I seemed to have blinked and …BAM … Summer is over.  And what a whirlwind it was.  Unfortunately I don’t always have the chance to update this blog as often as I would like and so here is a wrap up of the summer and some thoughts on what is coming up this fall and winter.  For me the past several months have been a real blur. moving from one event to the other and back again.  While the Summer JazzFest had its opening weekend the first week of July with the great Les Paul Trio I was down in Atlantic City all week opening up a new club venue at Resorts Casino.  I had the onerous job of Music Director, conductor and entertainment coordinator for this new club which was billed as a new night club with Music, Comedy and Fun.  As the Philadelphia Inquirer said “…Club Piscopo feels like a Rat Pack-era Las Vegas joint with an opulently snazzy decor and drop-ins by Piscopo’s comic pals, such as SNL‘s Father Guido Sarducci.”   So the club ran all summer, it was great fun and I was fortunate to be able to bring down some great talent including one of my favorite singers out there today, Champian Fulton.  We even taped a Television special for SHOWTIME so look for Joe Piscopo (and yours truly) on your small screens sometime next Spring!

Skipping back and forth from AC to Red Bank some side trips up north and into Canada for other shows I ended up missing several of the JazzFest evenings although I heard great things about them all.  Nicki Parrott, Lou Pallo and John Colianni, keeping up the Les Paul tradition, tore up the opening weekend and played each night to a sold out house.  All the other artists on the whole 6 week series performed beautifully. RALPH BOWEN from Rutgers Univ, CHARENEE WADE and her trio, WALLACE ROONEY, the MINGUS DYNASTY and BRUCE WILLIAMS helped to make this a most memorable season for us.  I dont know how we can top that next year, but we will try!

Also, we did manage to inaugurate the first Summer Jazz Camp for Teens this August as part of our Jazz Arts Academy.  For one week about 25 young talented students participated in all-day classes workshops and ensemble sessions learning all about jazz improvisation and performance.  Many of you may have seen our  students give a showcase performance on our last week of Summer JazzFest.  They performed brilliantly and I am so very proud of them. As many of our other projects and events this will no doubt become an annual course perhaps expanding next year to more than one week.

JAZZ ARTS ACADEMY classes begin soon!

The first week of October starts our fall semester of the Jazz Arts Academy.  This is a year round comprehensive training program providing real world experience to aspiring teen jazz musicians.  Now beginning our 2nd full year we are confident that the program will continue and positively affect the lives of many of this area’s youth. Thanks to the folks over at the Count Basie Theatre we are proud to be a part of their own Performing arts academy program.  If you know of any teens who play any instrument and have an interest in jazz please let them know about this great program.  It is designed to compliment and enhance any in-school programs that are available and to go much further in depth in terms of experience and progress on their instrument.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO about the Jazz Arts Academy.  Needs based tuition assistance is available for any interested students who may not be able to afford it.

BOSCOV’S NEW STORE OPENING

Here is an interesting item:  This year Boscov’s department store has generously partnered with selected non-profit organizations including Jazz Arts Project Inc. to present a special GALA PREVIEW of their beautiful new store at the Monmouth Mall.  The event takes place on WEDNESDAY OCT.  5th – 10 am to 9:30 pm.  It is a ticketed event ( Only $5 ) and includes entertainment, refreshments, special store bonuses and discounts available only that day at the store… AND our own Jazz Academy Students will be performing at 7:00 pm right on the main floor of the store.  Tickets must be purchased in advance.

    CLICK HERE FOR THE BOSCOV’S EVENT INFO  Proceeds from ticket sales benefit our Academy Education Fund and Tuition Assistance Programs.

AND FINALLY…

SAVE THE DATE:   THIS YEAR THE SINATRA BIRTHDAY BASH IS ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 9th!

The line up for this year is already selected and it is promising to be a wonderful show!  Tickets will be available at the Count Basie Theatre box Office.  Get them early we expect a sell out as usual.

Meanwhile don’t forget to sign up or update your contact info on our mailing list so we can keep you informed of our events.

