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Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Fest, May 24-26

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The Spire Center for Performing Arts
Premieres
Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival
Vocalist Amanda CarrPLYMOUTH, MA Issued April 9, 2014… Plymouth’s Spire Center for Performing Arts proudly presents Plymouth’s first-ever annual Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival throughout Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 24 through Monday, May 26, at 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth.  The festival is the final event in their 2-month long opening celebration of concerts and performances, and will be held annually during the holiday weekend.  The Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of Plymouth Rock Assurance Company.  Additional support has been made possible through the generosity of Eastern Bank.
Local jazz trumpet legend Johnny Souza hosts a wide variety of jazz inspired acts to launch Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival.  On Saturday, May 24 at 7:30 pm, the world renowned Rebecca Parris Trio performs in concert, along with Berklee-based group The Bebop Guitars and The Johnny Souza Quintet.
On Sunday, May 25 at 2:30 pm, high energy jazz act The Yasko Kubota Power Jazz Unit, the Greg Abate Quartet and The Amanda Carr Quintet appear, featuring interviews and live performances.  Several partner social and reception events are in the works with local companies and restaurants.
On Monday, May 26, from 2 to 5 pm, local musicians are welcome to take the stage with the house band during a Jazz Jam Session.  Drums, bass and piano are the afternoon’s performance mainstays while local instrumental and vocal musicians sign up at the door to join in on the act, hosted by Johnny Souza.  Attendees are welcome to perform or listen in from the audience.  Use of a drum set, digital piano, bass amp, vocal mics and house sound system will be available to all performers.
Tickets for the Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival are $25 per day for Saturday and Sunday’s performances.  Tickets for the Jazz Jam Session are $10 for audience members or performers.  Advance ticket purchases are recommended, seating is limited due to capacity.  Individual and corporate sponsorships are available, benefits include ticketing privileges and more.  The Spire is handicap accessible, public parking is available streetside, and in public lots in close proximity.  For more information, to order tickets online, or to learn more about The Spire, please visit our website at www.spirecenter.org, call (508) 746-4488, or follow Spire Center for Performing Arts on Facebook.
About Spire Center for Performing Arts
The Greater Plymouth Performing Arts Center, Inc. (GPPAC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2010, dedicated to performing arts and educational programs, supporting the vibrant arts community in the greater South Shore region.  The organization founded The Spire Center for Performing Arts, a town-owned venue to serve as a mecca for the arts, dedicated to showcasing music, theatre and dance performances, and arts education appealing to all generations from across the Southeastern Massachusetts region.  The Spire’s 225-seat performance hall features superior acoustics, custom state of the art lighting and sound systems and original period architectural details, offering patrons an exceptional performing arts experience.   The historic 3-story building resides in the epicenter of America’s Hometown, where the growing arts vibe infuses the historical and cultural district with creativity year-round.  The Spire’s lower level is dedicated to classrooms for performing arts education and theater troupes, a state of the art recording studio, rehearsal studios and community activities.  A vast variety of music performance and eclectic theater productions fill out the majority of The Spire’s yearly entertainment calendar, including concerts, master classes, theatre events, variety shows and music festivals, offering Plymouth a more diverse entertainment scene than ever before.  The Spire is located at 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth.  For more information, to order tickets online, or to learn more about The Spire, please visit www.spirecenter.org, call (508) 746-4488, or follow Spire Center for Performing Arts on Facebook.
Photos:  Courtesy, Spire Center for Performing Arts
Top Right:  Amanda Carr
Middle Left: Greg Abate
Middle Right:  Johnny Souza
Bottom Left:  The Bebop Guitars

Novel Jazz at Skidompha Public Library, April 24, 2014

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HOT NOVEL JAZZ TO WARM UP YOUR SPRING

Sax up front and center, band in back

Novel Jazz Septet at Skidompha Public Library                             photo by Elaine Jones

Jazz up your SPRING at Skidompha Library!   Novel Jazz Septet will be performing classic jazz at Skidompha Public Library, Damariscotta, ME, on Thursday 24 April, 2014, 7PM to 9:30PM.  The performance will feature Barney Balch (trombone), Mickey Felder (piano), Bryan Jones (alto sax), Dave Clarke (guitar), Michael Mitchell (trumpet),  plus special guest Peter DeKlerk (acoustic bass)  This evening begins their 2014 Skidompha season, bringing live jazz to mid-coast audiences.  Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $6 for young adults 12-18, under 12 accompanied by a parent go free.

