Kim Cusack

Kim Cusack - Clarinet:  Whatever notoriety Kim Cusack might have in the world of Dixieland jazz can to a great extent be attributed to his long association with the Salty Dogs Jazz Band, a band that he first heard when it was still comprised primarily of Purdue University students. This group inspired him to direct his musical energies toward this style of music, and in 1959 he became that band's principal clarinetist, a post which he holds until this day.

Besides his ongoing association with the Salty Dogs, for the past several years Cusack has been part of James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band, noted for their appearances on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show, at the Smithsonian in Washington,

D.C., and at many other prestigious venues throughout the United States and Alaska. Cusack and Dapogny's association goes back to their high school days.

These, however, are not the only groups Cusack has been associated with. Being from the Chicago area, he had a chance to perform with some of the real old-timers, such as banjoist Mike McKendrick, trombonist Albert Wynn, and pianist Little Brother Montgomery, early on in his career. Over the years he has appeared on over forty LPs and CDs and has recorded and worked with jazz legends Georg Brunis, Wild Bill Davison, and Turk Murphy. He also had a long association with Gene Mayl's Dixieland Rhythm Kings, with whom he played myriads of Moose, Elks, and VFW clubs all over the U.S., as well as spending eight grueling weeks with that band in Alaska.

Cusack also toured with Phyllis Diller as a member of the Gold Coast Jazz Band, and spent some time as featured tenor saxophone player with the Jan Garber Orchestra, appearing at a variety of ballrooms tucked in obscure places all over the Midwest. He was also a charter member of the Chicago Cubs Dixieland Band, with whom he still occasionally appears.

Among the many jazz festivals Cusack has appeared at are those at Sacramento, Elkhart, IN, La Crosse, WI, Decatur, IL, San Diego, and Ottawa, Canada. Cusack has played many of the top jazz clubs - as well as many of the seedier ones - around Chicago over the years, and currently appears regularly at Andy’s Jazz Club in that city, and the Village Tavern in Long Grove, IL.
 

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