Hope to see you soon

Forever Onward and Upward!

Joe Muccioli (Mooche)

Anyway, I was there as guest conductor with the Adelaide Symphony. We did two concerts in the beautiful Adelaide Entertainment Center Theater that were billed as a Symphonic Tribute to Miles Davis. The soloist with me was trumpeter James Morrison who is considered to be Australian jazz royalty.  He is well known in that part of the world and throughout Europe, having had an illustrious career including tours, recordings and performances with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and BB King to name a few.

This program was an interesting and I believe unique approach to this music. I put together several of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans arrangements and then reconstructed and re-orchestrated them for full symphony from the original jazz orchestrations.  We included some of the music from the albums Miles Ahead, Porgy & Bess; an overture knitted together with one of my original pieces; sections of Stravinsky’s Firebird suite; and for the second half of the concert the entire Sketches of Spain album. The Adelaide Symphony played brilliantly and James handled the solos with such beauty, excitement and panache that the audience was clearly mesmerized throughout with tremendous ovations at the end and demanding our impromptu encore.

Although this music is etched into the jazz repertoire, much of it is influenced by and representative of the classical symphonic realm.  And while it is always difficult to get such a large symphonic orchestra to sound natural in jazz settings with the proper swing rhythms and feeling, the Adelaide Symphony was up for the challenge and pulled it off astonishingly well. kudos to them and I only hope I will be invited back again soon.

So, now back to work.  Jazz Arts Project has had a very busy year so far.  Our Jazz Arts Academy students are doing extremely well.  We are into our third semester course and the showcase at Zebus back in February was delightful and inspiring.  We are now preparing for another one in June so stay tuned.  After that of course was the double hit in April with our “Art of Jazz” exhibit and gala at the Butterfly gallery and the annual ‘Talkin Jazz” series”.   these were fun events and thank you all for showing up and supporting our efforts!

Now we are on to preparing for the ever popular “Summer JazzFest” at the Two River Theater.  Last year we were named by the Tri-City News as a “Pick of the Year” and this year is proving to be an exciting lineup as well.  It all begins on Friday July 1st and continues each Friday AND Saturday night through August 6th… mark you calendars!  We are just now putting the final touches on the schedule and we will announce it as soon as possible.  I hope to see you all there.

Please don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list and, if you havn’t already send in your supporting membership donations.  We simply can’t do these wonderful programs without your support.

so, for now…. Cheers mate and Hoo Roo!

Joe Muccioli

This April Jazz Arts

Project Presents:

Talkin’ Jazz 2011

A free weekly lecture series throughout April

Click here to register

April is Jazz Appreciation month as declared by the US Congress and supported and promoted by the Smithsonian Institute. While we here at the Jazz Arts Project feel that it’s important to appreciate jazz year round, we will be holding a series of talks by jazz luminaries this spring that serve as a great introduction to jazz for novices or as a wonderful extension of knowledge for connoisseurs. The lectures will take place this year at the Count Basie Theatre every Monday in April. This roster of speakers is one of our finest to date, and we are very excited to present them to you, as always, free of charge. Space is limited however, so you should register today to ensure a spot!

Each Monday in April at 7:00pm

Monday, April 4th at 7:00 pm – Bruce Williams -”Improvisation and Education”

Bruce Williams is a powerful alto saxophonist who hails from our nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. Bruce has performed, toured, and recorded with a long roster of jazz legends – The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Stanley Cowell, The Count Basie Orchestra, The World Saxophone Quartet, the Roy Hargrove Big Band, RH Factor, KRS 1, and the Red Bank Jazz Orchestra to name a few. Bruce continues to tour all over the world and performs regularly in the NYC, NJ, DC, and Philly areas. His music is filled with spirit, soul, intellect, groove, and freedom. A noted jazz educator and mentor to young jazz musicians; Bruce has given master classes at Ohio State, Iowa State, and the Paris Conservatory in France. He has served as adjunct saxophone instructor at the New School for Social Research, and at Princeton, and William Paterson Universities in New Jersey while continuing to nurture a healthy roster of private students of his own. Bruce’s talk will focus on how to teach improvisation, and why programs that provide a background in jazz music to young musicians are vital to us now more than ever.

