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.add a comment
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:
Chieli Minucci on electric guitar:
Chieli on acoustic guitar:
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.
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.add a comment
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.
2025 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony May 5, 2026
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Comedy, Country, Education, Internet, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, Rock, Travel, TV, Video, Weather.2 comments
Picking up on the format from the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary weekend, the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony was part of a three-day celebration, from April 24 to 26, 2026. This was the format for Hall of Fame Induction Weekend:
- Friday, April 24, 7-9PM: Welcome reception at the Abrams Communications Center
- Saturday, April 25, 6-9PM: Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at the Roosevelt School
- Sunday, April 26, 10AM-1PM: Farewell coffee and bagels at the Abrams Communications Center
Once again, the Roosevelt School‘s East Room dining hall was the site of the ceremony. The 2025 inductees were:
- Chris Maffei (2013)
- Tony Traguardo (1986)
- Ellyn Solis (1981)
- Cande Roth (1980)
Midway through the ceremony, 2026 graduate Avery Cochikas of The Wave, WCWP’s student-run internet station, received the Arthur Beltrone Founders Award. Art helped found WCWP, which signed on as a carrier current station at noon on October 18, 1961. In the role of program director, Art was the first student voice heard at sign-on.
This recap will include photos during and after the ceremony, along with an aircheck of April 24’s The Rock Show, hosted by Dan Reagan, 2022 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee and chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee. (I have served on the committee since 2022, two years before Dan’s chairmanship began.)
Before all that, I present the 2025 ceremony video, with a running time of 1:49:37.
After an adventurous Lyft ride, I arrived at the Roosevelt School well before 6PM; at around 4:45. Let’s just say it involved a northbound detour up and thin, private road. A few minutes later, we turned west and found ourselves on campus by the intramural baseball fields. Gold Coast Road soon followed and we turned south (left) for our destination.
It would be another hour before attendees and inductees began filing in.
I took these photos during the wait after unpacking my equipment:
Two photos featuring Ellyn Solis and her posse before the ceremony:
2025 inductee Ellyn Solis, Yvonne, Ed, Jill, 2022 inductee Kim Dillon 
Chris Poppe, Ellyn, Esme
Dinner was served at 6PM, and the ceremony began shortly after 7PM.
The master of ceremonies was WCWP station manager Dan Cox. 
The first 2025 inductee honored was Chris Maffei. He was presented by 2020 inductee Christina Kay. 
Chris Maffei and Christina Kay 
Chris Maffei’s acceptance speech 
Dan Cox looked on proudly 
Chris and Dan 
Loni and Rich Frazita introduced the next inductee: Tony Traguardo. 
Tony Traguardo’s acceptance speech (after the brief return of his Post Serial character, Swami Origami) 
Rich Frazita sneaked in bunny ears over Tony Traguardo’s head as he and Loni posed with the plaque 
Dan Cox and Tony Traguardo 
Time for the Arthur Beltrone Founders Award, presented to Avery Cochikas. Avery was introduced by his two station managers. First, Pete Bellotti, a 2019 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee. 
Pete’s speech was followed by one from Dan Cox. 
Avery Cochikas and Pete Bellotti 
Avery Cochikas and Dan Cox 
Avery Cochikas’ acceptance speech 
The last two 2025 inductees each had three presenters. First to present Ellyn Solis was 2022 inductee Kim Dillon. 
Second was Cande Roth. 
Third to induct Ellyn was Chris Poppe. 
Ellyn Solis with her plaque and her posse: Cande Roth, Kim Dillon, and Chris Poppe 
Ellyn Solis’ acceptance speech 
Ellyn Solis and Dan Cox 
Kim Dillon returned to present the fourth inductee, Cande Roth. 
Ellyn Solis donned her Midnite Progressive t-shirt when she inducted Cande. 
Third to present Cande was Phathead, her co-host on their eponymous weekday morning radio show on My Country 96.1 WJVC. Phathead is also WJVC program director. 
Cande with her plaque and presenters: Phathead, Kim Dillon, and Ellyn Solis 
Cande Roth’s acceptance speech 
Cande’s family and friends looked on from their tables 
Dan Cox and Cande Roth 
Dan’s closing remarks 
Ed, Chris, KC (Cande’s son), Yvonne, Evan (Cande’s son), Cande, Jill, Ellyn, Rodrigo, Esme (Ellyn’s daughter), Kim, Brian (Cande’s husband), Phathead 
Chris Maffei and Jeff Kroll 
Chris Maffei and Mike Chimeri (2021 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee) 
Christina Kay, Pete Sacoulas, Sami Jo Negron, Julian Wilson, Tessa and Chris Maffei, Charlie and Margaret Moehler 
The same people as above, but with Dan Cox 
Dan Reagan (2022 inductee), Jeannie Moon (2024 inductee), Gina Reagan 
Dan Reagan and Jeff Kroll (2015 inductee)
Jeff ran the board during Dan’s edition of The Rock Show the night before the ceremony: Friday, April 24. It was so good that it went beyond the usual two hours (2 hours and 17 minutes). Here is my scope of Dan Cox’s aircheck (thanks to Jeff for forwarding me the unscoped original):
In one of the talk breaks, Dan Reagan noted rain was in the forecast for the day of the ceremony. It did rain, and it poured. That’s why my mom Lisa suggested a pack my tripods and bag of camcorders in a tall suitcase to shield them. Thank you, Mom, for the idea. She and my dad Bill were attending the annual Freeport Fire Department installation dinner, in the vein of WCWP’s Hall of Fame ceremony, which is why took Lyft rides to and from my home.
Quick tangent: Before I packed up and left the East Room, Cosmo Leone, another 2022 inductee, congratulated my dad. I told him he was just attending the dinner as all FFD members do each year. Little did I know Coz had reason to congratulate. Bill Chimeri – ex-captain of Freeport Truck Company One – was honored for 25 years of active service, as shown in this photo:
End of tangent.
