JAZZ FEST JUly 11th!

JUST LIKE THE OLD DAYS

BY STEVE BARBONE adapted for the Pa Jazz Site

Topic: Jazz at the Speakeasy "Where is this place?"

The Bookstore It is Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 in Bethlehem, PA. I ask myself, “Where is this place?” Directions I am on Adams Street among some warehouses only a half a block from campus pizza and the address I need is 336 Adams. I must be on the correct block but see little except an old metal door, a few steps below the sidewalk level in faded paint, “Bookstore.” No windows in sight, and no visible address. Is this a secret place or a goose chase?

So, I called Drew Nugent (a superbly dressed bandleader who plays with utter confidence & vibrant emotion) and asked, “Where is this speakeasy?” adding that I am on Adams Street in the correct block. He asks, “What do you see?” I answer "a Bookstore and some old warehouses." He says, “That’s it.” The light dawns. Earlier he told me that it was an old converted Speakeasy with candlights and authentic 1920's Bartenders.

I enter and can barely see. The dimly lit vestibule is small with tables full of books. The young lady at the door says, “Go through the curtain and sit anywhere.” So, I pass through the burgundy curtain as if into another world.

It is very dark, the space lit primarily with candles and oil lamps. A bar is on one side of the low-ceiling room with tables and chairs scattered around. The menu states: Lavish Cocktails Exqusite Beer Roaring Hot Jazz & Sumptuous Plates! There are books on practically every table and on the wall shelves. My eyes adjust to a joint almost full of YOUNG PEOPLE, who turn and stare at this old man as he weaves his way through the tables to the bandstand. Background music, via CD’s, is Bix, Nichols, Memphis Five, Red McKenzie & other early bands. WHAT?

Drew comes in a minute later and we set up to play….piano/clarinet duo, primarily the Thomas "Fats Waller" Book with some Clarence Williams thrown in. Just before we start, Mike Kuehn walks in. He is the President of the Pennsylvania Jazz Society and a fine banjo player.

He agrees to join us as a sit-in on banjo. Then a drummer we know walks in and sits in playing on an old suitcase with a pair of brushes. We did a four-hour gig, ending at 1:00 AM, of the 20’s and 30’s jazz, with this quartet and it was great. The audience had a blast, too. I believe that most of the patrons there were under the age of 25. Mostly kids from nearby colleges. It was as close to the experiences we old jazzer's had with jazz and club dates in the 1950’s, as we will ever get. I didn’t get home until 3:20 AM: Just like the old days.

Note: The above article was published in the February issue of KEYNOTES, the newsletter of the PENNSYLVANIA JAZZ SOCIETY. Editor: Joan Bauer at jtbauer@ptd.net

PA JAZZ SOCIETY OUTREACH PROGRAM

Moravian College
A Co-operative Combination of "Tradition & Education" !

Acquainting young musicians and young music lovers with the sounds of traditional Jazz is a big part of the mission of the PENNSYLVANIA JAZZ SOCIETY (PJS) Outreach Program. It is a way of keeping this music -this American Art form - alive.

And so it was that, on October 11, 2009, some young students who participated in the Jazz Camp at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA attended the PJS concert at our invitation. They came with at least one parent, and in one case, with two grandparents. The attendees are pictured above. Gregory Wright, an eighth-grader, plays the trombone following in the footsteps of his grand-father, uncle, and mother whose instrument of choice is the trombone. Autumn Childs has played drums since the age of seven, and, in addition, has studied saxophone, keyboard, and guitar. Virginia Corsello began taking singing lessons a year-and-a-half ago and learned to sing scat-style. Two of her favorite singers are Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. Julie Gordon plays trombone and says her father was influential in her study of the horn. She credits Jazz Camp for learning improvisation. All of these students aspire to have music and Jazz be a part of their lives in the future.

On February 24, 2010, PJS co-sponsored the “Jazz for Youth” program with the Moravian College Department of Music held at Foy Hall in Bethlehem, PA. The event featured instruction to jazzed-up versions of “Three Blind Mice”, “The Pink Panther Theme”, and “The Spider-Man Theme” among others. The sold-out crowd of fourth and fifth graders was attentive and enthusiastic. They clapped to the rhythms and shouted out the tempo when asked. Smiles abounded!

The music was provided by Dr. Neil Wetzel, Al Gaumer, Bill Washer, Craig Kastelnik, and Gary Rissmiller. After the performance, Dr. Wetzel announced that PJS “made this performance possible” which prompted the students to rise and give PJS a standing ovation. (One school gave PJS a “Power-Super-Star-Salute-Thank-You!”)

On October 16, 2009, the PJS Outreach Program reached into the community in another way when the Radio Aces Jazz Band played a terrific concert for residents of a nursing home/personal care facility. The band members, Mike Kuehn, Ben Mauger, Steve Barbone, Ken Foy, and Jim Daniels played for the residents – most of them being “of a certain age” – who could readily identify with the sounds. The Radio Aces Jazz Band have been asked to return! Plans for the remainder of the 2010 Outreach Program have not been finalized, however, because of the positive responses to the programs for youth and the nursing home presentation, these events will most likely be repeated. Also, there are plans to continue our co-op programs with the Moravian College Department of Music for 2011. Reaching out into the community keeps our beloved PENNSYLVANIA JAZZ SOCIETY and traditional Jazz viable.