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It has been a cool spring but get ready for some hot jazz!  Novel Jazz returns to Skidompha Public Library, Main Street, Damariscotta on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 7-9:30 PM for a special evening of jazz in the library’s atrium.  This will be the band’s first Skidompha performance for 2014.  These events began with the observation that lovers of books often are lovers of jazz.  Moreover, the superb acoustics of Skidompha’s atrium, plus the seating “in the round”, make it a superior place to see and hear the performance, all in a relaxed, informal atmosphere.  The musicians of this group have been playing straight-ahead jazz for audiences throughout Maine (and beyond) for several decades. Collectively, they share over two centuries of experience in the jazz idiom.

As is their habit, they’ll be playing a wide selection of compositions from the Great American Songbook but they’ll also feature works by jazz greats Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, their musical “cornerstones”.  Performing will be Barney Balch (trombone), Mike Mitchell (trumpet), Mickey Felder (piano), Dave Clark (guitar), Bryan Jones (alto saxophone), Mark Macksoud (drums) and special guest Peter DeClerk (acoustic bass).  Peter is an accomplished performer on both acoustic and electric bass, specializing in jazz and musical theater.  He has performed regularly in clubs and theaters throughout Maine since moving his gig north from Pittsburgh five years ago.  He works as a member of the Maine Jazz Cooperative and the Gerry Wright Trio in addition to freelancing.  Peter teaches bass and electronic music at Colby College (and he also composes and does sound design for theater at Colby).

Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $6 for young adults 12-18, under 12 accompanied by a parent go free. We encourage parents to bring their children, the future of this art form.  The library is located on Main Street in downtown Damariscotta.    Call 207-563-5513 during business hours for more information.

Don’t miss Novel Jazz at Skidompha Library in April (Jazz Appreciation Month).  They’ll  put jazz in your spring and spring in your step!

 

 

 

Kat Gang sings Dream Your Troubles Away

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Brown-haired vocalist on CD coverby Peter DeVeber

Kat Gang sings Dream Your Troubles Away.  Holy Smoke!  What a record!  What a band!  Terrific song choices.  Terrific musicians.  There’s a real neatness to this jazz – a kind of Charlie’s Gone By elegance.  Richness in rhythm, voice and plunking.  Hey!  Mike Renzi is a monster – and there are others on this album.  Surely.  The horns the strings all there full.  Not one of these people mailed in their performance.  The solos, the company, yes, flawless.  Pros.  And Kat Gang sings it.  Ellington and Miles would have noticed.  And smiled on this singer.  And on her Solitude and Bye Bye, my two favorites here.  Listen to Kat Gang.  In a group of All-Stars, she is the star.
A big cast with Kat: Bucky Pizzarelli, Mike Renzi, Jay Leonhart, Joe Ascione, Harry Allen, Warren Vache and John Allred.  Five Stars!
13 tracks standards.  Five Stars!
Available at www.amazon.com and visit www.katgang.net <>

Bruce Gast Retirement Concert

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Bruce Gast

photo by Tom Salvas

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Al Kuehn and Don Greenfield
– Producers of the Chicken Fat Ball –
present

A Concert Honoring
BRUCE GAST
for His Many Years as a Producer and Friend of Jazz

 featuring
Bria Skonberg, trumpet
Mike Davis, trumpet
Randy Reinhart, trombone
Herb Gardner, trombone
Dan Levinson, clarinet/sax
Joe Midiri, clarinet
Mark Shane, piano
Derek Smith, piano
Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar
Pat Mercuri, guitar
Mike Weatherly, bass
Jack Hegyi, bass
Matt Hoffmann, drums
Paul Midiri, drums

 Prospect Presbyterian Church

646 Prospect St.
Maplewood, NJ 07040

 Tickets: $35
Contact Al Kuehn at (201) 206-4259

 Soft drinks and snacks will be served.

Net proceeds for this event will be shared with the artists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Concert for Valentines, with Debby Larkin and Jeff Stout

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Debby and Jeff, back to back and smiling

Debby Larkin and Jeff Stout

Monument Music, the Concert Series at the Church of the Holy Name, 60 Monument Ave, (at the corner of Thomas Rd. and Monument Ave.) in Swampscott, MA, presents jazz vocalist, Debby Larkin in an afternoon concert on February 16, beginning at 4PM.  Come join us and bring your valentine to enjoy the romance of the season. There will be a “Meet-The-Band” reception following the concert and you will still have time to take your valentine out for a romantic dinner. Monument Music is very kid friendly, so along with your valentine, you can even bring the whole family. The concert will feature:
Debby Larkin – Vocals
Jeff Stout – Trumpet
Tim Ray – Piano
Mark Carlsen – Bass
Dave Mattacks – drums

Monument Music is celebrating its sixteenth season of bringing live performances of stellar musicians to the North Shore. The suggested donation is $5 at the door, children under twelve are free. For more information, please call 781-771-3286.