Dan and his wife Gina were kind enough to drive me from the Roosevelt School up to the Abrams Communications Center where our fellow alumni and this year’s inductees looked around WCWP’s renovated home. It also allowed for a more convenient Lyft pickup spot. (The ride home was conversational rather than adventurous.)
2019 inductee Lew Scharfberg talking to the Reagans and Lamendolas 
Dan Cox shows off Studio 3 to 2022 inductees Cosmo Leone and Kim Dillon, Kim’s husband Craig Ruttle (to her left), and Jeff Kroll 
Tony Traguardo and his wife Winifred Boyd (“Winnie”) with Rich and Loni Frazita in the student lounge 
Kim Dillon, Lew Scharfberg, Larry Lamendola, and Jeff Kroll look at the Radio Dataroom (transmitter room) 
Pete Sacoulas tours the Radio Dataroom with Craig Ruttle looking from the outside; Sami Jo Negron is to Craig’s right 
Cosmo Leone with Dan and Gina Reagan 
A tour of Studio 2 
Outside the new Studio 4, Pete Sacoulas, Sami Jo Negron, and Christina Kay view the Hall of Fame plaque listing all inductees to date
That’s a wrap on the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony recap. Congratulations again to Chris Maffei, Tony Traguardo, Ellyn Solis, Cande Roth, and Art Beltrone Founders Award recipient Avery Cochikas.
Thank you to Ellyn and to Julian Wilson for identifying who was who in a few of the photos (last names withheld).
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights at Tilles Center March 31, 2026
Posted by Mike C. in Film, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Travel, TV.add a comment
Wednesday marked a twice in a lifetime experience for me. I got to see Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, mere steps from the Abrams Communications Center, home to WCWP, on the campus of LIU Post. I was part of a capacity (sell-out) crowd!
Here is the Tilles Center exterior, as seen in December 2025:
The Paumanok Stompers Traditional Jazz Band played in the Goldsmith Atrium, but were finished by the time I got inside.
51 weeks and one day had passed since the first time I saw Herb and his band at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Read the linked recap for more information on the set’s songs and their etymology.
Thanks to Bobby Guthenberg for giving away two tickets for me and my dad Bill. Bobby’s daughter Katie was also with us in row J. I was in seat 134, the aisle seat, with Dad in 133, Katie in 132, and Bobby G. in 131. Lori Downing and her friend Regina sat ahead of us in row H, and Jeff and Pat Kroll were in row G. (Jeff’s the biggest Herb Alpert fan I know.) For Bobby, Lori, the Krolls, this was also a twice in a lifetime experience after seeing the Lincoln Center shows. (Jeff and Pat were at Herb’s 90th birthday show last March 31.)
I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge meeting fellow WCWP and then-C.W. Post alumnus Joe Townley outside the Abrams Communications Center before reaching Tilles’s south entrance. Joe is currently EVP of content, programming, and new business for the production company MyEntertainment.
As for the show, I was much closer to the stage at Tilles Center, and I have a better smartphone: an iPhone 17 Pro. (My Canon EOS R7 wasn’t allowed, meaning a return trip to Dad’s car before going inside.)
Admittedly, some photos required enhancements in Photoshop, and not just color filtering. I think you’ll like what you see, though.
The show began 13 minutes past the scheduled 7:30 start, but it was nonstop action after that.
The modern Tijuana Brass was made up of:
- Herb Alpert – lead trumpet
- Kris Bergh – trumpet and percussion
- Ryan Dragon – trombone and percussion
- Bill Cantos – piano, synthesizer, marimba; music director
- Kerry Marx – acoustic and electric guitars
- Hussain Jiffry – bass
- Ray Brinker – drums
My dad loved Ray’s drumming, and Bill Cantos was delighted when I told him after the show that I knew Jay Rowe. Clasping his hands together, he said “tell him I said hi,” which I did (via text message) as Dad and I exited Tilles Center. I spoke to Jay on the phone back in the fall and mentioned the Herb Alpert concert on my pre-Smooth Jazz for Scholars itinerary. That’s when Jay revealed that Bill is another friend from his days at the New England Conservatory. (I already knew about Nelson Rangell and David Mann.)
The set list was mostly identical to last year’s. In fact, the first 12 songs were the same and in the same order. From there, the set diverged. Herb’s wife Lani Hall couldn’t make it this time, which meant no Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 medley. (Hearing their music on the sound system before the show made up for that.) Otherwise, four songs were new to this set: “Route 101,” “Mae” (partial), “Casino Royale” (partial), and “Up Cherry Street.”
Compare and contrast the set on this night with the one from last year. Some tidbits have been recycled. (The original album and release years are in parentheses.)
