NATCHEZ &045; Don Vappie will bring his distinctive jazz style to Natchez on Feb. 25, when his New Orleans-based group performs at 8 p.m. at the Natchez Convention Center.

Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders will appear as part of the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration during the Feb. 23-27 event.

An accomplished tenor banjo player who has appeared with the Wynton Marsalis jazz ensemble at Lincoln Center, Vappie often has been labeled as the best and most original banjo player in New Orleans.

He has performed with the Preservation Hall Band since 1988 and organized his own group in 1995. The Creole Jazz Serenaders have toured widely, including abroad.

&uot;When we started the group, we wanted this style not to be forgotten,&uot; Vappie said. &uot;Creole is just one part of New Orleans jazz. Creole music has a kind of Latin sound but with French lyrics.&uot;

Jim Barnett of Natchez, a musician and a historian and a co-chairman of the literary and cinema conference, said Vappie’s group plays &uot;a type of jazz that you really can’t find many places, and it’s distinctive to New Orleans.&uot;

Vappie, who arranges all the music played by the band, encourages improvisation only during solos. &uot;My feeling is that improvisation played a part in early jazz, but complete improvisation would be chaotic,&uot; Vappie said.

He recalled the words of the famous early jazz musician King Oliver, who &uot;didn’t want his piano player ‘doodling around.’ He told the piano player he had a clarinet player who could do that.&uot;

Barnett said because the band plays pre-arranged pieces, &uot;I kind of think of it as jazz chamber music. Each instrument has a definite part to play and there is a definite form to it.&uot;

Best of all, Barnett said, the Creole jazz played by Vappie engages the audience. &uot;The people of Natchez should really enjoy this music. It’s very approachable for people who aren’t experts in music,&uot; Barnett said.

Vappie hails from a famous musical family and talks about that during the concert as he describes the evolution of music in New Orleans from the late 1800s to the early decades of the 20th century.

New Orleans, with its dominant French culture, was fertile ground for the development of music such as jazz, Vappie said.

Proud of his own Creole heritage, Vappie said Creole has been controversial. A Creole is a mixture of African and French or Spanish. &uot;In America, you have to be white or black. Creole is not white or black but is a culture,&uot; he said.

People from the Caribbean Islands settled in New Orleans in the late 1800s, bringing their musical influence to what was evolving into jazz. &uot;(Ferdinand) ‘Jelly Roll Morton’ said it’s not New Orleans jazz unless it has that Latin tinge,&uot; Vappie said.

Barnett said the Creole Jazz Serenaders play music that New Orleans audiences enjoyed when jazz was in its developing stages.

One at the piano, another on bass, one on drums, two who play both clarinet and sax, two playing trumpet and Don on vocals, guitar and banjo make up the group.

&uot;Don is a virtuoso on tenor banjo,&uot; Barnett said. &uot;The tenor banjo is a four-string instrument used in New Orleans jazz, a very important part of New Orleans jazz.&uot;

Vappie’s wife, Millie, plays an important role behind the scenes. &uot;She wears so many hats,&uot; Vappie said. &uot;She basically picks out our music and brings it to me. She doesn’t perform and play professionally, but she has a fantastic musical ear.&uot;

Tickets for the concert are available by calling 601-446-1289 or toll free at 866-296-6522. Tickets also will be available at the door.