SJFS 2026 Night 1 recap May 14, 2026
Posted by Mike C. in Education, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, smooth jazz, Travel, Video.trackback
Friday, May 1, was the first of two nights of the 23rd anniversary Smooth Jazz for Scholars, hosted by keyboardist Jay Rowe in his hometown of Milford, Connecticut, benefiting the Milford Public Schools music department.
This was another year with minimal anxiety ahead of the ride from Wantagh to Milford, but I did bump into the right edge of my bedroom door before I left the house. (I was walking out to tell my dad something across the hall and my right shoe got caught.) I tended to the resulting cut quickly enough that it never swelled. I didn’t even need ointment or bandages by the time I packed up my gear in the Parsons Complex Veterans Memorial Auditorium that night.
Surprisingly, the Hampton Inn on Plains Road closed down. Thus, the official hotel was Hilton Garden Inn on Old Gate Lane.
After a quick stop at the store for seltzer to stock in my room’s mini fridge, the ride to the hotel took two hours and 16 minutes. It felt longer with multiple heavy pockets of traffic between the Throgs Neck Bridge and I-95 Connecticut exit 23.
Exit 40 led to Hilton Garden Inn:
View from the outside:
…and inside my room (taken Saturday):
I arrived at Veterans Memorial Auditorium at about 7:20. The parking lot by the baseball field was busy with a concert of its own; a rock concert. That was also the case on Saturday.
Yes, I lost with the three 50/50 raffle tickets I bought each night. Next.
Ron Hancox was at a high school reunion this year and Andrew James was also absent. That left a quartet of photographers: Katherine Gilraine, Ken Combs, Keith McDonald, and me. (Happy birthday, Kat, since it’s your birthday while I write this paragraph the day before publication.)
The gear I use:
- Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens, plus a Speedlite 430 EX II flash attachment (only used for photos of the audience and during the meet-and-greet)
- Dual Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders
- “A” camcorder has a VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II attached, and is connected to a Magnus VT-300 tripod
- “B” camcorder was used for a static wide view; it’s connected to an Amazon Basics tripod and has a Takstar SGC-598 mic attached
- EOS R7 has two 128GB SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC cards (I only ever need one of them) while the two HC-X1500 camcorders have one 256GB equivalent each
Promptly at 8PM, the lights came down and Kevin McCabe from JumpStart Jazz Productions bid us good evening.
The Jonathan Law High School jazz sextet, not a full ensemble, played first.
The Law sextet played three songs. I recognized the second and third as “Autumn Leaves” and “Song for My Father.”
Kevin McCabe returned to introduce the headliners and house band, led by Jay Rowe.
Jay was on keyboards, facing forward this year:
Friday’s headliners were Steve Oliver on guitar and vocal sounds:
Jessy J on tenor sax:
Brian Simpson on keyboards (but not keytar):
Marion Meadows (ladies…) on soprano sax:
…and vocalist Timmy Maia:
As for the house band, Steve Scales returned on percussion:
Trever Somerville was on drums:
Andy Abel on guitar:
…and Dave Anderson on bass:
SET LIST
1. East Coast West Coast (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Red, Hot & Smooth (2006)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Andy Abel (guitar)
2. The Next Step (Jay Rowe)
2026 single
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Andy Abel (guitar)
3. High Noon (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: Positive Energy (2002)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds), Steve Scales (percussion)
4. Dancing in the Sand (Steve Oliver)
2026 single
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
5. Tropical Rain (Jessy J)
Originally heard on: True Love (2009)
Featured musician: Jessy J (tenor sax)
6. Tequila Moon (Jessy J)
Originally heard on: Tequila Moon (2008)
Featured musicians: Jessy J (tenor sax), Andy Abel (guitar), Jay Rowe (keyboards)
7. I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) (Timmy Maia) (Hall & Oates cover)
Featured musicians: Timmy Maia (vocals), Jessy J (tenor sax)
8. I Just Might (Timmy Maia) (Bruno Mars cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
9. It Could Happen (Brian Simpson)
Originally heard on: It’s All Good (2005)
Featured musicians: Brian Simpson (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play.