- The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro) (The Lonely Bull, 1962) – Original composition by Sol Lake
- The Work Song (S.R.O., 1966) – “Work Song” was by cornet player Nat Adderley
- Memories of Madrid (What Now My Love, 1966) – Another original TJB composition by Sol Lake
- Whipped Cream (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – One of two music cues used on The Dating Game
- Spanish Flea (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – The other Dating Game cue – Original composition by TJB member Julius Wechter (also leader of the Baja Marimba Band)
- Ladyfingers (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – As alluded to last year, this song found new life in TikTok videos
- Lollipops and Roses (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
- Bittersweet Samba (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Still another Sol Lake composition for TJB – Serves as the theme to All Night Nippon, a Japanese radio show
- Mexican Shuffle (South of the Border, 1964) – If you’re keeping score, that’s four Sol Lake compositions in the set – Used in TV ads for Clark’s Teaberry gum (shown on the monitor), where it was known as “The Teaberry Shuffle”
- Tangerine (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
- I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – Preceded by Ray Brinker drum solo (photos below were upscaled from video freeze frames)
- Love Potion No. 9 (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – The album’s requisite striptease song
- This Guy’s in Love with You (The Beat of the Brass, 1968) – Herb’s lone vocal song of the set – Contrary to popular belief, the song was later reworked as “This Girl’s in Love with You” for Dionne Warwick and other female singers, not the other way around for Herb
- Route 101 (Fandango, 1982) (solo album) – One of several Juan Carlos Calderón compositions for Fandango
- Rise (Rise, 1979) (solo album) – Rap fans may recognize one part from its sampling in “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G. – The performance this year was almost as long as the original thanks to many solos
- A Taste of Honey (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Again, Ray Brinker perfectly matched The Wrecking Crew member Hal Blaine‘s drumming from the original, right down to the bass drum taps to note the 4/4 time signature
- Zorba the Greek (Zorba’s Dance) (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – A clip of the titular film‘s dance scene (with Anthony Quinn as Zorba) was shown during the slow middle (seen below in an upscaled video freeze frame)
- Encore 1-1: Smile (Midnight Sun, 1992; Catch the Wind, 2021) (solo albums) – Requiem for departed friends, including Sergio Mendes, Karen Carpenter, Burt Bacharach (co-writer [with Hal David] of “This Guy’s in Love with You”), and A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss – “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin is not to be confused with “Sweet, Sweet Smile,” which was introduced and popularized by The Carpenters
- Encore 1-2: Medley: Mae (!!Going Places!!, 1965); Casino Royale (Sounds Like…, 1967) – another Bacharach/David composition; What Now My Love (What Now My Love, 1966); A Banda (Herb Alpert’s Ninth, 1967) – Fittingly preceded by band introduction (“a banda” literally means “the band”); Tijuana Taxi (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – original composition by TJB guitarist Ervan “Bud” Coleman
- Encore 1-3 (True Finale): Up Cherry Street (South of the Border, 1964) – Second composition of the set by Julius Wechter
Now that you’ve seen the set and know the band, it’s photo time.
“The Lonely Bull”:
“Mexican Shuffle” with Clark’s Teaberry Gum commercial clips:
Herb talking to the audience between “Memories of Madrid” and “Whipped Cream”:
He noted that this was his first performance on Long Island since 1984 at Jones Beach Theater. Jim Carrey, then a stand-up comedian, opened for him.
Herb and Louis Armstrong in an episode of Kraft Music Hall:
Bill Cantos vocalizing at the piano during “Tangerine”:
Ray Brinker’s drum solo between “Tangerine” and “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”:
Ryan Dragon’s trombone solo during “I’m Getting Sentimental…”:
“Love Potion No. 9”:
Despite Lani Hall’s absence, Herb Alpert still spoke of how Sergio Mendes played Cupid and matched him with her.
Sergio Mendes explaining the Brasil [year] origin in Portuguese:
Herb’s “translation” turned out to be the origin of the Tijuana Brass:
Sergio replied in fluent English that isn’t what he said at all.
Perhaps because an audience member requested it, the Sergio segment dovetailed into the origin of “This Guy’s in Love with You.” Prompting the audience to sing along, Herb performed a moving rendition of “This Guy’s…” (in a lower key).
And there was another after “Rise”!
“A Taste of Honey”:
What do you think happened afterward?
The last song before the encore was “Zorba’s Dance,” known on !!Going Places!! as “Zorba the Greek.”
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass gathered at center stage and took a bow:
Then, it was back to their posts – no pun intended at LIU Post – for the encore.
Encore song 1 was Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.”
The mood lightened back up for the five-song medley that featured a little bit of “Casino Royale”:
The medley ended with “Tijuana Taxi,” featuring a marimba solo by Bill Cantos:
He also played a horn honk on his synthesizer.
A night to remember ended with “Up Cherry Street”:
The end!
One last ovation! 
Herb Alpert has left the building…or at least the stage. 
Before departing, I grabbed two selfies. One with Regina and Lori…
…and the other with Katie, Bobby G., and my dad Bill:
Tilles Center marked a 7-day resumption of Herb Alpert’s tour. One night later, he and his modern Tijuana Brass were in New Haven for another sell-out show at College Street Music Hall. The rest of this paragraph was revised on 4/1: The week concluded with the 51st consecutive sell-out, fittingly on Herb’s 91st birthday, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Ryman just happens to be where Brass guitarist Kerry Marx serves as music director of the Grand Ole Opry. The tour resumes on May 10 at The VETS (Veterans Memorial Auditorium) in Providence, Rhode Island.
My next music event will be down the road from New Haven in Milford, Connecticut, at Jay Rowe‘s 23rd anniversary Smooth Jazz for Scholars on May 1 and 2, held in a different Veterans Memorial Auditorium in the Parsons Complex.
April 25, exactly one month after seeing Herb Alpert at Tilles, I’ll be at the Roosevelt School the south end of LIU Post for the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony Dinner, honoring the Class of 2025 (revealed on Homecoming Weekend last September) and this year’s Arthur Beltrone Service Award recipient. Until I recap that, thank you for reading.
Instrumental Invasion, Christmas 2025 Edition (12/24, 5PM; 12/25, 9PM) December 25, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Baseball, Bluegrass, Christmas, Classical, Comedy, Film, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Media, Music, New Age, Personal, Radio, smooth jazz, Sports, Technology, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
A special three-hour Christmas 2025 edition of Instrumental Invasion was recorded principally on December 1 with pickups recorded during quality control on the morning of the 3rd and again that afternoon in case the show didn’t only air on Christmas. Indeed, it aired Christmas Eve at 5PM and reran on Christmas at 9PM. (I use the past tense despite publishing on Christmas morning.)
Before I say more, here is the scoped aircheck:
What I said in the outro is true. WCWP/WXBA station manager Dan Cox hosted a Microsoft Teams meeting for alumni on October 27. When he opened the “floor” to questions, I had two:
- May I contribute to the rotation of legal IDs voiced by alumni?
- Would it be okay if I recorded a special Christmas show?
