Leaving Evening Jazz August 11, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Effective immediately, I am stepping aside from “Evening Jazz” on 88.1 WCWP. I wish the best of luck to those involved with the format. It was a privilege to be on board for the first seven months. It was equally an honor to be considered as a host when the format was proposed a year ago.
RnR Smooth Cruise recap August 7, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Photography, Travel, Weather.add a comment
On Wednesday, I embarked on my third Smooth Cruise aboard the Spirit of New York. The cruise was their 6:30 PM sunset cruise. In 2008, I saw Spyro Gyra. In 2009, I caught the Rippingtons. This time, the group was RnR: Rick Braun and Richard Elliot. It was the first time I had seen them since June 2008 at IMAC.
RnR was made up of Rick Braun on trumpet…
…and flugelhorn:
Richard Elliot on tenor sax…
…and EWI (electronic wind instrument):
Dwight Sills on guitar:
Nathaniel “Nate” Phillips on bass:
Ricky Lawson on drums:
And Ron Reinhardt on the keyboards:
The ship left Chelsea Piers’ Pier 61 at around 6:45. The set began shortly thereafter. So, let’s take you through that set:
1. Q It Up
2. Down and Dirty
3. Tijuana Dance?
Rick switched to flugelhorn for this one:
I went outside for a few minutes to snap some pictures.
The Statue of Liberty:
Lower Manhattan:
Brooklyn:
Back inside…
4. Inner City Blues (Richard only)
Richard began on the EWI…
…before switching back to tenor sax:
Ron had a wild keyboard solo:
Rick dedicated the next song to his late mother and all the moms in the audience:
And that song was…
5. My Funny Valentine (Rick only)
Rick was on vocals…
…and muted trumpet:
6. When A Man Loves A Woman (Richard only)
While Richard played inside, I went back outside just as we rode under the Brooklyn Bridge…
…and came close to the Manhattan Bridge:
FDR Drive:
The ship then turned around, heading back for Chelsea Piers.
Back inside, I shot another pic of the FDR Drive from my table:
Back at the stage, Richard was playing his heart out:
For this, he got a standing ovation:
Rick returned to the stage for…
7. Green Tomatoes
He and Richard invited the audience to get on their feet and dance:
Those on the floor didn’t leave until the set was over.
8. Keep On Truckin’
Richard sang through his EWI:
Rick appeared mesmerized:
Richard switched back to the sax at the end:
9. Grazin’ In The Grass
“Everybody scream!”
The band left the stage for what felt like ten seconds and came back for an encore.
10 (Encore). Rock Steady/Move On Up
“Rock…Steady!”
The “Move On Up” half of the encore:
The final note:
Afterward, I went downstairs to re-meet and re-greet Rick and Richard:
The set was exhilarating. And after all that, Rick and Richard had a moonlight cruise set at 9:30. I have no doubt that it was just as exhilarating then as it was for the set I saw. Thanks to Rick, Richard, Dwight, Nate, Ricky, and Ron.
Two Smooth Cruises ahead August 4, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Travel, Weather.add a comment
For the next two Wednesdays, I will be aboard the Spirit of New York for the sunset (6:30 PM) Smooth Cruise. This will be my third year aboard. In 2008, I saw Spyro Gyra. In 2009, I caught the Rippingtons.
This week, I’ll be seeing RnR: Rick Braun and Richard Elliot. Next week, it’s Guitars and Saxes with Peter White, Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, and Kirk Whalum.
Photo recaps will be posted within a week (at the latest) after each cruise.
Evening Jazz Pics & Video, 7/8/10 July 9, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Jazz, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Yesterday, I brought my digital camera up to WCWP so I could take self-timed pictures of myself while hosting “Evening Jazz.”
This was shot while playing “Mt. Airy Road” by George Benson & Earl Klugh:
About to back-sell “Rhapsody” by Dan Siegel and “Mt. Airy Road”:
And the last two are from the top of Hour 2:
It’s hard to get good candid shots, but those are good enough.
