Return to Forever (or RTF) is one of a few bands Chick Corea has led in his long career.  I don’t have any of his solo albums, but I did have all but one by the Elektric Band (plus one Elektric Band II album).

That Friday night at the Parsons Complex, I was unaware “Spain” was an RTF cover.  But the refrain sounded familiar and typical of Chick.  The following morning in my hotel room, I did a Google search for spain jazz song.  The top result was this Wikipedia entry.  So, I listened to a little bit of the song in Spotify.  The mental seed that was planted the night before was starting to grow.

At home a few days later, I looked into the rest of Return to Forever’s works.  Bypassing their eponymous debut album, I liked what I heard on half of Light as a Feather (where “Spain” originated), but I haven’t listened to Flora Purim’s vocal contributions to the other half.  I liked all of Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior.  But I didn’t like Musicmagic because it was all vocals.  So, after a week of deliberation, and purchasing saxophonist Andy Snitzer’s The Rhythm, I bought Light as a Feather as an MP3 download and the four albums that followed it (Hymn, Where Have I, etc.) on CD.  Some songs on those albums were good, but the rest were great, especially if they featured various synthesizers.

I will eventually buy Return to Forever’s recent live album, The Mothership Returns.  The latest incarnation of RTF, after several hiatuses, features 75% of the band during most of its 1970s run (Chick, bass player Stanley Clarke, and drummer Lenny White) plus violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and guitarist Frank Gambale.

While I was waiting for the four RTF CDs to arrive, I remembered that I had a Chick Corea Akoustic Band album – the CD, at least – for six years and never ripped it to my computer.  The CD arrived by accident in a jewel case that had artwork for the Elektric Band’s Beneath the Mask album.  I eventually got that album’s CD, but never listened to the eponymous Chick Corea Akoustic Band CD.  That changed last Thursday.  I liked the jazz standard covers in the first three-fifths of the CD, but loved Chick’s originals that rounded it out.  The Akoustic Band was the Elektric Band without saxophonist Eric Marienthal and the aforementioned Frank Gambale.  That left Chick on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Dave Weckl on drums.  The four Chick originals were “Morning Sprite,” “T.B.C. (Terminal Baggage Claim),” “Circles” (a nod to Chick’s Circle band?), and a new arrangement of “Spain.”  The one I got hooked on was “T.B.C.” because it reminded me of walking through airport terminals, particularly at Tampa International Airport.  And since the album came out in 1989, I harkened back to plane rides I took to Tampa that year, and the joy of seeing my grandparents, who lived 45 minutes away in Crystal Beach, greet me in the terminal and walk with me and my immediate family to baggage claim.  “Many bags look alike,” the baggage claim announcement included.  (The rest of it was something about claim checks.)

As the RTF CDs came in, I also found the GRP All-Star Big Band album that I had been sitting on for just as long as the Akoustic Band album.  That, too, featured a cover of “Spain.”  And when my girlfriend shipped me Brian Simpson’s new album, Just What You Need, and Tom Borton’s 1992 album, The Lost World, I finally listened to the other album of Tom’s that I’ve had for eight years, Dancing with Tigers.  I bought that one after learning excerpts from a few songs were used as Local Forecast music on The Weather Channel in the early ’90s.

As if all of this music wasn’t enough, I decided to give the later albums of Miles Davis a try.  I’ve had downloads of “Tutu” (from the album Tutu) and his cover of “Human Nature” (from You’re Under Arrest) for years, but finally decided to buy Tutu and Amandla.  The latter was Miles’ last album completed in his lifetime.  (He died during the production of Doo-Bop.)  Eventually, I’ll get Aura, You’re Under Arrest, Decoy, Star People, and maybe The Man with the Horn.

In three short weeks, that seed for expanding my music collection has blossomed into an enormous music tree.  One song at one concert led to the purchase of five albums, then discovering two albums I never put on my computer, then buying two more albums, then receiving two more albums from my girlfriend which led me to give an album I hadn’t listened to eons another shot.  Thank you, Nelson Rangell, for planting the seed in my head by covering “Spain.”

Sandy has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee because of the extreme impacts it caused from Jamaica and Cuba to the Mid-Atlantic United States in October 2012.

Storm names are reused every six years for both the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins. If a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of the name would be insensitive or confusing, the WMO hurricane committee, which includes personnel from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, may retire the name. Sandy is the 77th name to be retired from the Atlantic list since 1954. The name will be replaced with “Sara” beginning in 2018.