Dan said yes to both. Right after the meeting I recorded VO for the ID, which turned out this way:
I didn’t start work on the Christmas Instrumental Invasion until the following Monday, November 3, when Dan answered a follow-up email about show length. He said it could be as long as I wanted. So, I chose to make a three-hour show. The playlist, created and tweaked between November 3 and 15, was reworked from the playlist for what would have been the fourth and final Christmas show of my Wednesday night run. (2020, 2021, 2022 recaps) The renovation hiatus ended that run sooner than planned. 22 of the 23 songs from the unused playlist were incorporated into this one with minimal rearranging. 15 songs were added to pad out the three hours (all under an hour in length), and the 23rd song from the original playlist was changed due to time constraints in hour 2.
Annotations drafting began November 5, when I completed my first playlist draft, and tweaks followed along through the 15th. For the first time ever, I’m sharing the script. Work on that began when my initial annotations draft completed on November 10. Tweaks continued all the way into recording and pickups.
I had planned on doing as I did for the last two Homecoming Weekend prerecords (2024, 2025), by recording and mixing live on my Twitch channel from December 4 to 6. I even did like this year’s HCW show and preloaded the music and liners into Adobe Audition multitrack session files. However, I developed an obsession with the video game PowerWash Simulator 2, for which I have the Xbox Series X/S port. I wasn’t about to halt gameplay for three days when I was on the verge of completing the game’s career mode. (I did that on December 6 and completed the game entirely [in its initial form] two nights later.) So, I recorded and edited all 15 talk breaks (five per hour) in a three-hour span on December 1. Then, I mixed them into the preloaded sessions. All three hours were within the 58:00 to 59:59 range Dan Cox asks of show files with hour 1 skewing closer to the minimum at 58:20, which I reworked to 58:36. Hours 2 and 3 required reworking in the opposite direction to reach run times of 59:58 and 59:57.
The December 3 quality control session required a handful of pickups with truncating in the last two hours for even shorter times. I misinterpreted an email that afternoon, leading me to think the show either might not air on Christmas or wouldn’t be limited to Christmas. The resulting evergreen pickups worked in my favor as Dan chose to premiere the show Christmas Eve at 5PM and run it again on Christmas at 9PM. The end result hour by hour: 58:39, 59:52, 59:54. There was no dead air between files as legal IDs bridged the gaps. That meant the show after mine began before the top of the hour.
This paragraph was written December 9 after learning that Gordon Goodwin died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70. His Big Phat Band were part of my show with “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” It’s too late for me to redo the talk break for the set with the song as I’ve already sent Dan the show hour files. Gordon will live on through his music, not just with the Big Phat Band, but for the TV shows and films he scored.
“You wanna have a catch?” in the intro was a quote from the end of Field of Dreams where Ray gets to play catch with his father. The Colin Mochrie joke about “foreplay” (not Fourplay) is a sound command for my Twitch streams and was sourced from this Whose Line video:
And lastly, pianist Bill Evans crediting “Joe LaBarbera on drums” was from the end of a live performance of “Days of Wine and Roses” at Keystone Korner in San Francisco. It’s part of a posthumous box set called Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2.
I’ll leave you with screenshots of each completed multitrack session on the morning of December 3 (before the evergreen revisions):
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
2025 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Weather.add a comment
NOTE: Two of the alumni hosts, Alana and Tom, do not use their last names on the air. So, I have omitted their last names from this post.
This year, Homecoming Weekend on WCWP (simulcast on WXBA) and at LIU Post was the earliest it’s ever been: September 12 to 14. The date was made public during the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary broadcast on March 16. (Read about that celebratory weekend here.) Homecoming Weekend coordinator Ted David assembled quite the lineup, which began with me at noon (well, noon-ish) on Friday, September 12, and ended at midnight on the 14th/15th as Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh closed Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel with “Red Hot and Cooking” by Garth Hewitt.
The centerpiece of the weekend was the LIU Sharks football team‘s Homecoming game (and home opener) against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. (That was the LIU Post team name before the Post and Brooklyn athletic programs merged and moved from NCAA Division II to Division I.)
Once again, as unofficial station historian, I documented as much as I could of the entire weekend – on campus Friday and Saturday, and from home on Sunday.
I airchecked off the FM web stream on PCs in my bedroom and guest room via Audacity, where I would export as individual files, and then edit in Adobe Audition. Unfortunately, my internet betrayed me on Saturday. I recorded nearly nine hours of silence. I’m grateful to WCWP station manager Dan Cox for filling the gaps with his official airchecks and to Bernie Bernard via her show files.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
I arrived at the Abrams Communications Center at 11:30 AM. While Project Independence and You (one week shy of its 14th anniversary) finished up in studio 3, I prepped for my live Instrumental Invasion. It was the first time I led off Homecoming Weekend since 2017.
I made a separate recap of that show here, but I’ll at least share Pat Kroll’s photo of me during one of my sets…
…and the aircheck video (with an edited open):
Pat and Jeff Kroll had the next show at 2PM. Since their show and Strictly Jazz at 4PM would be rerun from 2AM to 7AM, Jeff had to be prompt, fading out my last song with 1:40 remaining.
Herb Alpert fans that we are, we both began our shows with Tijuana Brass tracks. My lead was “Spanish Flea” while Jeff used “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (covered on S.R.O.) as the intro bed.
Jeff ran the board during his show and Strictly Jazz. 
Neil Marks joined in the second hour to preview the LIU Sharks’ Homecoming football game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. 
Neil Marks 
Neil Marks and Pat Kroll
Out in the lobby, Neil Marks talked to Strictly Jazz hosts John LiBretto and Hank Neimark about his long trip to LIU Post earlier Friday.
Hank had the honor of signing on WCWP-FM on March 16, 1965.
The Krolls with fellow alumni (and fiancés) Sami Jo Negron and Pete Sacoulas:
A partial video of Jeff and Pat’s show:
…and a full scoped aircheck:
John LiBretto and Hank Neimark hosted Strictly Jazz, the third show of the weekend, Friday at 4PM.
John LiBretto 
Hank Neimark 
Despite the title, Strictly Jazz deviated to pop in hour 2 by playing “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Pat Kroll returned to read the song’s quirky lyrics. 
