About Us

Looking for Wedding Music or Party Music?  You’ll find lots of information here.   Scroll down and read the sections that interest you:

The Musicians

Although the Magnolia Jazz Band regularly performs wedding music and party music with up to six musicians, the nucleus of the band is Robbie Schlosser, string bass & cornet; Gary Milliken, clarinet; and Andy Norblin, guitar & banjo.

Hi, I’m Robbie Schlosser, an inspired jazzman playing his way through life, and loving it!

I’m glad you’re here, and I look forward to talking with you soon.  In the meantime, let me introduce myself.

I make a living going to parties, helping people enjoy their landmark celebrations — weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties, banquets, you name it!  With over 30 years’ experience at thousands of events, I’ve learned what it takes to get people into the swing of things and have a great time.  I hope we’ll have an opportunity to help you one of these days.

I’m enjoying a wonderful life, and I took a roundabout way to reach this point.  Always curious and a lifelong learner, my early ambitions for a scientific career eventually succumbed to my passion for music and love for entertaining people.

Music has always been my main hobby. I began learning violin back in the third grade, cornet the next year, and string bass 27 years later. Thank heavens for the music program in my elementary school, or today I’d probably have an honest-to-goodness job.  During high school and college, my musical interests focused on playing cornet in marching bands and French horn in concert bands and local orchestras. In high school, some pals and I formed a little jazz band, and for several years we amazed ourselves and astonished our friends.

After college and graduate studies, I lived in New York state and worked as a scientist and a science teacher. While living in Buffalo, I also played occasionally with several informal dixieland bands, including one named “The South Happiness Street Society Skiffle Band”. I moved to northern California in the early ’70s, to study at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. In my spare time, I joined the South Bay Traditional Jazz Society, where I met many musicians I would work with over the next 30-plus years.

I formed the Magnolia Jazz Band in January 1975.  A San Jose nightclub owner heard me playing trumpet at an after-hours jam session, and hired me to lead a jazz band to entertain his customers. Though I was still a graduate student at Stanford University, I called five friends from the South Bay Traditional Jazz Society and organized the original Magnolia Jazz Band. That first job lasted six weeks, every Friday and Saturday night. I quickly realized that music and entertaining were my real passions, and my Stanford days were numbered.

Thanks to many long-time friends and clients, I still perform nearly every day, and I manage the band’s business. The Bay Area traditionally boasts plenty of wonderful musicians and lots of parties, and I learned early that I preferred local work to life “on the road”.  When time permits, I enjoy an occasional out-of-town performance with a few well-known musicians across the country.

In the early 1980?s, the Magnolia Jazz Band made seven recordings, toured through the west coast, the midwest and the east coast, and was a popular favorite at many jazz festivals.  During those years, I performed occasionally with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans. A few years later, in addition to working with my own band, I worked in San Francisco as a regular member of the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, performing on a PBS TV special, several international cruises and jazz festivals, and numerous special concerts across the country. From 1991-1997, I appeared regularly with the Butch Thompson Trio, which received national fame on Garrison Keillor’s PBS radio program, “A Prairie Home Companion”.

Any day, you can find me at an elegant wedding, a spirited party, or a formal business function.  I still free-lance occasionally with other local bands, too, and I keep in touch with dozens of musicians each month. I continually learns from all my fellow jazzmen, and every day brings something new.

Gary Milliken began playing clarinet at the age of eight, and has played in countless musical settings since then. As a music major at San Jose State University, he worked in every type of ensemble, from medieval consorts to experimental electronics — but jazz was always his first love. He played in the saxophone sections of many big bands, but he now devotes himself solely to his first instrument, the clarinet.

Andy Norblin first played with Magnolia in 1988. Back in the late 1950s, enthralled by movies like “Rock Around the Clock”, he started playing guitar at age 14. Andy put himself through college in the early 60’s by playing in local rock n’ roll and dance bands at weddings and parties. Graduating with a degree in Economics and a teaching credential, he taught elementary, middle school, and junior college Economics for several years. All the while, he continued working as a musician, both on guitar and banjo, primarily with the Tolleson Music Organization in San Francisco.

Read more about The Musicians

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History of the Band

In January 1975, a San Jose nightclub owner heard Robbie playing at an after-hours jam session, and hired him to lead a jazz band to entertain his customers. Robbie called five friends from the South Bay Traditional Jazz Society and organized the original Magnolia Jazz Band. The job lasted six weeks, every Friday and Saturday night.

Through the mid ’70s, we continued playing, often expanding to nine musicians, entertaining nearly every day providing dance, concert, party music, or wedding music. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, we specialized in playing the New Orleans revival style, popularized by the Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, and Preservation Hall Jazz Bands. The sextet made seven recordings, toured through the midwest and the east coast, and performed at many jazz festivals throughout the country. Now in the 21st century, the band is much more diverse and going stronger than ever, still providing party music or wedding  music most days.

Read more about History of the Band

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25 Interesting Things About Robbie

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Recordings

These recordings are no longer available. For information, please request a catalog from each company:
-     Stomp Off Records, P.O. Box 342, York, PA 17405
-     GHB Records, 1206 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70116

Shake That Thing (SOS1137, recorded 1983)
Robbie Schlosser, bass; Jimmy Mazzy, banjo; Walt Sereth, clarinet; Bill Carter, clarinet; Jim Klippert, trombone
King Joe, Breeze, Royal Telephone, Blue Bungalo, Moonlight, Creole Love Call, Black Girl, Shake That Thing, Corrine Corrina, Smooth Sailing, Jelly Bean Blues, Shiek of Araby.

Art Hodes and the Magnolia Jazz Band (GHB172, recorded 1982, CD AVAILABLE)
Art Hodes, piano; Robbie Schlosser, bass; Jim Borkenhagen, trumpet; Bill Carter, clarinet; Jim Klippert, trombone; Danny Ruedger, banjo; Jeff Hamilton, drums.
How Long How Long Blues, Just A Little While to Stay Here, Hurry Down Sunshine, Linger Awhile, Magnolia Blues, Some Of These Days, Beale Street Blues, I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover.

The Magnolia Jazz Band and Art Hodes (GHB 171, recorded 1982, CD AVAILABLE)
Art Hodes, piano; Robbie Schlosser, bass; Jim Borkenhagen, trumpet; Bill Carter, clarinet; Jim Klippert, trombone; Danny Ruedger, banjo; Jeff Hamilton, drums.
See See Rider, Yearning, Life Is Like A Book, Weary Blues, Chimes Blues, I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll, Someday Sweetheart, Shake That Thing.

Red Onion Blues (SOS1016, recorded 1981)
Robbie Schlosser, bass; Jim Borkenhagen, trumpet; Bill Carter, clarinet; Jim Klippert, trombone; Danny Ruedger, banjo; Jeff Hamilton, drums.
One Sweet Letter From You, Far Away Blues, Tailgate Ramble, Memphis Shake, Mobile Stomp, Good Time Flat Blues, Old Rugged Cross, Red Onion Blues, Hesitating Blues, I Can’t Escape From You.

Read more about our earlier Recordings