…

I think I speak for everyone affected by Sandy when I say “good riddance.”

You can read about my Sandy experience here.  I was lucky.  All I experienced was nine days without power.  It was nothing like the horror that waterfront residents experienced, and many are still recovering from.

If at first you succeed, try to duplicate the success the following night.  That was the task for the second night of Jay Rowe‘s eleventh annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert.

Kevin McCabe was the first to speak to the audience just before 8PM:

As you can see behind Kevin, before Jay and the house band came out, the show began with a performance by the Foran High School Jazz Band, under the direction of Jessica Shearer.  Their song featured a solo by Jay.  Pictures of what was visible can be seen later in this post.

The house band was made up of Jay on keyboards:

Jerry Brooks on bass:

Trever Somerville on drums:

Steve Scales on percussion:

The show took place on Steve’s birthday.

…and for eight of the songs, Rohn Lawrence on guitar:

SET LIST
1. Martinis and Bikinis (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Live at Daniel Street,” 2011
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)

2. Side Tracked (Jeff Golub)
Originally heard on: “The Three Kings,” 2011
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub (electric guitar), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)
Unfortunately, Jeff went blind a few years ago.  But he hasn’t let that stop him from performing.  He still sounds great.  His courage and perseverance are admirable.

3. Freddie’s Midnight Dream (Jeff Golub)
Originally heard on: “The Three Kings,” 2011
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub (electric guitar), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)

4. Can’t Stop Now (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “Can’t Stop Now,” 2012
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)

5. Wild Thing (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Whisper,” 2013
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Chieli Minucci (electric guitar), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)

6. Black Pearl (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Whisper,” 2013
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Chieli Minucci (acoustic guitar)

7. Dreams (Chieli Minucci)
Originally heard on: “It’s Gonna Be Good,” 1998
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci (electric guitar), Vincent Ingala (soprano sax)

8. Crazy Eights (Chieli Minucci & Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Genesis,” 2013 (to be released on May 21)
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci (electric guitar), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)

9. If I Could Fly (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “Can’t Stop Now,” 2012
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)

10. It Is What It Is (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: “North End Soul,” 2010
Featured musicians: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax), Rohn Lawrence (electric guitar)

11. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci (electric guitar), Jeff Golub (electric guitar)

12. Suede (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Player’s Club,” 2004
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)

13. Katy’s Groove (Jay Rowe)
Featured musicians: Foran High School Advanced Vocal Ensemble, under the direction of Theresa Voss

14 (Finale). Cold Duck Time (Jeff Golub; Eddie Harris cover)
Originally heard on: “Do It Again,” 2002
Featured musicians: Everyone

Various shots of Jay Rowe:

Jerry Brooks:

Trever Somerville:

Steve Scales:

Rohn Lawrence:

Vincent Ingala:

Jeff Golub:

Chieli Minucci:

Marion Meadows:

Just like in 2011, Marion began “Suede” by playing his way through the audience:

Vincent and Rohn:

Chieli and Vincent:

Marion and Chieli:

Marion, Vincent, and Chieli:

Chieli and Jeff:

Foran High School Jazz Band:

Foran High School Advanced Vocal Ensemble:

The Finale – “Cold Duck Time”:

The second night of Smooth Jazz for Scholars was now complete.

Jay: “We’ll see you all next year!”

I hope you enjoyed this pictorial journey through both nights of Smooth Jazz for Scholars.  Until next year, so long.

This weekend, I made my annual pilgrimage to Milford, Connecticut, for Jay Rowe‘s eleventh annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert.  For the first time in SJFS history, there were two nights of music to enjoy.  This is a recap of Night 1.

Kevin McCabe had some opening remarks:

…and so did Jay Rowe:

Jay played his keyboards:

His house band was rounded by Jerry Brooks on bass:

Trever Somerville on drums:

…and Steve Scales on percussion:

The structure of this recap is different from previous SJFS recaps.  Instead of combining the set list with pictures from the corresponding songs, I’ll list the set list first.  Here it is:

SET LIST
1. Martinis and Bikinis (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Live at Daniel Street,” 2011
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Marc Antoine (acoustic guitar)

2. Sunland (Marc Antoine)
Originally heard on: “Madrid,” 1998
Featured musicians: Marc Antoine (acoustic guitar)

3. Mas Que Nada (Marc Antoine; Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 cover)
Originally heard on: “Cruisin’,” 2001
Featured musicians: Marc Antoine (acoustic guitar), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

4. Spain (Return to Forever [Chick Corea] cover)
Featured musicians: Nelson Rangell (flute), Marc Antoine (acoustic guitar)

5. Turning Night Into Day (Nelson Rangell)
Originally heard on: “Turning Night Into Day,” 1997
Featured musicians: Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

6. Did You Know? (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “Just Come On In,” 2003
Featured musicians: Nick Colionne (electric guitar), Vincent Ingala (electric guitar)
You read right.  Vincent isn’t limited to one instrument.  And if you’ve read the liner notes for some of Nick’s albums, neither is he.