Jeff Kroll had additional “Wooly Bully” tidbits.
A partial video of Strictly Jazz:
…and the full scoped aircheck:
From jazz to rock, John Zoni was next at 7PM:
We went from rock to dance just after 9PM with Jay Mirabile and a special edition of The DFK Show.
If you’re wondering, I took a rideshare home around 6:30 PM.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
We jump ahead to 7AM and a prerecorded show hosted by John Commins:
David Friedland was live in studio 2 at 9AM, leading into the Sharks’ Homecoming game:
After editing what I’d airchecked so far, my mom drove me up to LIU Post half an hour later than Friday. We had to clear a security checkpoint before reaching the parking lot by WCWP. I unpacked and walked toward Shark Stadium (no naming rights this year) for photos around and above the field.
The bulk of my Shark Stadium photos were taken on the roof where Travis Demers, Neil Marks, and Jeff Kroll called the LIU Sharks Homecoming football game. Pat Kroll was the coordinating producer.
It was the 2nd quarter when I reached the roof. Travis Demers handled play-by-play for the middle quarters with Jeff Kroll leading the first and last. 
Travis Demers’s field view 
Remote equipment 
Pat Kroll’s notes 
You can’t call a sporting event without spotter charts. 
Just for fun, I took a short video on my iPhone that I later synced to the relevant portion of Dan Cox’s game aircheck:
Travis and my fellow alumni were impressed when I posted that video to the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group.
Before we return to WCWP, let’s look at photos on the field, sidelines, and bleachers.
I made it back to WCWP just before halftime where co-hosts John Zoni and Jeannie Moon narrated highlights and analyzed the first half. At the board was Andrew Scarpaci.
John Zoni 
Jeannie Moon 
Highlights, lowlights, and other elements were run in Zetta by Andrew, as seen at halftime.
The studio portion of the halftime report:
You saw how Zetta looked at halftime. This image after the game tells a different, but predictable story:
For the second year in a row, the Sharks squandered a lead. They gave up 17 unanswered points to the SHU Pioneers, losing 24-21 on a field goal as time expired.
In spite of another down ending, it was another exciting game for Jeff Kroll, Neil Marks, and Travis Demers to call on Long Island’s 88.1 FM.
I kept my camcorders and tripods in studio 3 to cover John Zoni and Jeannie Moon’s portion of the postgame show.
This YouTube video compiles the studio 3 halftime and postgame reports:
I’ll spare you the details of what happened in the Sharks’ next game.
On a happier note, programming moved back to studio 2 after the Sharks postgame show. At 3:30 PM, Homecoming Weekend coordinator Ted David hosted the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee announcement special.
Ted getting in touch with Bernie Bernard to call in and announce the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees
The lucky quartet of 2025 inductees was Cande Roth, Ellyn Solis-Maurer, Tony Traguardo, and Chris Maffei.
(Full disclosure: This was my fourth year on the Hall of Fame Committee.)
Below is the announcement, featuring a cameo from me, here:
…and listen here (without the video’s cutaways):
Bernie Bernard’s prerecorded show ran at 4PM:
As Bernie’s show ran in automation, I joined my fellow alumni outside for the Homecoming barbecue. We’ll use this time for a photographic interlude.
First, Ted’s selfie with me:
Bobby Guthenberg (Bobby G.), Neil Marks, Lew Scharfberg 
Neil Marks, Laurie White, Jeannie Moon, Lew Scharfberg 
Ted David, Rich Lacourciere, new HOF inductee Tony Traguardo, John Zoni, John Mullen, Frank Iemitti, WCWP station manager Dan Cox 
Mike Chimeri, Rich Lacourciere, Tony Traguardo, John Zoni, John Mullen, Frank Iemitti, Dan Cox 
Mike Chimeri and Travis Demers 
Mike Chimeri and Alana 
Mike Chimeri and John Zoni 
Alana next to the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary banner
Live programming returned to studio 2 at 6PM with Bobby G. and Mike Riccio. The dynamic duo counted down most of the 50 songs in the “First Annual WCWP Beatle Spectacular Hit-List.” Published in December 1969, the list represented the most popular Beatles songs as voted by WCWP listeners.
Bobby G. 
Mike Riccio 
With candid photos of Bobby G. and Mike Riccio out of the way, I had them pose for this photo. 
I took this selfie early in the second of two talk breaks.
You can watch those first three talk breaks here:
…and here is the full scoped aircheck:
Incidentally, this is my scan of a copy of the First Annual WCWP Beatle Spectacular Hit-List:
Vincent Randazzo and a host of others were on hand for a special edition of The Alternative Jukebox at 9PM:
Vince’s show was three hours, but half the time was spent chatting with current and recently-graduated staff. It was quite informative. (Shoutout to Post-Party Depression.)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
The prerecorded Instrumental Invasion ran at midnight. Click here for a full recap, then come back for the rest of this recap.
I will again share the aircheck scope, though:
9/23 UPDATE: And why not include a 65x speed montage of the two Twitch streams that served as recording sessions?
All other info is in the show recap. If you’re returning from that post, welcome back.
Tom was up bright and early at 6AM for the Homecoming Weekend edition of The Dad Rock Show:
Jay LaPrise followed at 8AM with a playlist featuring songs by artists he saw live in concert:
Alana’s The Rockin’ Sunday Show normally airs at noon, but aired in its original 10AM slot on Homecoming Weekend.
Jumping ahead to 1PM, Ted David and Jeff Kroll co-hosted The Joe Show, a remembrance of the late Joseph P. “Joe” Honerkamp.
Joe was a fixture at WCWP for over 50 years, and had a long professional career which included radio stints at WYNY and WHN, and TV production on the weekend Today show.
Among those to reflect on the life and times of Joseph P. were his widow Kathy Honerkamp and their daughters Melanie and Diana. Kathy and Melanie are seen here in studio 2. Diana spoke by phone.