10. It’s All Good (Brian Simpson)
Originally heard on: It’s All Good (2005)
Featured musicians: Brian Simpson (keyboards), Jessy J (tenor sax), Trever Somerville (drums)
Jay Rowe did not play.
11. Saturday Cool (Brian Simpson)
Originally heard on: It’s All Good (2005)
Featured musicians: Brian Simpson (keyboards), Jessy J (tenor sax), Dave Anderson (bass)
Jay Rowe did not play.
12. Michelle/The Warmth of the Sun (Jay Rowe) (covers of The Beatles and The Beach Boys)
Originally heard on: Jay Walking (1997) (“The Warmth of the Sun” only)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
This was a tribute to Michele Mueller who worked with the CD/merchandise table in the lobby on behalf of JumpStart Jazz Productions. Michele died much too soon at the age of 61 on February 26. The last time I saw Michele was on night 2 last year. I bought Jeff Kashiwa‘s Luminoso CD from her before the show, and she took a photo of us when he signed it after the show.
Thank you to Kevin McCabe for requesting this tribute and reaching out to me for the audio to play on your WRTC-FM radio show.
13. The Lift (Marion Meadows) (started in audience)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
The annual game of “Where’s Marion?” commenced in the left center aisle.
14. Treasures (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: In Deep (2002)
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Andy Abel (guitar), Jay Rowe (keyboards)
15. Suede (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
50/50 RAFFLE ($1,130 pot) (won by audience member whose name I did not catch)
16. Beso del Sol (Jessy J)
Originally heard on: Terranova (2025)
Featured musician: Jessy J (tenor sax), Steve Scales (percussion)
17. Chips and Salsa (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: 3D (2004)
Featured musicians: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocals, vocal sounds), Everyone (including the audience)
18 (Finale). Give Me the Night (Timmy Maia) (George Benson cover on 1980 album of the same name)
Featured musicians: Timmy Maia (lead vocals), Steve Oliver (backing vocals, guitar), Everyone
This is the part with photo galleries of each musician, starting with Jay Rowe:
Marion Meadows, starting “The Lift” in the audience:
On stage:
Turning to the house band, Steve Scales:
Trever Somerville:
Andy Abel:
Dave Anderson, with all photos from his “Saturday Cool” solo:
Medium shots:
Timmy Maia and Jay Rowe:
“High Noon”: Percussion by “the two Steves,” Oliver and Scales:
Jessy J and Andy Abel:
Jessy J and Brian Simpson:
“It’s All Good” ending:
“Saturday Cool” ending:
Wide shots:
“It Could Happen”:
Michele Mueller tribute medley:
The 50/50 raffle had a $1,130 pot!
Kevin McCabe brought bag of tickets to the stage, and Jay Rowe picked the winner that wasn’t me:
I didn’t catch the winner’s name, but it’s someone Jay knew.
For that reason, he had to make clear the raffle was not rigged. I blurted out to myself, “if it was rigged, I would’ve won.”
“Chips and Salsa” wasn’t the finale, but all the headliners joined Steve Oliver as it began.
The finale was Timmy Maia’s cover of “Give Me the Night” by George Benson:
The big finish:
[Part of] Jay Rowe’s closing remarks:
… Give it up: Brian Simpson, Timmy Maia, Steve Oliver, Marion Meadows, Jessy J, Steve Scales, Andy Abel, Trever Somerville, Dave Anderson! I’m Jay Rowe! We love you! Thank you all so much for a great night! … We’ll see you all at Bistro Mediterranean and see you all tomorrow night. Thank you.
The meeting and greeting began in the front row with Steve Scales:
Steve and I are both Hall of Famers. I’m in the WCWP Hall of Fame and Steve is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Talking Heads.
Out in the lobby, I caught up with Jessy J:
Brian Simpson:
Steve Oliver:
…and Marion Meadows:
And that’s a wrap on night 1 of the 23rd anniversary of Smooth Jazz for Scholars. Click here for a recap of night 2 and the aftermath.
MikeChimeri.com 
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