Crown City Dixieland Band

The Crown City Dixieland Band hails from, and is aptly named after, the City of Pasadena (“Crown of the Valley”).

The popular 5-piece (4 instruments + vocal) band recently completed 31 years (no typo – 1/3 of a century) of weekly entertainment at Pasadena’s well-known Burger Continental Restaurant, and the full 8-piece band has been the New Year’s entertainment at a Santa Anita Racetrack event since 1990.

Although the band’s roots are in hand-clappin’ traditional Dixieland music, Crown City has a varied repertoire and is known for adding songs from many different music genres – in a Dixieland style, of course. Don’t be surprised if you hear some Cole Porter and Walt Disney mixed in with Louie Armstrong – or any song you want. But whatever the band is playing, it is “Happy Music” that gets the audience involved and the dancers moving.

Some past performances include quiet garden parties to cocktail parties to major restaurants to county fairs (all 18 days at the San Diego Fair) to the Dodgers (on the field) to the 1984 Olympics to the Huntington Hospital’s 100th Anniversary to the Queen Mary to yacht clubs to political rallies to Sea World to Sun City/retirement homes and senior centers to Tournament of Roses events to weddings to corporate functions and to stage shows entertaining more than 2,500 at national conventions (e.g. NAMM: Nat’l Ass’n of Music Merchants and FMCA: Family Motor Coach Ass’n).

The Crown City Dixieland Band also plays Dixieland festivals (the San Diego Dixieland Festival was started by Phil), jazz clubs and summer concert series throughout Southern California cities (e.g. Pasadena, Arcadia, Alhambra, Sierra Madre, Upland, Laguna Niguel, Rancho Bernardo, Coronado, Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Cucamonga, San Diego and South Pasadena) — and enjoys providing sing-a-long gospel services to southland churches.