 

 

 

Letter to Jane Pauley

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Dear Jane Pauley,

You’ve written a book at being over 50 and changing things.  Here’s one very important thing I hope you can change.  There is much living going on after 50 – but we’re being ignored by the media, especially television, except for Betty White.

She seems to be the only example of old age on TV.  Many of us from 70 to 90+ are having a ball dancing and listening to great Jazz every week – but you won’t see that in the media.

This picture was taken January 4th, 2014 at the Acton Jazz Café, in Acton MA.  It was 10 degrees outside, but plenty HOT inside,  listening to the Seacoast Stompers.

Crowd listeneing to the Seacoast Stompers

Acton Jazz Cafe, January 4, 2014

 

Marce sitting at table with camera and drink, taking notes

Marce at work

 

I’m 78 ½ and created this web site nejazz.com over ten years ago to let people know where they can find our kind of Jazz.  (Note – it has just been re-styled by Erik Kahler so younger people can read it on their phones.)

I listen, take notes and pictures, and write ‘reviews’.

 

Here are some of them: List of Previous Reviews

I’ve been waiting for a long time for the Boomer women, who are now 65+,  to realize that the media wants no part of us ‘old’ people.  (I have another issue about the media making all women want to look younger, as if being OLD was a bad thing!)

Most of us are on Social Security so we don’t spend much money – so the media ignores us.  I hope you can make changes, and that your book gets through to the ‘powers that be’ that growing old isn’t a bad thing, it can be lots of fun!

Good luck!

Marce Enright
www.nejazz.com

Wolverine Jazz Band CD’s

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 Wolverine Jazz Band CD’s -please make payment to John Clark ($17 per cd)