7. Rainy Night in Georgia (Nick Colionne; Brook Benton cover)
Originally heard on: “It’s My Turn,” 1994; “Keepin’ It Cool,” 2006
Featured musicians: Nick Colionne (vocals/electric guitar), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

8. Pusherman (Alex Bugnon; Curtis Mayfield cover)
Originally heard on: Upcoming album
Featured musicians: Alex Bugnon (keyboard), Jay Rowe (keyboards), Nick Colionne (electric guitar), Vincent Ingala (electric guitar)

9. A House is Not a Home (Alex Bugnon; notably covered by Luther Vandross)
Originally heard on: Upcoming album
Featured musicians: Alex Bugnon (keyboard), Vincent Ingala (electric guitar)

10. Poinciana (notably covered by Ahmad Jamal)/107 Degrees in the Shade (Alex Bugnon)
“107 Degrees…” originally heard on: “107 Degrees in the Shade,” 1991
Musicians: Alex Bugnon (keyboard), Jay Rowe (keyboards)

11. The Connection (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “Feel the Heat,” 2011
Featured musicians: Nick Colionne (electric guitar), Vincent Ingala (electric guitar)

12. How Insensitive (Insensatez) (Antonio Carlos Jobim cover)
Featured musicians: Nelson Rangell (whistling/piccolo), Marc Antoine (acoustic guitar)

13. Harlem On My Mind (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: “Tales from the Bright Side,” 1995
Featured musicians: Alex Bugnon (keyboard), Nelson Rangell (flute), Vincent Ingala

14. On the Strip (Marc Antoine)
Originally heard on: “Cruisin’,” 2001
Featured musicians: Test (instrument), Test (instrument)

15 (Finale). Cantaloupe Island (Herbie Hancock cover)/(James Brown-style jam)
Featured musicians: Everyone
In the finale, some musicians switched to different instruments.  Vincent went from electric guitar to tenor sax; Marc Antoine tried out Vincent’s guitar, Steve’s drums, and one of Jay’s synthesizers.

With the set list out of the way, let’s get to the pictures.

We begin with various shots of Jay Rowe:

Trever Somerville:

Steve Scales:

Nelson Rangell helped out during Marc Antoine’s “How Insensitive” solo.  Seconds before I took this, he struck the chimes:

Marc Antoine:

Nelson Rangell:
Alto sax:

Flute:

Piccolo:

Whistling:

Whistling like that deserved a bow:

Vincent Ingala on electric guitar:

Nick Colionne:

Hearing from the audience:

“Rainy Night in Georgia”:

Alex Bugnon:

Nelson and Marc’s “Mas Que Nada” call and response:

Jay and Alex’s dual medley:

Nick and Vincent’s “The Connection” duet:

The finale:

“Can I count it off?!  (slow staccato): Can I count it off?!”

Nick in the audience:

Back on stage:

With that, the first night of the eleventh annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars was complete.

The fun resumed the following night.  Click here to see.

The second annual WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony featured the inductions of Maura “Bernie” Bernard, Steve Radoff, Harry Lowenthal, and Bill Mozer.  Like the inaugural ceremony last year, this year’s ceremony was held at the Tilles Center Atrium.  Unlike last year, the sun was shining brightly outside.

The Hall of Fame plaques:

Scott Perschke captured a conversation between Bill Mozer, Harry Lowenthal, and Harry’s son James:

Hank Neimark (who inducted Steve Radoff and Harry Lowenthal) and Pete Bellotti:

Pete and Bill Mozer:

Pete and Steve Radoff:

Pete and Bernie Bernard:

Pete and Harry Lowenthal:

The ceremony began with WCWP station manager Dan Cox introducing an opening video:

Jay Mirabile was the Master of the Ceremony:

Bill Mozer’s induction of Bernie Bernard came in the form of an interview:

A captive audience:

Next, Tracy Burgess conducted an interview with Bruce Leonard…

…and handed the mic to Jeff Kroll who read a statement from Joel Feltman:

Hank Neimark inducted Steve Radoff:

Steve’s speech:

Next, Hank inducted Harry Lowenthal:

Harry’s speech:

Dan Cox returned to induct Bill Mozer…

…but he wasn’t the only one.

