SJFS 2025 Night 1 recap May 15, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Education, Food, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Technology, TV, Video Games.
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Read about Night 2 here.

Friday, May 2, was the first of two nights of the 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars, hosted by keyboardist Jay Rowe in his hometown of Milford, Connecticut, benefiting the Milford Public Schools music department. (6/17 NOTE: This was the 22nd anniversary, but the 21st overall. In spite of that, I am following the branding and referring to this as the 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars.)

In recent posts, I’ve tried my best to cut back on the diary aspect of my recaps and focus on the events. So, I’ll continue that trend in this recap and the one for Saturday, May 3.

Like last year (recaps here and here), I had minimal anxiety leading up to showtime at 8PM. I began packing (and charging camcorder batteries) on Thursday, May 1, and was all set by early Friday afternoon. My parents and I left Wantagh for Milford at 12:23 PM and we reached the Hampton Inn parking lot in less than two hours (2:16).

In addition to my laptop, mirrorless camera, pair of camcorders, tripods, and all other accessories, I brought a Nintendo Switch and a third party dock (with HDMI cable). I played games on that in handheld mode to pass the time in the car, and then in docked mode in my hotel room TV after check-in. This is when I wasn’t on my laptop, of course.

Pasquale Pizza was again the place for dinner on Friday for me and my parents where we shared a meatball pizza pie.

We stopped back at Hampton Inn for an hour, and then it was off to Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Parsons Complex. I was in the door around 7:15 PM and, after buying three 50/50 raffle tickets (SPOILER: I lost, and would lose with another set of 3 on Saturday), I got my event tickets (one per night) from Michelle at the will call/merchandise table.

Then, I made a beeline for the orchestra pit and began unpacking my equipment.

For photos, I use a Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens. This year, I added a Speedlite 430 EX II flash attachment for pictures of the audience. 1/100 shutter speed and ISO 2000 works for a well-lit stage, but extra illumination was necessary off stage. Only one of the two 128GB SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC cards inserted is required for the amount of photos I take.

Ever since WCWP Homecoming Weekend last September, I have used a pair of Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders. The main (“A”) camcorder has a VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II attached, and is connected to a Magnus VT-300 tripod, perfect for all the panning and zooming required. The secondary (“B”) camcorder, intended for a static wide shot, had no attachments and an Amazon Basics tripod. Each camcorder has one 256GB SanDisk SD card (same model as for the camera).

I’m still using the 6×9 stenographer notebook I got at the Milford CVS two years ago to write down the set list, house band members, headliners, and any other necessary notes.

Joining me down in the orchestra pit were fellow photographers Katherine Gilraine, Kenny Combs, Andrew James, and Ron Hancox. It’s Kat’s birthday as I write this sentence on Tuesday, May 13, and it was Kat who sent me down the interchangeable lens camera path in 2012.

I also said hello to Jay Dobbins, Judy Raphael, Mark and Phyllis Abrams, Diane Roth and her partner Rich, and Hap Carpenter. Friday, May 2, was his birthday.

(Okay, that was still a long preamble, but not as long as last year.)

8:00 arrived and Kevin McCabe bid us “good evening”:

Warming us up were the Jonathan Law High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by David Pelaggi.

Once the stage crew removed the chairs and Kevin McCabe introduced the headliners and band, Jay Rowe came on stage with opening remarks.

Jay led the way on keyboards:

Friday’s headliners were Jackiem Joyner on alto sax:

Nelson Rangell on alto sax (plus flute, piccolo, and whistling, which you’ll see later):

Peter White on guitar:

…and Timmy Maia on vocals:

The house band had Trever Somerville on drums (and even vocals for one song):

Andy Abel on guitar:

…and Dave Anderson on bass:

SET LIST (updated with videos on 6/19/25)
1. There She Goes (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)

2. Take Me There (Jackiem Joyner)
Originally heard on: Lil’ Man Soul (2009)
Featured musician: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

3. I’m Waiting for You (Jackiem Joyner)
Originally heard on: Lil’ Man Soul (2009)
Featured musician: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

4. Tidal Wave (Nelson Rangell)
Originally heard on: By Light (2019)
Featured musician: Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