232 Washington Street, Norwood, MA  02062
7-piece Trad Jazz Band

John Clark’s Wolverine Jazz Band

All WJB  recordings feature Jeff Hughes (tpt), Tom Boates (tbn/v), John Clark (clt, bars, bsx), Ross Petot (p), Jimmy Mazzy (bjo/v), Rick MacWilliams (tba), Dave Didriksen (d) and guests!
Wolverine Blues
1 Canal Street Blues 2 Oh, Miss Hannah 3 Creole Love Call 4 Weary Blues 5 I Never Knew 6 Flat Foot 7.Louisiana Fairy Tail 8 My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now 9 Tishomingo 10 How Can You Face Me?
11 Why? 12 Sugarfoot Strut 13 Illusion 14 Wolverine Blues
Just Pretending
1 When My Dreamboat Comes Home 2 After You’ve Gone 3 Snookum 4 Dardanella 5 Lazy 6 The Mooche 7 Riverboat Shuffle 8 Melancholy 9 Just Pretending 10 Shimmeshawabble 11 Arkansas Blues
12 Waiting At The End Of The Road 13 Oriental Man
On The Mall
1 On The Mall 2 I Hate Myself For Loving You 3 Someday, Sweetheart 4 Joy Spring 5 Clementine
6 It’s All Right With Me 7 Aura Lee/Love Me Tender 8 Ostrich Walk 9 Pennies From Heaven
10 Muddy Water 11 Oriental Strut 12 Sugar Babe I’m Leavin’ 13 Yellow Dog Blues 14 Swing That Music
Give Me Some Tempo!
1 Buddy’s Habit 2 Roamin’ 3 Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home? 4 Diga Diga Do 5 Tia Juana
6 Honey Pie 7 Don’t Be Late 8 New Orleans Shuffle 9 In My Adobe Hacienda 10 Heebie Jeebies
11 Love Will Find A Way 12 Jive At Five 13 Time After Time 14 Dip Your Brush In The Sunshine
From All Sides
1 Milenburg Joys 2 Blues In My Heart 3 Stompin’ At The Savoy 4 New Orleans Stomp 5 Goodnight, Angeline 6 King Chanticleer (special guest, Robin Verdier) 7 Nobody’s Sweetheart 8 When Lights Are Low 9 Canal Street Blues 10 My Castle In Spain 11 All Over You 12 Night In Tunisia 13 September In The Rain 14 Dinah
Zero And More
1 Zero 2 More 3 Sweet Jennie Lee 4 Black Cat Moan 5 Dark Eyes (with Scott Philbrick) 6 Strange Blues
7 Lina Blues (with Scott Philbrick) 8 Let Me Call You Sweetheart 9 I Want To Linger 10 Jubilee (with Scott Philbrick) 11 Rose Room 12 I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues 13 Dippermouth Blues (with Scott Philbrick )
Journey
1.  Fidgety Feet2.  Savoy Blues 3.  I Ain’t Lazy – I’m Just Dreaming 4.  Persian Rug 5.  Clarinet Marmalade (clarinet feature)6.  Morning Glory (flugelhorn and piano duet)7.  Blues I Like To Hear 8.  Sensation
9.  Blue Prelude (trombone feature) 10.  Save It, Pretty Mama 11.  Caravan (piano feature) 12.  Creole Belles 13.  Singing The Blues 14.  Horizontal 15.  Roll On,Mississippi
High Society
1. Let Your Lips Touch My Lips 2. Over The Waves 3.  Keep On Doin’ What You’re Doin’ 4.  Cherokee  Maiden 5.  Snake Rag 6.  ‘Round The Bend Of The Road 7.  The Chant 8.  Original Jelly Roll Blues
9.  Love Dreams 10.  Sweet Substitute 11.  Satanic Blues 12.  Down Among The Sheltering Palms
13.  Where The Blue Of The Night 14.  High Society
Wolverine Jazz Band Live- 15th Anniversary!
1.At The Jazzband Ball 2.Dardanella 3.Creole Love Call 4.Down By The Old Mill Stream 5.Sweet Jennie Lee 6.I Ain’t Lazy-I’m Just Dreaming 7.Wolverine Blues 8.St. James Infirmary 9.Weary Blues 10.Caravan 11.Blue Prelude 12.Dinah 13.On The Mall
The Street Beat
South Rampart Street Parade/I’ll Dance At Your Wedding/How Could I Be Blue?/Gatemouth/Chimes Blues/I’m Gonna Gitcha/Potato Head Blues/Memphis Blues/Cake Walkin’ Babies/Come Back Sweet Papa/Toll Gate Blues/Cushion Foot Stomp/Birmingham Breakdown/Old Cape Cod/Dans Le Rue D’Antibes
Egyptian Ella   featuring Bob Barta on banjo and vocals
The Chant/Creole Belle/I’m In Heaven/Egyptian Ella/Snookum/Rose Room/Darkness On The Delta/Cakewalkin’ Babies/Flat Foot/An Evening In Caroline/I Want To Linger/Shimmeshawabble/Why/Weary Blues
Other John Clark recordings . . .
Two For Tea
Featuring John Clark (clt/ss/as/ts/bars) and Henry “thins Francis (piano and vocals)
1.Riverboat Shuffle (Hoagy Carmichael) 2.Willow Tree (Fats Waller) 3.Tea for Two (Vincent Youmans)
4.Blues Is Bad (Fats Waller) 5.The Entertainer (Scott Joplin) 6.Medley:You Go to My Head/Louisiana Fairy Tale/Santa Claus Is Coming to Town 7.Beale Street Blues (W. C. Handy) 8.Sophisticated Lady (Duke Ellington) 9.Panama 10.The Mooche (Duke Ellington) 11.Ja-Da 12.Nuages (Django Reinhardt)
13.Richard Rodgers Medley: Where or When/You Are Too Beautiful/Blue Room 15.I’m Coming Virginia
16,I’ll Always Be in Love with You
Music From The Great Gatsby
Blue Syncopators with Billy Novick leader/clarinet/sax, John Clark clarinet/sax, Mike Peipman trumpet, Dan Fox trombone, Ross Petot piano, Jon Wheatley banjo/guitar, Stu Gunn tuba/string bass, Louise Grasmere vocals, Dane Vannater vocals 
1.What’ll I Do 2.Charleston 3.Dance of the Ashes 4.Jazz Me Blues 5.Yellow Dog Blues 6.He May Be Your Man 7.Sheik of Araby 8.Nick’s Shadow 9.Maid to Order 10.Swipesy Cakewalk 11.Shake That Thing 12.Wild Man Blues 13.Cityscape 14.A Night for Love 15.Wobbles 16.We’re All Going Calling On the Kaiser 17.Exotique 18.St. Louis Blues 19.Gatsby and Daisy Pas de Deux

23rd International Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival in Hungary

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Bohém Newsletter
Dear Jazz Friend,

Some important and urgent news/notifications, please read what interests you:

1. Visit Hungary’s best classical jazz festival! (Even if you don’t intend to come, check out the GREAT videos below!)
2. Our new CD is out.
3. Tour in the USA.