Ted David pre-recorded an induction speech from Florida:

Then came a slideshow set to “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor:

It was finally time to bring Bill to the podium:

It was an emotional speech.

There was one more special video message for Bill…

…from Fred Gaudelli:

There was still one more announcement to make…

…and that was made by Pete Bellotti:

The unveiling of the Hall of Fame plaque with the induction years and inductees listed on it:

“Let’s hear it for the 2013 WCWP Hall of Fame Class!”

Later at WCWP, Dan gave a tour of the newly renovated Studio 1:

It was quite a day!  Congratulations to Bernie, Steve, Harry, and Bill: the WCWP Hall of Fame Class of 2013.

I kept the original MikeChimeri.com up for four years until I finally made the logical decision to recreate pages at the blog and transfer the MikeChimeri.com domain to it.  And so it was on May 14, 2012, 11 months ago yesterday, that The Mike Chimeri Blog became MikeChimeri.com!

Next Saturday, I’ll be at the second annual WCWP Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.  As I noted in mid-October, this year’s inductees are Steve Radoff, Harry Lowenthal, Bill Mozer, and Maura “Bernie” Bernard.  Like last year, the ceremony will take place at the Tilles Center Atrium.  But unlike last year, it will take place in the afternoon rather than the evening.

The following Friday and Saturday, I’ll be up in Milford, Connecticut, for both nights of keyboardist Jay Rowe’s annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars benefit concert.  In the Friday show, for the first time since 2008, Jay won’t be the only keyboardist performing.  Alex Bugnon is one of the guests scheduled to perform, along with saxophonist Nelson Rangell, and guitarists Marc Antoine and Nick Colionne.  Saturday’s lineup consists of guitarists Jeff Golub and Chieli Minucci, and saxophonists Marion Meadows and Vincent Ingala.  This will be the first time I’ve seen Jeff since he unfortunately lost his sight.

At both events, I’ll have the same video and audio equipment as last year, but I’ll be using a new digital camera.  After getting the Nikon D3100 last May, I lucked into swapping it for a new D5100 earlier this week.

You know the drill: After each event, I’ll post a photo recap here at MikeChimeri.com.  Crafting posts will be easier now that WordPress lets you post all the pictures at once.

Until then, so long.

But I did have the camera out a week ago for a pair of minor wet snow events.

March 18:
I wasn’t expecting much snow to accumulate, but as the evening progressed, there was a decent amount on the ground.

This was taken at 6:57 PM:

7:19 PM:

8:11 PM:

9:06 PM:

By this time, the National Weather Service hastily issued a winter weather advisory until midnight when the wet snow changed to rain.

By morning, most of the snowfall had been rained away.

March 21: A mid-afternoon wet snow shower left a small coating.

I took these six pictures around 5PM before going out to dinner:

Now, it’s time to make the transition from shoveling snow to sweeping pollen.

In the days that followed, weather computer models from various media and meteorological organizations projected different paths for the storm to take and where it would meet up with a low moving from the Pacific to the Tennessee Valley.  The center would be over Cape Hatteras or the Delmarva Peninsula.  From there, it would go east, southeast, or northeast.

Meteorologists hedged their bets by making their forecasts based on what the most models were predicting at the time, but made clear that the forecast could change.  It did.  Long Island went from missing the nor’easter entirely, except for gusty winds, to getting its northern fringe.  Worse yet, the storm was going to take longer to push east than originally expected.  Thus, a one-day nor’easter became a three-day nor’easter.

March has seen its share of major nor’easters:

• The Great Blizzard of 1888
• The Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962
• The 1993 Storm of the Century
• The March 2010 Nor’easter (more on that below)

The worst of the 1993 and 2010 storms came through Long Island on the same date: March 13.  When the ’93 storm hit, I was living in Freeport, three blocks away from Baldwin Bay.  My cousins, aunt, and grandmother stayed over while my parents were in St. Maarten.  They left two days before the storm and came back two days after.  A few months earlier, there was an equally strong nor’easter.  At the afternoon high tide, a few inches of water came into the first floor of the house.  I was too young to remember our house flooding during Hurricane Gloria.  So this was traumatizing.  I don’t recall if water got in during the SotC, but I do know the first floor lacked a carpet for the rest of our time in the house.  I also remember we had snow that was followed by rain.  And according to AccuWeather, Freeport was in the 10-to-20-inch range:

1993 SotC snowfall

For the next week or two, the backyard looked like the North Pole because the rain-and-flood-soaked snow froze over.  Air temperatures were stuck below freezing for a week.  So, snow didn’t completely melt in some areas until the end of the month.