5. Gratitude (Nelson Rangell)
2023 single
Featured musician: Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

6. Can We Talk (Jackiem Joyner) (Tevin Campbell cover)
Featured musician: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

7. Promenade (Peter White)
Originally heard on: Promenade (1993)
Featured musicians: Peter White (guitar), Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

8. Catalonia (Peter White)
Originally heard on: Light of Day (2025)
Featured musicians: Peter White (guitar), Nelson Rangell (flute)

9. Mornin’ (Timmy Maia) (Al Jarreau cover)
Featured musicians: Timmy Maia (vocals), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

10. I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) (Timmy Maia) (Hall & Oates cover)
Featured musicians: Timmy Maia (vocals), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

11. Beautiful Seduction (Jackiem Joyner)
Originally heard on: Touch (2019)
Featured musicians: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax), Peter White (guitar)

12. Bueno Funk (Peter White)
Originally heard on: Glow (2001)
Featured musicians: Peter White (guitar), Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)
Included the James Bond sunglasses bit, audience participation for vocal scat and Bob Marley’s (The Wailers) “Get Up, Stand Up” chorus

13. Bright (Peter White) (tribute to Wayman Tisdale)
Originally heard on: Good Day (2009)
Featured musician: Peter White (guitar)

50/50 RAFFLE ($1,000 pot) (won by Carolyn)

14. Sonora (Nelson Rangell) (Hampton Hawes cover)
Originally heard on: Destiny (1995), My American Songbook, Vol. 1 (2005)
Featured musicians: Nelson Rangell (vocal percussion intro, whistling, piccolo), Peter White (guitar)

15. What is Hip? (Timmy Maia) (Tower of Power cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)

16. Tennessee Whiskey (Trever Somerville) (cover of Chris Stapleton interpretation of David Allan Coe song)
Featured musicians: Trever Somerville (vocals, drums), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

17 (Finale). Right Place, Wrong Time (Jay Rowe) (Dr. John cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Jay Rowe (vocals, keyboards)

This is the part with photo galleries of each musician, starting with Jay Rowe:

Jackiem Joyner:

Nelson Rangell on alto sax:

I didn’t get any close-ups of Nelson on flute during “Catalonia,” so we’ll jump to “Sonora.”

Whistling:

Piccolo:

Whistling while holding piccolo:

Peter White:

The “Bueno Funk” James Bond bit:

That bit originated at an early 2000s live gig when saxophonist Richard Elliot dubbed Peter “the James Bond of smooth jazz.”

Timmy Maia:

Trever Somerville:

Andy Abel:

…and Dave Anderson:

I’d take many more photos of Dave on Saturday, but less of Trever. Such is the nature of documenting live events.

On to medium shots, starting with Jackiem and Andy:

Jackiem and Peter:

Nelson and Peter:
Flute on “Catalonia“:

Whistling and piccolo on “Sonora”:

Timmy and Nelson:

Peter and Trever:

Now, wide shots, like this one from “Tidal Wave”:

“Bueno Funk”:

True to my word, I used the speedlight for audience photos. Here they are dancing to Timmy’s cover of “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)“:

Peter’s “Get Up, Stand Up” tangent during “Bueno Funk”:

The standing ovation after “Sonora”:

The 50/50 raffle (won by Carolyn):

“Tennessee Whiskey” (David Allan Coe song popularized by Chris Stapleton a la Etta James):

The finale was “Right Place, Wrong Time,” a Dr. John song, with vocals by John “Jay” Rowe!

The end:

Thanks to Andrew James for taking the meet-and-greet photos below. Here I am with Jackiem Joyner:

Nelson Rangell:

…and Peter White:

Peter signed my copy of Light of Day with seagull sketches to match the cover photo’s beach setting. Nice touch.

On the way out to the parking lot, I said hello to Jay Rowe’s mother Mia DiStasi. The title of Jay’s 2006 song (from Red, Hot and Smooth) is apt: “Everyone Loves Mia.”

When I got back to my hotel room at Hampton Inn, I unloaded all the photos and videos to my laptop. I would winnow down the photos in the morning and use Advanced Renamer to quickly change the remaining filenames.

Click here for a recap of Saturday and beyond.