Several hundred singing and dancing participants gathered to at the Trask Memorial Staircase at Congress Street Park for a second line march led by Glen David Andrews Band. The parade route snaked its way through the park to Phila Street ending in front of the Caffe. The audience was greeted by a performance stage complete with a large TV monitor on the side to enjoy any performances inside the caffe. Their was an endless supply of free food donated by the local merchants that ranged from sushi to vegan burgers, tacos, salad and the baked goods that the caffe is famous for along with beer, wine, soft drinks to wash it all down.
At the end of Phila Street, the Caffe AV team was ready to entertain the crowd. Poet Laureate Joe Bruchac recited his poem dedicated the heartbeat of life and played his flute.
An outdoor stage along with a large screen monitor. Performers and speakers were featured on the stage along with performers on the Caffe stage on the monitor so all could see.
Local bands as diverse as world music “Heard”, “Jeffrey Brisbin” and cross genre “Michael Eck”were there to give tribute.
Included was a video memorializing Moss. Rachel Moss testified as to how he loved Saratoga and its arts community.
Composer Mark Shaiman spoke of his recent partnership with Moss on the musical “Mary Poppins Returns”.
Composer John Wager, who had a long association with Moss, said he was a major inspiration for him to “Do What You Love”.
They both spoke of collaborations and musical events that dated back to the late 60s.
Joel was well known for his ability to recognize successful collaborations between musicians of different genres such as the piano of Azzam Hameed and the singing/songwriting of Judy.
The last project that Joel was involved was youth jazz band, Jazz Pebbles. They were given a spot on the Caffe stage.
The performance that summed up the day was given by Cassandra Kubinski’s rendition of “Both Sides Now”. Joel Moss would have been proud on both sides of the rainbow. I could feel him smiling from the other side.
Much credit should be given to the Caffe’s team headed by Reese Fulmer, Joe Deuel, Paul Macchabee which was responsible for the fine sound, production values and the ability to stream the memorial on YouTube. Thanks of course to all the corporate sponsors and private donors that make the Caffe possible.