Bruce Leonard and Joel Feltman were also among those to call in.
The scoped aircheck (there were a few songs played) can be heard here:
Ted David shifted to the board at 2PM, playing a wide variety of music over the next hours:
Billy the Kid (Billy Houst) and Joey C. (Joe Conte) had the last two-hour show at 4PM: Masters of Metal.
The penultimate show of Homecoming Weekend began at 6PM: The Ladies of Prison Break Radio, Jamie Mazzo and Sara Dorchak.
And putting a bow on the weekend, my children, was Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh and Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel. Check it out.
Post-production, no pun intended, began as Homecoming Weekend was in progress on September 13 and concluded on the evening of the 21st with publication of this post and the Instrumental Invasion posts.
Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. It bears repeating: documenting events like this is a labor of love. The next time I step on the campus of LIU Post will be March 25, 2026, for a twice-in-a-lifetime experience thanks to Bobby Guthenberg. My mom and I will get to see Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Other Delights again for their Tilles Center set. (Read about their April 1 Jazz at the Lincoln Center show here.)
This post is not only dedicated to the memory of Joe Honerkamp, but also Jett Lightning. Jett (Julio) fell ill in the days leading up to Homecoming Weekend and passed away on the morning of September 13. He will be sorely missed at WCWP. I’ll leave you with a photo of Jett taken last year…
…and a scope of his 2022 Homecoming Weekend show featuring Jay Elzweig, who is also no longer with us.
Instrumental Invasion, 9/14/25, 12AM (Homecoming Weekend) September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Computer, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Technology, Video Games.add a comment
Other posts: 9/12 12PM live show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The prerecorded edition of Instrumental Invasion for WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at midnight on Sunday, September 14. Unlike last year, this show was only two hours.
Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way before I detail how the show came to be.
I said in the live show recap that I knew well in advance I’d have that and the prerecord.
The playlist was created July 29 and 30 with two hours in mind. That duration was confirmed to me on August 5. There wasn’t much poaching from older playlists, meaning less copying and pasting of annotations. The annotations were drafted July 30 and August 1 and 4. The first draft of the script was written August 5 and 6. I wanted to get as much pre-production out of the way before Long Island Retro Gaming Expo.
Little did I know the consequences of referencing Casiopea‘s fifth era with a new keyboardist, Jun Abe, and tying Brian Simpson‘s “Wonderland” to Taylor Swift‘s namesake from 1989 D.L.X. On August 12, Taylor announced a new album, The Life of a Showgirl, in an episode of New Heights, a podcast hosted by the Kelce brothers, Travis (her boyfriend) and Jason. Then, a few days later, I found out T-Square released an album called Turn the Page! and that Casiopea was about to release True Blue. That led to script revisions on August 15 and 17. Then, August 20, the playlist, annotations, and script were all tweaked to accommodate song replacements.
I planned on recording one hour per day – August 28 and 29 – during livestreams on my Twitch channel, just as I had done for last year’s prerecord and the final regular Instrumental Invasion. To save time during the streams, I prepared the Adobe Audition multitrack sessions for each hour on August 25. That’s when I realized I’d made a timing error for both hours! I was four minutes over in hour 1 and two minutes under in hour 2. So, I had to make further tweaks to the playlist, annotations, and script with different songs to make up for the oversights.
But I still wasn’t finished! I mistakenly thought one minute and 55 seconds was enough time to assign talk breaks. Unfortunately, most talk breaks were overly wordy. When I reached hour 1’s last talk break, I noticed I was well over. Drastic cuts had to be made to the talk breaks. The plan worked.
To avoid the same problem with hour 2, I cut back on that hour’s talk breaks before the August 29 Twitch stream, and worked in a congratulations to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on their engagement (earlier that week). It still wasn’t enough! Not only did I have to make further cuts; I also had to fade songs out early or have them start underneath a liner and the end of the last talk break. I recorded that last talk break first, knowing it would be the longest of the hour. Somehow, my cutbacks worked again, and each hour – or 59:59 – flowed smoothly. Unless you’ve read this post or watched my Twitch streams, you’d never know all the work that went into this show.
Here are screenshots of each hour’s multitrack session:
Only one pickup was necessary, recorded on the morning of August 30. For any talk break preceded by a liner that only acknowledged WCWP, I started with “and WXBA,” to reflect the merger and subsequent rebranding. I neglected to do that coming out of David Benoit‘s liner. David hosts a jazz show on another 88.1 FM, K-Jazz (KKJZ) at Cal State Long Beach. So, the pickup was for one more “and WXBA,” and to rerecord the first few sentences of the talk break to maintain its total run time.
On the Twitch side, I broadcast my streams with a program called OBS Studio. Once per day, there was a brief server disconnection. Friday’s outage happened while recording the fourth talk break of hour 2 (the last recorded that day). Rather than stop until OBS reconnected, I soldiered on. It made for this funny outtake:
And I did.
Read about my elaborate Twitch setup here.
Below is what the two recording session streams looked like at 65x speed, set to “Sweat It Off” by Casiopea:
Now that you know the story of this show, get back to the main recap, picking up with The Dad Rock Show hosted live at 6AM by Tom.
Instrumental Invasion, 9/12/25, 12PM (Homecoming Weekend) (Live!) September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Football, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, smooth jazz, Sports, Travel, Video.add a comment
Other posts: 9/14 12AM prerecorded show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The live edition of Instrumental Invasion kicked off the 2025 edition of WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at 12PM Friday. (More like 12:03, but I dwell on that enough in the aircheck below.) Whereas last year’s live show was immediately followed by Strictly Jazz, Jeff and Pat Kroll bridged the gap to 4PM with their 2PM show. This was my introduction to new station branding, thanks to a merger with WXBA in Brentwood: “Long Island’s 88.1 FM, WCWP Brookville and WXBA Brentwood, LIU Public Radio.”
Before I get into how this Instrumental Invasion show was made and share photos taken during the show, let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way…
…along with video synced to the scope.
