out EVERY year!

Fatness

February 16th, 2010 | FAT TUESDAY | CHRIS' JAZZ CAFE

Ooooooh Wow! 2010 is looking like a hoot so far! First, we brought in the New Year at the Kimmel center and now we look forward to a trio of sweet-swingin' goodness!

This coming Thursday, January 21st from 5-7pm at good ole Chris' Jazz Cafe, y'all can drive away those winter blues with us and a drink of your choosing. Then, on March 14th we'll once again hook up the entertainment for the always excellent Brewer's Plate, again this year at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.

BUT, THE BIG NEWS IS MARDIS GRAS 2010 CATS AND KITTENS!!!!! Philly's only post-modern New Orleans Style Brass Band will lettin' the good times roll at Chris' Jazz Cafe, February 16th! Sets at 7:30 and 9:30. We'll be marching in from the street with a second line not far behind and there'll be lots of NOLA style music, merriment and mirth. C'mon peeps!
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

CHRIS' JAZZ CAFE. A familiar haunt and right around the way.

Beyond the Mummer

January 1st, 2010 | THE KIMMEL CENTER

Don't get me wrong, I love the New Years Day parade. String Bands are my fav. You got full marching bands, crazy themes, and more color in one place than you'll see all year. It's a great winter tradition. But sometimes I get tired of waiting around on a cold crowded sidewalk to see the band drill. I know, I know, that's part of the charm.
Here's the thing, HJO wil be there too. We'll be performing in the cozy confines of the Kimmel Center at 1:30 Friday afternoon rain or shine. We'll play for an hour in the Plaza. So stop in for a hot cocoa and check out our set where there is plenty of room to see and hear. Then, head back out to the sidewalk ready to Mum.

THE KIMMEL CENTER.

Finally Fringe Fest

Sept.6,14 & 15, 2009 | FRINGE FESTIVAL

Well, we've always wanted to be a part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, but we always ended up on the outside looking in (or, in the case of the Fringe, the inside looking out). But those days are gone as we are now a part of this dynamic celebration of the live arts. We are playing little sets between the dance pieces by Club Lyfestile; NOLA street band style at THE BARBARY.

Sketch by ARRON KROWLIKOWSKI

They said it

7.30.08 | FROM LIVE MUSIC
PHILADEPHIA WEEKLY

"After a decade in business, this eclectic local band has a long-awaited self-titled CD and seems in prime mood to celebrate. Led by bassist/trombonist/arranger Mike Hood, the 10-piece unit bills itself as "Philly's only Southern-fried jazz orchestra." That would seem to entail horns galore and a taste for New Orleans second-line grooves, jump blues, good-time funk, vintage R&B, early jazz and the odd smoky ballad. The CD playlist features a slowed-down "I Hear You Knockin'," along with Ellington and Charlie Shavers goodies and a helping of Hood's originals too. With dollops of tuba and banjo and big-band power in a small package, it's hard not to like." - David R. Adler

3.7.08 | FROM CITY PAPER BLOG
ON THE FLOWER SHOW PERFORMANCE

"Hoppin' John is reason I'd dream braving those crowds. They are one of this city's under-utilized forces of nature. Beats? Clean and hotly syncopated. Horns? Blasting and no hesitation on intonation. They'll be playing daylight hours through Sunday (last day of show)... close your eyes, feel the heat of the crowd, catch the drift of jasmine and gardenia, hyacinth and narcissus in the air and, yeah, you can be in NOLA for a minute.

MORE FLOWER SHOW RESPONSE
"Give young cats a chance"
Flower Show photos
Video on YouTube

12.27.06 | FROM PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

"On original material like 'Melvin Pervis Gets His Man' and 'Bayou Biscuit,' Philly's Hoppin' John Orchestra bring home the bacon, raise the roof and burn down the mission. Jamming the blues on equal parts Dixieland, Dixie-funk, traditional jazz and early rock 'n' roll, this eight-piece band of local jazz scholars has been mixing styles and blowing minds since 1996. Far from purists, Hoppin' John count Darius Milhaud and Raymond Scott among their influences, lending a seamless sense of texture and ease to their music that escapes more traditional jazz outfits. Now if only Hoppin' John would release a CD."

Jimmy Dippin'

4.16.07 | Graham Shots HJO! Hoppin' John is fortunate to have a good friend in world class photographer Jim Graham. Jim has been coming out in support of the group for years. Just recently he offered to do a live shoot at Chris'. Check it out.

...then that happened.
2.25.08 | I don't know how to say this but, we finished our CD. That might not sound like much, but we started recording last January at Buckeye Recording, not to mention that we've been playing together for over 10 years.
I think the week of straight gigs coming up at this years Flower Show got everyone to thinking. In particular, Jim Graham, who pulled the trigger on funding just last week. This got the wheels in motion. DAMN!