Photos/Writer: Rudy Lu
It was a beautiful morning. If you wandered over to Shephard’s Park in the early morning. One of the behind the scenes heroes, the piano tuner was preparing the grand for the workout it would receive for the day.
Across the street at the Hello Sunshine Bagel Bistro, some attendees were waking up to the Chad McLoughlin trio. Chad is originally from upstate, NY, he was in metro NYC until recently. The trio which included Rich Syracuse (bass) and Jeff Siegel(drums). A nice combination of standards and originals were played to wake up the crowd.
The Shephard Park stage was the scene of 4 varied performances early afternoon through to the evening.
Vocalist Michael Mayo (Mack Avenue) opened the day with his brand of jazz vocals. Heavily-influenced by neo soul and hip-hop as well, the music is clearly jazz. He uses his voice more like a musical instrument rather than delivering lyrics. His band has consists of Andrew Freedman(keyboards),Robin Baytas(drums) and Kyle Miles on bass. He performed numbers from his CD “Bones” and his upcoming release “Fly”.
His own “Bag of Bones ” opened the set. The standard made famous by Charlie Parker “Just Friends” was delivered in a conversational but sad tone that reflected the end of a romance and letting it all go. Fancyscatting was noted throughout his set with Baytas, Freedman and Miles adding their own voices on each of many tunes, Saxophonist Ben Wendel, guested on “Fly”. The Miles Davis standard “Four” ended the set.
Ben Wendel led his quartet through a series of abstract impressionistic music. The music of a video project of the seasons was part of the performance. Guitarist Gilad Hekselman was featured in October. The impressionistic “In Anima” was also featured in the varied set. Use of multi layered guitar reverb and electronics with Ben’s saxophone were figured prominently in the set. Harish Ragavan (bass) and Nate Wood (drums ) added to the texture of the varied music.
Ullysses Owens Generation Y (Jazz Cellar Live) present a different aspect of the genre, with his young band playing soul jazz and bebop jazz with freshness, swing and vitality. His front end of Anthony Hervey (trumpet), Erena Terakub (alto sax) can be put against any of the stars. Tyler Bullock’s piano and Guillermo Lopez’ bass also added spice to the mix. Owens is a professor at Julliard, his aim with this band is for it to become a 20th century version of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, a laboratory for younger musicians to develop and go off with successful solo careers. Ulysses Owens is the drummer/leader of the band is only 41 (young by jazz standards), he has certainly earned the respect and has the instincts of an older master. Self penned “Sticks” is certainly reminiscent yet refreshing interpretation of the genre.
The closing concert was after a dinner break, Nicole Zuraitis who made an appearance in 2019. Since than she has picked up a Grammy, for best jazz vocal album for 2023. Her amazing vocal range, soulful voice and tight arrangements with her band made for an entertaining performance. Drummer/husband Dan Pugach was responsible for many of the swinging arrangements, Idan Morim (guitar) and Sam Weber (bass) rounded out the band. Nicole’s dog Bella never left her side during the performance. Bella later tragically passed on a few days later. A surprise piano duet with MC/curator Daniel Kelly delighted the audience as well as the musicians themselves. They could not leave the stage without her touching cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”.
So ended Day 2, Day 3 was to come.
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