April 11th Ricky Ricardi – “What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years”

Ricky Riccardi is the author of the upcoming book, “What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years” (Pantheon, June 2011). He holds a B.A. in journalism and an M.A. in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers University. He has lectured at the Institute of Jazz Studies, at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and at the annual Satchmo SummerFest in New Orleans. He is the author of a popular Armstrong blog (http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/) and is himself a jazz pianist. He is the Project Archivist for the Louis Armstrong House Museum. He lives in New Jersey.

Join Ricky for a journey through the last 25 years of Armstrong’s life. Riccardi will debunk many previously held notions about Armstrong’s later career, sharing unique audio and video footage, much of it previously unreleased.”

April 18th – Bill Crow – “Jazz Jokes and Anecdotes”

When jazz musicians get together, they often regale one another with stories about the players and singers they’ve worked with. They pass around jokes, one-liners, quick-witted retorts. Take a look behind the scenes at the inside humor of jazz. Join special guest, master bassist and author Bill Crow, as you find out about the hip silliness of the Jazz world.

April 25 – Dorthaan Kirk and Sheila Anderson – “The State of Jazz”

Dorthaan Kirk is the widower of the late saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and since his death in 1977 manages his images, music and administers his publishing company, Rokir Music Corporation. She was one of the founders of WBGO Jazz 88.3 in the late 70′s and continues her work there in various administrative capacities.

Sheila Anderson‘s path to jazz radio has been long and circuitous. Along the way she has worked as a member of the NAACP board of directors, at publishing companies Random House, Grove House and several others, and as the president of the Bookbinder’s Guild of New York. She has hosted a variety of jazz radio programs since 1995 on WBGO Newark, and is also the one-woman producer of “The Art of Jazz,” a weekly television program for Time Warner Cable. Ms. Anderson has written two books, “The Quotable Musician: From Bach to Tupac,” and “How to Grow as a Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed.”

Join these two extremely accomplished figures in jazz as they discuss the state of the music today, and what we can do to ensure its continued growth and development.

“The Art of Jazz”

Gala Opening April 2nd at Butterfly Fine Arts Gallery in Red Bank

Come celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with this Month-Long Exhibition of jazz-related fine art, photographs, and memorabilia. April is Jazz Appreciation month as declared by the US Congress and supported and promoted by the Smithsonian Institute. While we here at the Jazz Arts Project feel that it’s important to appreciate jazz year round, this year we will be presenting an exhibition of jazz-related visual art in association with the Butterfly Fine Arts Gallery in Red Bank. To kick off this month-long art show, we will be hosting an opening night benefit gala on April 2nd. In addition to the wonderful paintings, photographs, sculpture, and memorabilia, we will be offering a special musical performance of world class jazz along with fine wines and hors d’ourves.

The exhibition will include original art works from local and national artists including oils, watercolors sketches, fine art prints, photography and sculpture. Many of the works will be available for sale although there will be jazz related exhibition pieces as well. Also on display will be significant jazz memorabilia on loan from The Institute of Jazz Studies – Rutgers University Library such as a Miles Davis trumpet and Pee-Wee Russel’s clarinet, original artwork by Pee Wee Russell and Mary Lou Williams, and famous photographs and prints of numerous jazz legends.

Proceeds for this opening soiree will benefit the Project’s educational workshops, master-classes, and programs for gifted and talented middle and high school students throughout the region.

Last year, the project launched the Jazz Arts Academy, a series of three ten-week sessions during the school year which are designed to augment the music education and cultural enlightenment of area youth. This program focuses on adding knowledge of improvisation, small ensemble playing, and jazz history and general musicianship to the studies of young musicians, and has thus far proved a resounding success.