My family and I moved (for unrelated school reasons) to the Wantagh Woods section of Wantagh in July 1993, over a mile inland, where I live to this day.

Back in the present, as it became clear we were getting this nor’easter, visions of Sandy began dancing in my head as I feared the worst, even though the highest gusts would be nothing like Sandy.  And the nor’easter’s duration brought me back to what began my high wind fears in the first place: a stronger nor’easter that began three years ago next Wednesday.  I was without power then, due to uprooted trees, for two days.  Then, in poker terms, Irene saw those two days and raised me five and a half.  Sandy saw those five and a half days and raised me nine.

I also thought of a similar wet snow-producing nor’easter that came exactly one year before Sandy.  New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Hudson Valley received a lot of wet snow, which weighed down still-leaved tree limbs, taking many of them down, or whole trees down, and the power out with them.  The post-Sandy nor’easter also brought wet snow that weighed down still-leaved tree limbs – Sandy didn’t blow all of them off – but the ones in my neighborhood did not break off nor did they come down.

This week’s nor’easter came in under cover of darkness early Wednesday morning.  The winds gradually increased, as did the gusts.  Gusts of around 40 miles per hour plowed against my east-facing bedroom wall.  But precipitation was scarce.  As the day progressed, the wind direction shifted from the east to the north-northeast.  The wind was no longer pushing against the wall, but I could still hear it.

As the night progressed, I was prepared for power to go out at any moment.  I went to sleep around midnight and woke up seven hours later with the power still on.  Not only that, but the wind diminished and there wasn’t any snow on the ground.  Up to 6 inches of wet snowfall was originally expected for Wednesday night into yesterday, the first part of the nor’easter, but by mid-afternoon, the forecast dwindled to an inch or two.  With little or no snow for Wednesday night, the concern shifted to last night into today when heavier wet snow was expected.

As you can tell by the pictures below, we didn’t get much:

More snow fell to my north and any area that received heavy snow bands.  According to Newsday (subscription required), Syosset received 8 inches of wet snow and Jericho got 6 inches.  Levittown, to my immediate north, received 4.5 inches.

The wet snow melted on most of my driveway, but stuck to the cars and garbage/recycling pails left at the curb for Friday pickup.

Five hours later, snow had tapered off and begun to melt.

As I publish this post, the wind has shifted to the north-northwest and is a mere eleven miles per hour.  Most of the wet snow on the grass in the above picture is still there.  With milder temperatures and abundant sunshine expected over the next few days, it won’t be on the grass much longer.

The Whose Line reboot will air on the CW, which was home to Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show prior to the WB’s merger with UPN.  According to THR, Whose Line marks the CW’s return to comedy.  They’ve otherwise been known for teen dramas.

As with the first American version, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne Brady will be the lead performers.  Aisha Tyler will follow in the hosting footsteps of Clive Anderson and Drew Carey.  (Clive hosted the original British version.)  It’ll be interesting to see which house musician(s) will be on hand for musical games like “Song Styles” (or “Duet”), “Greatest Hits,” and “Hoedown.”

It’s a 10-episode run, but could be more if renewed or less if canceled.  Based on the failures of the Green Screen Show, Improv-A-Ganza,” and Trust Us With Your Life, I’d say the latter is more likely.  But as usual, I’m prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

Here’s part of THR’s story:

… Based on the U.K. format, which spawned the 1998-2004 ABC series led by Drew Carey, Whose Line will feature the return of Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie, who, along with a special guest each episode, will put their comedic skills to the test through a series of improv games. Prompted by ideas from the studio audience and [host Aisha] Tyler, the performers use the information and their imaginations to depict different characters, scenes and perform songs. A winner will be named at the end of each episode.

From Angst Productions and Hat Trick Productions, Whose Line is executive produced by Dan Patterson, Mark Leveson, Jimmy Mulville, Stiles and Brady. It was co-created by Patterson and Leveson. …