Jersey Jazz - New Jersey Jazz Society

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Joining Harry for his Four Brothers tribute are: Grant
Stewart (tenor sax), Jeff Rupert (tenor and bari sax),
Rossano Sportiello (piano), Hassan Shakur (bass) and
Chuck Riggs (drums).
A Little Night Music
For the evening, all the action moves under the tent.
Leading off, making their first Jazzfest appearance, is
the Madame Pat Tandy Jazz Ensemble featuring Radam
Schwartz on organ. A native of Jacksonville, Florida,
Tandy has lived in Newark for most of her life. She got
her start in music in the 1960s in a vocal R&B group
called The Pretenders and is steeped in the blues as well,
but she came to jazz as a student at Essex County College
when she studied with former Ellington bassist Aaron
Bell, going on to play with the artist until his death in
2003. Expect a soulful mixture of blues, R&B and jazz
from this Madame of Jazz: “I have to tell people I don’t
own a brothel,” she quips.
Jazz guitar virtuoso Frank Vignola then takes the stage
with his Hot Club (Vinny Raniolo, guitar; Julien Labro,
accordion; Zach Brock, violin; Gary Mazzaroppi, bass) to
perform a tribute to Django Reinhart to mark the centennial
of the legendary Gypsy guitarist’s birth in 1910.
The monstrously talented Vignola is no newcomer to the
Django bandwagon, coming into his own as a leader with
a Hot Club of France tribute that was hailed by The New
York Times as one of the Top Ten Acts of 1988 (the group
also appeared at Jazzfest that year). Equally at home
playing jazz, rock and bluegrass, Vignola’s Jazzfest
performance will also include an homage to New Jersey
Hall of Fame inductee Les Paul who died in 2009.
Following the Hot Club in a rare public appearance is the
venerable jazz pianist Marty Napoleon. An important part
of the post-World War II jazz world, Napoleon had long
stints with Charlie Ventura, Gene Krupa and, most
famously, with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars. “I joined
and quit that band three times because I missed my wife
and kids,” Napoleon recalls. At age 90, Napoleon still
covers all the keys and this is an opportunity to see one
of the legends of modern jazz piano.
The daylong jazz jamboree comes to a starlit conclusion
as Harry Allen and Aaron Weinstein return to the stage,
joining John and Bucky Pizzarelli and the Statesmen of
Jazz, including vocalist Rebecca Kilgore, Larry Fuller,
piano; Martin Pizzarelli, bass; and Tony Tedesco, drums,
in what promises to be one of the most memorable
performances in Jazzfest’s illustrious history. The
Pizzarellis need no introduction in New Jersey —
or anywhere else in the music world for that matter —
and this promises to be a show you don’t want to miss. JJ
Joe Cohn
PREVIEW
Marty Napoleon
What are you waiting for?
Buy your tickets early and save.
Just call 800-303-NJJS (6557)
or log on to www.njjs.org.
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__________________________________ May 2010