You’ll notice I edited the opening talk break and that it lacks video. I was so ashamed of what happened behind the scenes before playing “InsInvShowOpen” in Zetta that I deleted the raw video file six days after exporting it from the SD card. The important thing is I passed the figurative trial by fire and will know what to do next time. I’ll also try my hardest to follow the advice I forgot in the moment: don’t acknowledge (or dwell on) a mistake. Carry on like nothing happened and handle any issues off-mic.
The playlist for the live Instrumental Invasion was created July 28. This year, I knew would have a second prerecorded show and started working on that playlist the next day. The live playlist was tweaked on August 1 and 17. Annotations were drafted on July 30; August 1, 2, 4, 5, and 17; and once more on September 10. For the sake of spontaneity, I do not make scripts for live shows. I read the annotations cold after each set and otherwise ad-libbed.
Again, the live theme was a 60-year musical journey, coincidentally tying in with WCWP-FM’s 60th anniversary. The August 17 playlist tweak was for the 2025 portion. I found about T-Square‘s new Turn the Page! album (post-announcement Reddit thread), and replaced a different 2025 song (I won’t name the artist) with “Front Runner.”
All programming not involving the LIU Sharks’ Homecoming football game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers emanated from studio 2 at the Abrams Communications Center. Sharks football pre- and postgame shows, and the halftime report, were based in studio 3.
Here are photos I took in studio 2 during hour 2:
My playlist and annotation pages 
Zetta, which I quickly acclimated to
Thanks to Pat Kroll for this photo of me at the board:
Read about this year’s prerecorded two-hour Instrumental Invasion here.
SJFS 2025 Night 2 recap May 15, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Education, Food, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Technology, Travel, Wrestling.add a comment
Jay Rowe‘s 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars continued on Saturday, May 3, with five headliners, including Jay himself.
It bears repeating that Scholars benefits the Milford, Connecticut, Public Schools music department.
I edited 112 of Friday’s 304 photos on my laptop Saturday morning and afternoon. Some of that editing was during an impromptu livestream on my Twitch channel. A bandwidth test in OBS proved streaming was possible without dropped frames and major interference. At last, hotel premium Wi-Fi is strong enough to stream from your room, my room being at the Milford Hampton Inn on Plains Road. I streamed for an hour before raiding out, and would continue editing on and off stream in my first six days back home. Then, I picked 179 photos to use in the Friday recap, and 198 for this Saturday recap.
My parents and I ate dinner at Chili’s on Boston Post Road (U.S. 1), which is where we ate the first time I attended SJFS in 2007.
Again, we returned to the hotel for an hour before leaving at 7PM for Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Parsons Complex with all my equipment.
Reiterating what I said in Friday’s post, my photographer fellowship down in the orchestra pit were Katherine Gilraine, Kenny Combs, Andrew James, and Ron Hancox.
My equipment was as follows:
- Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens, plus a Speedlite 430 EX II flash attachment (only used for photos of the audience)
- 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 and had nothing attached except for an Amazon Basics tripod
- 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
With hellos out of the way and 8:00 upon us, we shouted “good evening!” to Kevin McCabe:
Leading off on Saturday was the Joseph A. Foran High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jessica Turner. (I couldn’t catch the names of the songs, but the second was by Earth, Wind & Fire.)
Jay Rowe‘s opening remarks were in two parts. First, he complimented the Foran Jazz Ensemble for their EWF cover. Then, he came back out after the chairs were removed and Kevin McCabe introduced the house band and headliners.
To paraphrase the late HairClub founder Sy Sperling, Jay Rowe isn’t just a smooth jazz sideman; he’s also a fan. And he was even a headliner on Saturday!
The first of Jay’s fellow headliners was Lindsey Webster:
Lindsey’s collaborator Keith Slattery was on keyboards for her songs:
The remaining headliners were Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:
…and flute:
Marion Meadows on soprano sax:
…and two for one, Four80East. Rob DeBoer was on keyboards:
…with percussion by Tony Grace:
Jay’s house band was made up of Trever Somerville on drums:
Andy Abel on guitar:
…and Dave Anderson on bass:
SET LIST (updated with videos on 6/20/25)
1. That’s What I Know (Jay Rowe) (tribute to Rohn [“ron”] Lawrence; expression Rohn inherited from his father and used on his son)
2024 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
If you don’t take out the garbage and mow the lawn, you’re not gonna borrow the car this weekend. That’s what I know.
-Jay Rowe, channeling Rohn Lawrence’s father
2. Every Woman, Every Man (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Smooth Ride (2016)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
3. Starlight Kisses (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax)
4. Let It Ride (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Let It Ride (2012)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax); Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion)
5. Upa Neguinho (Keep Up Little One) (Jeff Kashiwa; cover of Edu e Bethânia song)
Originally heard on: Luminoso (2024)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax); Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion)
6. Noodle Soup (Four80East)
Originally heard on: En Route (2007); Barn Sessions, Volume 1 (2025)
Featured musicians: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
7. Cinco Cinco Seis (Four80East)
Originally heard on: Four on the Floor (2018)
Featured musician: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards, with voice sample [“uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis”]), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
8. I’m OK (Lindsey Webster)
Originally heard on: Reasons (2022)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals), Keith Slattery (keyboards)
Keith played keyboards in place of Jay Rowe on Lindsey’s songs.
9. I Got You (I Feel Good) (Lindsey Webster) (James Brown cover)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals), Keith Slattery (keyboards)
50/50 RAFFLE ($1,350 pot) (won by Denise)
10. The Lift (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (started in audience)
11. South Beach (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
12. Romantica (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (walked off stage at the end), Tony Grace (percussion)
13. 3-Day Weekend (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Simple Truth (2002)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax), Tony Grace (percussion)
14. The Walker (Four80East)
Originally heard on: Off Duty (2012)
Featured musicians: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards, with voice samples [“funking nasty,” “to the east side, to the west side”]), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
Included audience participation (right side shouted “to the east side,” left side shouted “to the west side”), “flute battle” between Rob’s synth flute and Jeff’s real flute
15. Over the Rainbow (Lindsey Webster) (sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz)
Originally heard on: A Woman Like Me (2020)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals, with comedic pause before last note), Keith Slattery (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play on “The Walker” or “Over the Rainbow.”
