SJFS 2026 Night 2 recap May 14, 2026

Posted by Mike C. in Education, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Sports, Thoroughbred, Travel, TV, Video, Weather.
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Continued from night 1 recap

Saturday, May 2, was night 2 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.

Much of the day was spent at Hilton Garden Inn, whether hanging out in my room or mingling in the lobby. I’d seen night 1 headliner Steve Oliver when I arrived Friday afternoon. On Saturday, I said quick hellos to Althea René and Steve Cole, who were among the night 2 headliners. I also saw fellow photographer Kat Gilraine, Mark and Phyllis Abrams, Rob and Melanie Hoogenboom, and Billy Okumu. At Veterans Memorial Auditorium, the site of Smooth Jazz for Scholars (within Parsons Complex), I saw Jay Dobbins, Judy Raphael, Steve Lewis, Jay Rowe’s wife Deborah, and his mother Mia DiStasi. I made a new acquaintance after the show, which I’ll get to when the time comes.

I left for the auditorium right after watching Golden Tempo make history at the 152nd Kentucky Derby at the restaurant in the hotel lobby. (Watch Larry Collmus call the race for NBC.)

It was another 7:20 arrival, and this was my gear down in the orchestra pit:

• 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

I arrived at the same time for a set that began at the same time: promptly at 8PM. That’s when Kevin McCabe of JumpStart Jazz Productions bid us good evening.

Saturday’s student openers were the full Joseph A. Foran High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jessica Turner.

Kevin McCabe returned to introduce the headliners and house band, led by Smooth Jazz for Scholars music director and founder Jay Rowe.

Jay on his front-facing keyboards:

Saturday’s headliners were the aforementioned Steve Cole on tenor sax (and jokes):

Chieli Minucci on electric guitar:

…and acoustic guitar:

The aforementioned Althea René on flute:

…and Alex Bugnon on keyboards:

The house band accompanying Jay Rowe and the headliners was made up of Steve Scales on percussion:

Trever Somerville on drums:

Andy Abel on guitar:

…and Dave Anderson on bass:

SET LIST
1. The Next Step (Jay Rowe) (also played on night 1)
2026 single
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Andy Abel (guitar)

2. City Groove (Jay Rowe)
2023 single
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Andy Abel (guitar), Steve Scales (percussion)

3. Just Another Love Thing (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Steve Cole (tenor sax)

I love (no pun intended) the “Linus and Lucy” phrases Jay threw into his solos.

4. Attitude (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Without a Doubt (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)

5. Time & Space (Althea René)
Originally heard on: 18 Karat (2025)
Featured musician: Althea René (flute)

6. Life on Mars (Althea René) (Dexter Wansel cover)
Originally heard on: Flawsome (2019)
Featured musicians: Althea René (flute, “flute talk”), Andy Abel (guitar), Jay Rowe (keyboards), Dave Anderson (bass), Trever Somerville (drums)

7. Daybreak (Special EFX)
Originally heard on: Global Village (1992)
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci (acoustic/electric guitars), Althea René (flute), Jay Rowe (keyboards)

8. Mystical Remedies/Mystical (Special EFX)
Originally heard on: Modern Manners (1985), Sweet Surrender (2007)
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci (electric guitar), Steve Cole (tenor sax)

9. Sweet Sticky Thing (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: This Time Around (1993)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play.

10. Night Groove (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Soul Purpose (2001)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play.

11. Synergy (Althea René)
Originally heard on: Conspiracy Theory (2026)
Featured musician: Althea René (flute)

12. Mirage (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Turn It Up (2016)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax), Jay Rowe (keyboards)

13. Justice (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Smoke and Mirrors (2021)
Featured musicians: Steve Cole (tenor sax), Jay Rowe (keyboards)

50/50 RAFFLE ($965 pot) (won by John)

14. Spellbound (Alex Bugnon) (Joe Sample cover)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
(recycled from 2024 night 2 recap): The story behind Alex’s cover of “Spellbound” involved filling in for an ailing Joe Sample at Yoshi’s in 2013. Spellbound was the first jazz album I ever bought, in the summer of 1998.
Jay Rowe did not play.