Like all of our educational initiatives, however, the Academy offers free tuition to those in need. At risk and underserved students benefit in remarkable ways from these programs and we have a commitment to include anyone in the program regardless of whether they can afford the tuition. We must therefore seek outside funding and support to continue this important work. Remember that by attending this event, you will not only be ensuring yourself a wonderful evening, but you’ll also be supporting the education of area students in their pursuit of America’s only truely indigenous music, jazz.

The event is open to the public, but you must have a ticket to attend.

To purchase a ticket to the event, click on the registration link below and follow the instructions. If you would prefer, you may call or email the Jazz Arts Project at (732) 746-2244 or info@jazzartsproject.org for more information or to purchase a ticket by check. We thank you in advance for your patronage and look forward to seeing you on this wonderful occasion!

Click Here to Purchase Tickets!

ALSO:

This April, the Jazz Arts Project will be holding a series of talks by jazz luminaries that serve as a great introduction to jazz for novices or as a wonderful extension of knowledge for connoisseurs. The series is called Talkin’ Jazz, and it takes place every Monday in April at the Count Basie Theatre free of charge. For more information and to register to attend, contact info@jazzartsproject.org or call (732) 746-2244.

Click the Following Links for more information about our annual events!

Auditions for the Spring Semester will be held on March 27th and 28th!

Visit us every Monday in April for Talkin' Jazz!

Click here for information about the upcoming Summer Jazz Fest!

Click here for information on the Annual Sinatra Birthday Bash

Summer Jazz in Red Bank

Back in June, TCN contributor Craig A. Dowd called the Summer Jazz Cafe, presented by The Jazz Arts Project at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, “a patient stroll through the decorated halls of America’s music with the world’s foremost practitioners as our guides.  There isn’t a live music calendar in jazz that can compare to the next five weeks at the Two River Theater – it’s that good.”  And it certainly was – and will be again next summer, no doubt. Dowd wrote: “The Jazz Arts Project, a tax-exempt corporation whose advocacy of jazz has few rivals, has booked a quintet of artists that encompass the entire spectrum of jazz.  Considering the resume of the man behind the curtain, this isn’t a surprise.  Joe Muccioli, co-founder and artistic director of Jazz Arts Project, is an internationally known conductor, orchestrator and Miles Davis historian.  These are people who live and breathe the jazz life and want their shows to stand up to those found at Birdland or Blue Note.  It’s safe to say they do – since it’s inception in 2006, the level of talent at Summer Jazz Cafe has continued to grow each year, further solidifying Count basie’s hometown as an arts destination with international appeal.”   Bookmark www.jazzartsproject.org for other happenings throughout the year until next summer.

Sinatra Birthday Bash aims to entertain

by Dw. Dunphy

The Count Basie Theatre, located on Monmouth St. in Red Bank, hosted the 4th annual Sinatra Birthday Bash, celebrating the birthday of singing legend and Hoboken native, Frank Sinatra.

The refurbished and renovated Count Basie Theatre provided an impressive venue for the show, not simply because of the beauty of the interior work, but because Count Basie had been a Sinatra collaborator, and there was a sense of synergy between the theater and the event.

The Red Bank Jazz Orchestra, led by musical director Joe Muccioli, was primed to impress and never let the audience down. The main theme of the evening was swing, and the brass section is always a key element to that sound. If the band can’t punch it when necessary, it simply doesn’t “swing.” This, however, was never the case on Friday night. Not only in unison, but when taking the solo spotlight, such as Bruce Williams and Kurt Bachur did during the evenings selections, the orchestra was off and running.

While Sinatra’s music was arguably the lynchpin of the evening’s presentation, the program also included songs not associated with him, but suited the big band accompaniment. This enabled acts like the trio The Manhattan Dolls, who specialize in three-part harmony like The Andrews Sisters, to do songs like “Rum and Coca-Cola,” more reminiscent of the era than the Sinatra repertoire specifically.

