West Philly Foot Tappers
Hummingbird to Mars
West 16th St.
Wilmington, Delaware
Oct. 18, 2024
Four-piece Gypsy swing band The West Philly Foot Tappers brought 1930s Prohibition-era sounds across state lines to Delaware speakeasy “Hummingbird to Mars” on Thursday.
I went to see my Uncle Gregg Eskin, a retired middle school jazz teacher who joined the band as a clarinetist back in 2018. After decades of teaching scales, my uncle wanted to master the art of improvisation. He got the gig after giving his number to a piano player who was busking at Whole Foods. Then Sean Dorn, the band's upright bassist, reached out — and the rest was history.
I’m not really “into jazz,” but the Foot Tappers elevated the experience of dining in the speakeasy, giving it the authentic touch of boozy, live music that I imagine my great grandparents experienced during their own Prohibition outings. The band played classics from the 1930s and '40s like “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” which Ella Fitzgerald made famous with her 1943 cover, and “Manoir de Mes Reves” by Django Reinhardt.
The music easily filled up the tiny venue, which was packed with velvet sofas and layered with portraits of girls showing off their bobs and flapper dresses.
I don’t know my Uncle Gregg super well outside of chatting at family gatherings. He’s the kinda guy who tells you he’s “living the dream, baby,” anytime you ask him how he’s doing, no matter what.
But after watching him play the clarinet for just a few hours, I finally understood what he meant. The evening of Philly-concocted swing preservatives transported the whole crowd to another era — and when the night was over and we all disappeared from the underground bar, I wondered whether it had all been just a dream.
