Jeff and Joel's House Party
Part   One    Two    Three

Guilford, Connecticut - February 11 & 12, 2012
Videos on You Tube. Check YouTube CineDevine

15 guy musicians and Bria Skonberg on the steep 1804 staircase
From the top, Freddy Vigorito, Bria Skonberg, Robin Verdier, Joel Schiavone (with banjo), Albie Bernard, Bob Barta, Kevin Dorn, Craig Grant, Herb Gardner. On the staircase, Lew Green, Jeff Barnhart (with flowers) Joe Midiri, Vince Giordano, Jimmy Mazzy, Tom Palinko.

What a FANTASTIC WEEKEND!   Donna and Joel Schiavone opened their 1804 home, moved the furniture out of the dining and living rooms, and created a Cabaret.  Jeff Barnhart organized fourteen of the best Traditional Jazz and Ragtime musicians in an astounding round robin of jazz, all in the intimate setting of this historic, elegant farmhouse in Guilford, Connecticut.

To top it off, Vince Giordano's CD, Boardwalk Empire Volume I, won the Grammy Award that day for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.  This is the first time since the1930's that our kind of music has won a Grammy award!!  Eric Devine interviewed him before the results were announced. Vince Giordano Interview

What made this weekend so much fun was the mystery of it all.  Jeff Barnhart gave the musicians a listing of the groups and leaders.  That's it, no script.  Each group had one song to play.  One!  When it was their turn, they stepped up front, their leader named the song (with some discussion) somebody yelled out a key, and they played.  Oh did they play!!  No amplification - only the vocalists had mics, and the audience was so close the clarinets and trombones had to turn sideways. 

The musicians had a ball trying to figure out who was going to play what, anticipating, challenging, goading each other, sometimes getting into duels. Nobody knew what was going to happen next.  Now, this is jazz!! 

Freddy Vigorito put it succinctly.

Jeff Barnhart sitting in front of the vertical strings of the open front, Kimball piano and laughing
Jeff Barnhart created the "musicians' list"

The first band was Lew Green cornet, Noel Kaletsky clarinet, Herb Gardner trombone,  Jeff Barnhart on the powerful, antique Kimball piano, Bob Barta banjo, and Tom Palinko drums.  They set the weekend off with a tempestuous South.

Herb on extended trombone, with Lew and Noel and the rest of the band

Group two -Hindustan featured Freddy Vigorito cornet, Joe Midiri clarinet, Craig Grant trombone, Robin Verdier piano, Al Bernard tuba, Kevin Dorn drums, Jim Mazzy banjo.  Eloquent conversation between cornet and drums. Joe Midiri hit high register on clarinet - all weekend! It was great having him here.

Band Number 2

Kevin Dorn with brushes on snare drum Joe, Fred, and Noel watch Jimmy sing and play banjo
Kevin Dorn   & Albie Bernard                                             Jimmy sings Hindustan

Group 3 played Shine, featuring two trombones: Herb Gardner, who has played with all the great bands, is one of the few musicians left who played at Eddy Condon's. Craig Grant is one tall musician, with a long reach on that trombone.

both Herb and Craig with slides extended fulll length
By now, all our feet were tapping and we were completely absorbed with the high quality Traditional Jazz we were hearing - marvelous!

Bria with eyes closed, four fingers pointing straight up, playing muted trumpet

Group 4 was led By Bria Skonberg's arresting tone on trumpet , with Jeff piano, Joe, Craig, Bob Barta, Vince, and Palinko, with a great vocal on a Billie Holiday tune by Bria, Them There Eyes.

This young woman started playing trumpet at 12 in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Skip a few years. Her all-woman jazz band, the Mighty Aphrodite, bowled over fans at the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Festival.  We first heard her when Bria Skonberg and Jim Fryer's Borderline Jazz Band toured the eastern seaboard in April 2009.  She has since moved to New York, and continues to play in traditional New Orleans style especially at Birdland with the David Ostwalt's Louis Armstrong Centennial Band.

Joe and Bria watch Craig on trombone. In the background, there's a portrait of a naked lady, full front view, with arms outstretched way over her head. She appears in almost every photo.
Craig plays deep, rich, melodic tones on his trombone.
Tom Palinko intently listening to the band while he plays drums
Tom's drums took the intro to
a dynamic Diga Diga Do		 Vince with his eyes clothes slapping the bass
Vince Giordano slapping away on that silver string bass.

Banjo time! Group 5 featured the banjos of Joel Schiavone, Bob Barta, and Jimmy Mazzy, with powerful support from Robin, Kevin and Albie for Louisiana and a wildfire of an old WWII song, It's a Long Way to Tipperary. You Can't Beat That!!

Joel standing, Bob & Jimmy sitting, all on banjo
Bob Barta standing for solo
Joan Boutelle photo

Banjo virtuoso Bob Barta was featured on solo banjo and vocal, with Joel and Jimmy playing harmony, on what he called "a classical tune", Bach in Your Own Bach Yard, with one of our favorite tuba players, Albie Bernard.

Band 5 drifts off to the left through the dining room, while Band 6 strolls in from the right through the living room, a reasonable traffic flow because of the narrow path between the seats.  (It worked most of the time!) We must apologize for the naked lady in all the pictures - there was no avoiding her.  She is a work of art, and has become a symbol for all of Joel's volunteers.  Whenever they run into each other, they  raise their arms in the same manner; it's their secret 'handshake'. 

Band 6 introduced some West Coast Jazz, Lu Watter's 1946-47 Big Bear Stomp, with two cornets, Freddy and Lew, and two banjos, Jimmy and Bob, with Herb and Noel in the front line, and Jeff, Kevin, and Albie rhythm,   WOW!

 Herb trombone, Lew cornet, Fred cornet, Noel clarinet

Pushed by the rhythm section in breakneck tempo, they went WILD!  It was so lively and vibrant that Jeff Barnhart stood up, hammering at the piano. It was an emotional, powerful, performance!

Joe Maag of New Jersey, was enjoying every minute of this. 

You may remember him, always with a blinking light in his red newsboy hat, dancing with his Mrs. at all of Anna Anna Wahler’s Buck Creek Jazz Parties.

Joe  belongs to the New Jersey Jazz Society, International Association of Record Collectors, Duke Ellington Society of New York, and the American Rag.

 

These folks arrived early and grabbed the front seats!!


Left Jean Hadley (our hostess),  front row Marty Fay, Joan Boutelle, Sue Finn and Sue Breig


Joan Boutelle photo

Joel says:
"It takes a lot of effort to put on anything, the house party is no exception. First the wonderful musicians who have spent a lifetime perfecting their musical skills, Second Jeff Barnhart who got them all enthusiastic about his unusual format and kept it moving for 12 hours.

Then of course the volunteers who have been supporting jazz festivals for 20 years, Maureen Cunningham, Glen and Carol Ott, Judy Postemsky, John Hedden and Irene Cowern who did our publicity, Donna Bello my wife who was the behind the scenes organizer of everything.

The large number of attendees who cheered the band and the entire event, and finally Isaac Benton who had the foresight in 1804 to build a house capable of handling 16 musicians including 4 banjo players, a crowd of enthusiastic supporters, assorted volunteers, 2 dogs and a maccaw . It is hoped that this type of event will spawn others throughout the northeast and keep traditional music alive. "

 

Jeff & Joel's House Party,  Part  One    Two    Three

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By Marce, Updated Feb. 2012