Highlights of the evening included Maggie Worsdale taking on “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets,” a song culled from the score of the musical Damn Yankees, without specific relationship to Sinatra. Her comedic sensibilities retained the light-hearted nature of the piece which, in its original setting, involved the Devil’s right-hand woman Lola on a mission of seduction. Worsdale’s vamping suited the material perfectly.

Also notable, but in a much different way, was Paul Bernhardt’s rendition of “Angel Eyes,” a classic from the famous Frank Sinatra Sings Songs For Only The Lonely recording. Of Sinatra’s associated songs, this one demands the highest degree of restraint and attention to phrasing, as it has much more to do with crooning than it does the bombast of Sinatra’s signature delivery. It was important that the listener hear every lyric clearly, as this is one of Sinatra’s most memorable broken-hearted ballads. Bernhardt handled the piece beautifully, with the emphasis on clarity of vocal tone.

The key word is, in fact, tone. A new generation is slowly coming around to the virtues of it as robotic auto-tune and melismatic singing styles grow more prevalent and tiresome. It’s a very peculiar skill; one that asks not for every note to be sung up and down the scale to impress, but to locate and maintain the single, right note and make it worth the listener’s attention. By that account, the entire cast of the evening did a fantastic job.

The most inspiring moment of the evening came when students of the Jazz Arts Academy took the stage and very ably demonstrated their right to be there. With so much musicianship in one concentrated setting, having to come up against that and show what you’ve got is a major challenge, and it separates students from musicians prepared to play as a career. With Bruce Williams as their instructor, their dedication has clearly paid off.

If I had one qualm with the performance, it would be that occasionally Sinatra’s enunciation would creep into the songs, causing the individuals performing them to veer from tribute to impression. It did not occur on a glaring, frequent basis, but when it happened, it occurred to me that what I wanted to hear were these talented performers singing it their way, not his way. In that, the ultimate tribute would be the individual’s performance. I reiterate that this never slumped into the domain of parody, but it was important to note its presence.

That said, the show was extremely entertaining, the participants gave all they had and, as an example of a body of work, not just from Sinatra but from the entirety of the Great American Songbook, the 4th annual Sinatra Birthday Bash celebrated the enduring qualities of the material with great style and skill.

I can also say congrats to the wonderful singers (all 14 of them) who graced the stage with great renditions of such a variety of tunes performed in tribute to Ole’ Blue Eyes.  It was such a pleasure to work with this years cast, each one a superbly talented performer in their own right and each with such a good attitude and sense of professionalism.  I hope I have forged some long lasting friends and we can all keep in touch and who knows maybe there will be opportunities for more performances down the road.  And, of course, the band!  The 18 piece Red Bank Jazz Orchestra really gave it their all.  Keep a lookout for more events with this group in the coming year.

I am also so proud of our “Jazz Arts Academy” students who took the stage for their own rendition of “in A Sentimental Mood.” these kids totally stepped it up and played great!   The crowd really responded to these young performers!

We will try to put up some photos and clips from the show on this site sometime soon. Meanwhile, next up is the Jazz Academy Showcase at Zebu’s in Red Bank this Sunday Night.  I hope to see you all at our future events!

Keep it swinging!

Joe Muccioli  (Mooche)

Interviewer:  Can you explain Jazz?

Yogi: I can’t, but I will. 90% of all Jazz is half improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are playing something they never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it might be right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it’s wrong.

Interviewer: I don’t understand.

Yogi: Anyone who understands Jazz knows that you can’t understand it. It’s too complicated. That’s what’s so simple about it.

Interviewer: Do you understand it?

Yogi: No. That’s why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn’t know anything about it.

Interviewer: Are there any great Jazz player alive today?

Yogi: No. All the great Jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead.

Interviewer: What is syncopation?

Yogi: That’s when the note that you should hear now happens either before or after you hear it. In Jazz, you don’t hear notes when they happen because that would be some other type of music. Other types of music can be Jazz, but only if they’re the same as something different from those other kinds.

Interviewer: Now I really don’t understand.

Yogi: I haven’t taught you enough for you to not understand Jazz that well.