Bill’s Seafood Jazz All-Stars celebrate over 40 years of timeless tunes and lively performances in Westbrook
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By Cris Cadiz ill's Seafood is aptly situated at the base of Westbrook's Singing Bridge. While diners take to the sun-warmed picnic tables of the restaurant's deck to enjoy fried clams and steamed lobsters, Bill's comes alive on Friday nights with the sound of horns, pianos, reeds, and drums thanks to the music of the Bill's Seafood Jazz All-Stars. According to band leader Tom Boates, Bill's Seafood Jazz All-Stars have been performing at this popular restaurant in Westbrook for over 40 years. Every Friday night from 7 to 9 p.m., the musicians play favorites from the “Great American Songbook,” a canon of the most important and influential American jazz songs in the 20th century. Once known as Dixieland jazz and now called traditional or New Orleans-style jazz, this music moves the body, brain, and soul. Boates says the band’s vast collective knowledge includes hundreds of songs. Except for a few crowd-pleasers and favorite sing-along tunes, their set list changes every week. Bill’s is so popular in the
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summer that the band must move tables to set up. But the service is efficient, and the turnover is fast, so when 7 p.m. rolls around, the regular fans are seated up close, where the band likes them. This intimate setting is a treat if you’re not used to live club performances.
Boates has taught music for 44 years and has been a professional trombonist for over 35 years. He retired from Guilford High School in 2021 after 20 years of leading their music department and awardwinning ensembles. Like the other Bill’s Seafood Jazz All-Stars, Boates will prob-
From left to right: Tom Palinko (drummer), Joe McWilliams (pianist), Lou Bocciarelli (bassist), Tom Boates (band leader and trombonist), and the late Noel Kaletsky (clarinet and saxophone player) standing under the Bill's Seafood sign. P hoto courtesy of Tom Boates
on the shoreline