Before the finale, Lindsey sang a snippet of the title track to her upcoming album. (3/14/26 UPDATE: Music in Me was released on February 27, 2026.)
16 (Finale). Ain’t Nobody (Lindsey Webster) (Rufus and Chaka Khan cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Lindsey Webster (vocals)
Photo galleries of each musician begin with Jay Rowe‘s “South Beach” solo:
“Jay Rowe, y’all!”
I appreciated the “Mas que nada” phrasing at the end, calling back to Lani Hall‘s Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 medley I saw during Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights on April 1.
Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:
Jeff on flute:
Marion Meadows started “The Lift” in the audience:
Marion on stage:
Marion’s exit at the end of “Romantica”:
Four80East:
Rob DeBoer:
Tony Grace:
Trever Somerville:
Andy Abel:
…and Dave Anderson:
Lindsey and Dave are in this first of my medium shots:
Marion, Trever and Dave:
Marion, Tony and Andy:
Tony and Trever’s “3-Day Weekend” duet (with Andy and Jeff in the middle):
Jeff and Rob’s “The Walker” flute battle:
Wide shots start with two from “Let It Ride“:
The end of “I Got You (I Feel Good)“:
“South Beach“:
Marion watching Jay’s solo 
“Romantica“:
“The Walker“:
The end of “Over the Rainbow“:
The audience has their turn now, seen first dancing to “Noodle Soup” (Dolly Moye and Jay Dobbins are to the right of Norma):
“The Walker”:
Rob’s instructions to the audience 
Their cue 
“To the east side!” 
“To the west side!”
The 50/50 raffle (won by Denise):
Another kiss for Jay and Deborah 
The winning number 
Denise received her prize
The finale: “Ain’t Nobody” (Rufus and Chaka Khan song):
The end:
“Thank you all! See you again real soon.”
-Jay Rowe
I’ll admit things got overwhelming in the lobby afterward. (It comes with being on the autism spectrum.) There was a large crowd meeting and greeting and I was too bashful to go ahead of anyone. When the wait seemed interminable, I sat down at an elevated round table and started to cry. A woman noticed me and asked if I was okay (of all things to ask after a show featuring “I’m OK”), and then Jay Rowe noticed me and brought Lindsey Webster over to sign my copy of Reasons. Marion Meadows soon followed. (A man named Sal told me afterward it was his idea to invite Marion to where I was seated.) Marion signed my copying of Just Doing Me. Then, as my tears subsided, Jay took our photo.
Simply writing that paragraph made me cry a little.
Jay then took a photo of me and Rob DeBoer with my signed copy of Barn Sessions, Volume 1:
And Michele Mueller from the merchandise table took a photo of me and Jeff Kashiwa with my newly purchased and signed copy of Luminoso:
(5/12/26 UPDATE: Sadly, this was the last time I saw Michele. She passed away nearly ten months later, on February 26.)
I said my goodbyes to everyone – including Mia DiStasi (Jay’s mom), Kevin McCabe, and Steve Lewis – and walked out to the parking lot for the ride back to Hampton Inn. Yet again, I unloaded the contents off all the SD cards to my laptop.
Unfortunately, the last 11 minutes of Saturday’s show are missing from my “A” camcorder. When reaching for the handle unit light switch after panning to the audience’s post-“Over the Rainbow” standing ovation, the middle of my thumb grazed the record button. Gotta remember to lock that next time. That’s why the freeze frame at the end of the finale is from the “B” camcorder. The on-board audio from that camcorder was disappointingly distant. So, I’m taking my Takstar SGC-598 out of retirement for use with the “B” going forward.
That was the only wrinkle to what was otherwise a great weekend, both at the Parsons Complex and Hampton Inn. I caught up with musicians and fellow fans that I hadn’t seen since last year or longer, and met others for the first time, including Joe Green, Rick Pascal, Bill McLaughlin, and Chip Paris.
I spent hours in the hotel lobby with my laptop, mingling while editing and eating breakfast.
Here I am on Saturday with Hap Carpenter:
And I got a selfie with Estella Taylor-Greene and Norma Rohadfox before we all checked out:
My parents and I left Hampton Inn at 10:35 AM on Sunday, May 4. The ride back to Wantagh was 20 minutes shorter than the ride from there on Friday! We were home by 12:08 PM.
Along the way, I took a photo of the current WWE headquarters off southbound I-95 in Stamford:
Thank you to everyone for a memorable weekend in Milford. See you all again next year!
I’ll conclude this post with a 100x speed montage of the nine photo editing livestreams on my Twitch channel, from May 3 in my hotel room to May 11 (Mother’s Day) at home. (WARNING: There will be flashing effects at times from going back and forth between apps.)
P.S. Wednesday was my 350th Twitch stream, and marked a return to video games, my channel’s main focus.
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.add a comment
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.
The first song had an alto sax lead: “Soul Chicken,” by Kris Berg, not to be confused with Kris Bergh from Herb Alpert’s new Tijuana Brass. 
The Jonathan Law ensemble’s second song was “Slow Dancing,” led by a flautist (and vocals from the horn section). 
Mr. Pelaggi: “Thank you so, so much. Thank you for having us tonight. Thank you, Jay, for putting this together and doing this every year for the Milford school systems; particularly, the music department. We appreciate it. You wouldn’t see so many of the instruments on stage without this event that happens every year. So, big shoutout to Jay. Thank you so much. We appreciate you having us.”
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:
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:
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.”
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):
Jay and Deborah Rowe kissed (after I said “do it again!”) 
The winning ticket 
Carolyn received her reward
“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:
…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.
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