Jazzville, NJ

The Gas House Gorillas Throw It Down At Robin’s Nest In Linden

// January 25th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // Blues Events

Jazzville, NJ's D.A. Gutierrez caught up with Gas House Gorillas lead singer Rick Fink & outgoing drummer Angelo Merendino during a break.

So after listening to the smooth and refined Bobby Caldwell earlier in the day, we headed down to the Robin’s Nest in Linden to check out what is probably the most underknown band on the music scene today – The Gas House Gorillas!

JazzvilleNJ founder D.A. Gutierrez has been raving about these guys forever, but the timing and location never worked out. But when he heard they were performing so close by, he practically dragged me to the show. Boy, am I glad he did!

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Chicago Jazz Fest Tickles And Delights

// September 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // Jazz Events, Recaps & Reviews

Rene Marie & her High Maintenance Quartet opened their set with a jazz-laden version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit"

Most people celebrate Labor Day with one final beach outing or barbeque. But for the past 30 years, Chicago natives have been marking the end of summer with a lakefront music festival. The Chicago Jazz Festival always strives to bring audiences a wide range of jazz styles, and this year was no different. The 32nd  annual event was expanded to three locations over several days and showcased an eclectic bill of artists.
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Bickford Audience Boogie Woogies With Bob Milne

// August 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Bickford Theatre, Morristown, NJ, Jazz Events

Self-taught ragtime and boogie-woogie pianist Bob Milne travels the world making these difficult piano formats look easy for audiences. PHOTO CREDIT: Dogwood Center For Performing Arts

“Why do I play everything by ear? Because the audience listens by ear,” explained ragtime and boogie-woogie pianist Bob Milne during a Q&A session following his August 16^th performance at The BickFord Theatre.

The self-taught musician left an indelible mark on the Jazz SummerFest series that’s been taking place in Morristown these last few weeks. His low-key, unassuming manner allowed the music to take center stage that night. Milne’s storytelling took audience members on a journey through time as he described the cultural and musical background behind each piece he performed. Through the course of the evening, we traveled from New Orleans to Michigan and everywhere in between, getting a feel for how jazz evolved from the late 1800s to the early part of the twentieth century.

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Anat Cohen and Jamie Cullum Bring Down The House At The Newport Jazz Festival (Newport 2010 Recap, Part 6 of 6)

// August 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Jazz Events, Recaps & Reviews

Clarinetist Anat Cohen drops jaws with a riveting solo at the Newport Jazz Festival.

With heavy hearts, D.A. and I geared up for the last two sets of the day. We managed to find great close-up seats at Harbor Stage for clarinetist Anat Cohen, whom we had seen earlier with George Wein’s Newport Allstars. Once she launched into her first song, it was obvious why she had been part of that brilliant group of musicians.

What can I say about her playing that could do her technique justice? The girl’s got soul and funk, plain and simple. Each note seemed to take the very last breath from her body. At times she played one-handed in order to wipe the sweat from her brow. Sometimes she scrunched her face and twisted her body, as if the melody was being taken from her very soul. Likewise, it was truly fascinating to watch Cohen wandering the stage in between her solos. Alternating between fits of ecstasy, bouts of anger or simply smiling at someone off stage, all eyes were glued to her to see what she would do next.

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Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society Throws It Down At The Newport Jazz Festival (Newport 2010 Recap, Part 2 of 6)

// August 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Recaps & Reviews

Conductor Darcy James Argue leads the Secret Society in one of several thrilling compositions performed at the 2010 Newport Jazz Festival.

After managing not to fall overboard during our water taxi ride to Fort Adams State Park, D.A. and I headed straight for Harbor Stage to grab close-up seats for the morning’s most anticipated set – Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society.

We pretended he was waving at us during sound check, even though he was really trying to get the technician’s attention. (But hey, one can dream right?) In any case, the place was buzzing by the time the show began. The Canadian jazz composer (turned NYC native) and the members of his 18 piece steampunk big band humbly took the stage after Darcy was introduced as “the most talked-about artist in the genre today thanks to his debut album Infernal Machines.” With that, he led them into their first song, “Transit.”

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Newport Jazz Fest 2010 – A Survival Guide For Those Left Behind

// August 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // Commentary, History, Jazz Events, News

The Ben Allison Quartet performing during my fateful 2007 Newport Jazz Festival trip.

In August of 2007, I took a week-long road trip through New England with a friend of mine. The first night’s itinerary called for a stop in my favorite New England town – Newport, Rhode Island.

Since the trip was a spur-of-the-moment event, I was blissfully unaware that we were about to drive into town on one of the most popular summer weekends – that of the Newport Jazz Festival. After driving around to a few bed & breakfasts, we realized finding a room was not going to be easy. But it was only after speaking with the folks at the majestic Hotel Viking and being quoted a rate of $700/night that we found out why we were having such trouble.

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Look Who’s Talkin All Dat Jazz

// July 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Jazz Events, News

Musician and producer Shephatiah's album aims to bridge the gap between jazz lovers and hip hop fans.

A post recently caught my attention, and I thought Jazzville, NJ readers would find it just as interesting. So here goes:

What do you get when you mix classic jazz melodies and modern hip hop beats? No, it’s not Jay-Z or any of his peers doing a rap rendition of “Moanin.” Surprisingly, you’re given a 19-track jazz compilation of blues and soul numbers with a DJ vibe to usher in a new era of jazz.

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The Jazz Lobsters Are The Cat’s Meow! (w/ audio clip)

// July 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Bickford Theatre, Morristown, NJ, Jazz Events, Recaps & Reviews

The Jazz Lobsters big band performing at the New Jersey Jazz Society's Jazzfest 2008. PHOTO CREDIT: New Jersey Jazz Society

I almost fell out of my chair this afternoon when I read that The Jazz Lobsters rose to fame over the years by mostly performing at wedding receptions and parties. Are you kidding me? These guys definitely don’t fall under the cheesy “wedding singer or band” category!

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A Return To Nostalgia: String of Pearls Review (w/ audio)

// July 13th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Bickford Theatre, Morristown, NJ, Recaps & Reviews

Holli Ross, Sue Halloran and Jeanne O'Connor make up the String of Pearls vocal jazz trio. PHOTO CREDIT: Judy Jalbert / ionaprint.com

As the female vocal trio took the stage last night at The Bickford Theater wearing leg and neck braces and sporting crutches, I thought, “Uh-oh, I’m in for a long night.” My fears were somewhat confirmed when the group started singing “Crazy People” and overdramatizing their “injuries.”

But once they took the props off (all done as a sort of gag to support member Holli Ross who recently underwent surgery) and launched into numbers such as “A String of Pearls,” “Mr. Sandman” and “Sukiyaki,” it became obvious why String of Pearls has achieved the worldwide following that it has.

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A Little (belated) Thanksgiving Jazz Humor

// December 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Commentary

Ok, admittedly this has little to nothing to do with New Jersey, but it does deal with Jazz and being that we just had Thanksgiving a few days ago, I figured I’d be forgiven for sharing this humorous litle ditty.

Sung by Garrison Keillor of NPR’s “A Prarie Home Companion“, here is a humorous recounting of some (presumably) fictional Thanksgiving statistics.

Listen here:

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