15. Cool Summer (Special EFX)
2024 single
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci (acoustic guitar), Jay Rowe (keyboards)

16 (Finale). Love and Happiness (Trever Somerville) (Al Green cover)
Featured musicians: Trever Somerville (vocals, drums), Everyone

Before I get to the bulk of the photos, I need to thank Jay Rowe for taking the time between – “Mystical Remedies” and “Sweet Sticky Thing” – to praise the work of me and my fellow photographers Kat Gilraine, Ken Combs, and Keith McDonald. Thank you so much, Jay. We’ve known each other 20 years (since May 5, 2006) and I am grateful to have you in my life. I’m equally grateful to everyone I’ve gotten to know and collaborate with at Smooth Jazz for Scholars, the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony, and Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, just to name a few.

Now, photo galleries of each musician, beginning with Jay:

Steve Cole:

Chieli Minucci on electric guitar:

Chieli on acoustic guitar:

Althea René:

Alex Bugnon:

The house band is up next, starting with Steve Scales:

Trever Somerville:

Andy Abel:

…and Dave Anderson:

Medium shots:
Chieli Minucci and Althea René on “Daybreak”:

Chieli Minucci and Steve Cole (and Andy Abel) on “Mystical Remedies”:

Alex Bugnon, Dave Anderson, Trever Somerville on “Night Groove”:

Steve Cole and Jay Rowe on “Justice”:

Wide shots:
“The Next Step”:

“Just Another Love Thing”:

“Sweet Sticky Thing”:

End of “Night Groove”:

End of “Cool Summer”:

When the time came for the 50/50 raffle, with a $965 pot, Jay Rowe pulled out the winning ticket from the bag Kevin McCabe brought to the stage:

The winner was John from Brooklyn:

As you saw in the set list and video, Trever Somerville sang for the grand finale: Al Green‘s “Love and Happiness“:

Here’s how the rest of the finale played out photographically:

The big finish to the grand finale:

Jay Rowe’s closing remarks:

All right! Give it up for Alex Bugnon, Steve Cole, Althea René, Chieli Minucci, Steve Scales, Andy Abel, Trever Somerville, Dave Anderson, [and] I’m Jay Rowe! Thank you all so much! We’ll see you outside [in the lobby]! We’re havin’ our after party at Bistro Mediterranean on Bridgeport Avenue! So, come on down and have a drink with us! Thank you so much. We’re signin’ CDs out there [in the lobby], too.

The meet-and-greet photos begin with Anita Guris of 2 The Bridge Talent and the guitar she won, signed by all the musicians (Jay, headliners, house band):

Anita and Chieli Minucci:

In addition to that Fender Squier Telecaster guitar, Anita won two gift baskets in a raffle. I may not have had any luck in raffles, but I am proud for the lucky ones, and luck was with Anita this year.

Here I am with Steve Cole:

Althea René:

Thanks to Jay Rowe’s wife Deborah, me with Jay and Chieli Minucci:

…and after I’d put my EOS R7 away, an iPhone 17 Pro selfie with Ken Combs:

I said good night to everyone, exited the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and headed back to Hilton Garden Inn.

I checked out of the hotel at 10:30 AM on Sunday, May 3. Even with heavy pockets of traffic in Greenwich, and in one spot each on the Cross Island and Southern State Parkways, the ride home (as a passenger) took an hour and 38 minutes, from 10:38 AM to 12:16 PM.

Cross Island Parkway Exit 25A, Southern State Parkway East:

Southern State Parkway Exit 13N, Linden Boulevard:

That’s the last of the photos and the last of my two-part 2026 Smooth Jazz for Scholars recap. The publication of these posts, and all the videos, is the culmination of a 19-day labor of love; from the moment I entered the Roosevelt School East Room at LIU Post (for the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony) to the moment yesterday when I clicked “save draft” one last time on the SJFS night 1 and 2 posts. Thank you for following me on this multimedia journey, and thank you to Jay Rowe, the Friday and Saturday headliners, the house band, Kevin McCabe and the JumpStart Jazz Productions crew, and all my fellow smooth jazz fans and photographers.

Like the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony video, I dedicate this two-part recap to my uncle Scott Stephen, a Milford native, whom I lost on April 23. The bulk of my post-production was done at the computer/desk hutch that he graciously assembled back in June 2023. Uncle Scott was a very handy man, a funny man, and as avid a fisherman as my dad Bill. I will miss him dearly.