1. GREAT line up, great offers: visit the 23rd International Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival in Hungary (March 28-30, 2014)!
We have been putting up our small but great festival every year since 1992. Even circumstances have been worse and worse, we are still alive and proud to announce that we’ll have our 23rd Bohém Festival as one of the strongest regarding the line up. The festival is entitled “New York, New York!” and it is really worth to visit. Line up includes:
The EarRegulars (featuring Jon-Erik Kellso on trumpet and Scott Robinson on reeds)
Aaron Weinstein on violin (all from New York)
Ondrej Havelka and the Melody Makers from Prague, the best orchestra playing the music of the 20’s and 30’s (the other equally very best such orchestra is the Bratislava Hot Serenaders, they have played at our festival twice already)
Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band (us, this time with a surprise guest and novelty approach)
and other Hungarian musicians

If you haven’t signed up yet, please, read: We are offering 7-day tour packages as well, so you have the chance to see some of our beatiful country besides hearing many great musicians. If you sign up and complete your payment this year, you’ll be getting a complimentary package (Festival T-shirt, DVD and wine for the 7-day package attendees / Festival T-shirt if you come only for the weekend). See details at the festival’s website: http://www.bohemragtime.com/en/act.html

Download the flyer for Festival packages here (you might have received it by regular mail, too): http://www.bohemragtime.com/upload/fest/14-touristinfo.pdf

Payment for packages or tickets is possible through our Bohém Webshop, too: http://www.bohemragtime.com/en/tickets.html

And here are two videos of our 2014 festival performers:

The EarRegulars (Chinatown, my Chinatown): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTkPYlBRLqM
Melody Makers (at the beginning there is a little chat in Czech which I don’t undersatnd a word of but it is worth to watch the whole video! Havelka sings and tap dances, he is a genius): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSOD3SMwSd0

(you can search YouTube for Havelka and the Melody Makers, all videos are great)

2. Bohém Originals: our new CD is out!
We have released our newest album in November. It contains only self-composed tunes, 21 tunes by our 3 band members. Great music, great recording, really 🙂 We had a concert introducing the album and I was surprised to see and hear how very well the music was received. Sounds like good old American ragtime and jazz tunes with a bit Hungarian flavour 🙂 You can listen to “Our Lovely Beer” from the CD by visiting our Soundcloud channel: https://soundcloud.com/bohemragtime

The Bohém Originals CD can be ordered from the Bohém Webshop at: http://www.bohemragtime.com/en/cds.html

3. Tour in the USA in January:
I will be touring the US for 2 weeks in January, playing 8 concerts in St. George (Utah), Green Valley (Arizona) and San Francisco, Sutter Creek and Rio Vista in California. Please, drop me an email if you are interested to know the exact venues and times. (European friends would not be interested, anyway, so I am not wasting their time with details here…)

I hope to see you at the Bohém Festival in Hungary, if not earlier! 🙂

And on behalf of the whole band I wish you a very successful, jazzy Happy New Year!

With Bohém regards,

Tamás Ittzés

CD: L’amour, Brigitte Zarie

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CD picture of dark-haired girl with head thrown back

Review, by Peter DeVeber

To paraphrase Peter Bonventre of Newsweek magazine on his leaving the Boston Garden and a Hagler fight in November 1978, “Marvelous Marvin is a beautiful fighter!” – well, “Brigitte Zarie is a beautiful singer.”

Oh, that bass!  And Randy Brecker featured on 2 tunes.  Oh, that horn!  First class production.  Big orchestra sound.  Nice instrumentation.  Now, Brigitte, it’s Good to Be Home listening to this on Quiet Nights with Nobody Else – 12 tunes impeccably swinging – crisp and beat.

My favorite female vocalist Anita O’Day.  Brigitte is a new favorite – not the edge of a Miss O’Day, but as full voiced and vibrant and lyrical.  And sincere.  I see myself at Charlie’s Gone By listening to both.  Whoa!  Wow!  Outstanding!  And elegant!

Brigitte is an extraordinary songwriter too – except for Walk the Line and Quiet Nights (Corcovado), she wrote all of the songs on L’amour – music by Brigitte Zarie and Neil Jason; lyrics by Brigitte Zarie.  I’m hearing standards all over the place.

To paraphrase Bonventre again, “Brigitte is a beautiful songwriter.”  L’amour highly highly recommended.  It is a story.  And it is jazz.  L’amour is available at iTunes and Amazon and Brigitte’s website http://brigittezarie.com/

Brigitte Zarie, by Peter DeVeber

Brigitte Zarie, by Peter DeVeber

– Peter DeVeber