For good measure, I also shot almost two minutes of video, mixed later with aircheck audio:
Slow June June 16, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
There hasn’t been much to write about this month. Well, there is one thing: starting last week, I cut back my Evening Jazz hosting duties to one night a week. I gave up Tuesdays, but you can still hear me on Thursdays. Head here for airchecks from past shows and a link to the 88.1 WCWP internet stream.
New blog header June 3, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Personal.add a comment
It’s been over seven months since I updated the blog header. Here’s the new one:
David Benoit at Tarrytown recap May 24, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel.add a comment
Saturday night, my dad and I drove an hour (plus scattered delays) up to Tarrytown to see David Benoit perform at Tarrytown Music Hall. It was the first time I’d seen David since December 2008 at IMAC, six months before it closed.
David B. was accompanied by David Hughes on the electric bass…
…and Jamey Tate on drums:
The set list began with four songs from David’s just-released “Earthglow” album, with a fifth song later in the show:
1. Will’s Chill
2. New Creation
3. Downtime
4. Sneaky As A Cat
5. Mountain Dance
6. Your Song
7. If I Were a Bell
8. Blue Rondo A La Turk
INTERMISSION
9. Cast Your Fate to the Wind
10. Kei’s Song
11. Every Step Of The Way
12. Waiting For Spring
13. Cabin Fever
14. Freedom At Midnight (The Schroeder Variations)
15. Beat Street
16 (ENCORE). Linus and Lucy
David talking to the audience between songs:
Afterward, there was a meet-and-greet next to the stage. David and I briefly caught up with each other and had this picture taken:
It was great to see David B., David H., and Jamey again. It was also nice to meet fellow fan Bonnie Schendell of SmoothViews in person. (Bonnie interviewed David in this month’s SV issue.)
6/3 UPDATE: Bonnie reviewed the Tarrytown concert for the June issue of SmoothViews.
The first paragraph:
It’s always a great feeling of anticipation when you are going to hear new music from an artist played live for the first time, especially when the CD that has been in your rotation for several months has blown you away. You hope and pray that hearing it from the stage will be just as powerful and emotional. Well, I was not a bit disappointed by David Benoit.
The rest of this post contains scenic pictures taken on the ride to and from Tarrytown.
We begin on the Hutchinson River Pkwy. at Exit 12:
We got off at Exit 13 for the Cross County Pkwy.:
Exits 5 and 4:
On I-87, the New York State Thruway, Exit 5:
Exit 6:
Exit 7:
Exit 7A:
Exit 8:
Exit 9:
Driving up U.S. 9:
The Music Hall was on Main St.:
The view of the Hudson River from where we parked, two blocks away:
Heading home, I shot some more pics. Here’s Exit 9 on I-695/I-295 in the Bronx:
On I-295 in Queens, Exit 4:
On I-495, the L.I.E., Exit 30;
Exit 31:
Exit 32:
Exit 33:
Exit 34:
Exit 36:
Exit 37:
And Exit 38:
SJFS 2010 recap May 5, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography.add a comment
Last Saturday was the day of Jay Rowe‘s 8th Annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert. As always, the concert benefitted the Milford Public Schools’ Music Department. I’ve been to half of the eight.
Unlike the previous three years, I did not stay overnight at the Hampton Inn. My parents and I drove from home to the Chili’s on U.S. 1, then to the Parsons Complex Auditorium, then back home. This was probably the best SJFS ever.
It all began with Kevin McCabe of Jumpstart Jazz Productions warming up the audience and getting out many thank you’s.
Then, it was time to welcome Jay Rowe:
“I’m a lucky guy,” he said, “because I get to play with some of the best musicians in the world.” He was “humbled” by their and our support. There were plenty in the audience from and near Milford, but there were also people from Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Norfolk, Virginia…and of course, Wantagh, New York.
Backing up Jay was Dave Livolsi on bass:
Trever Somerville on drums:
And Steve Scales on percussion:
Also performing, on the guitars, Chieli Minucci:
And Rohn Lawrence:
On the saxophones, Bob Nunno, the feature teacher:
And Mindi Abair:
With that, here we go.
SONG #1: Bumpin’ On Hollywood (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Red, Hot & Smooth,” 2006
Featured musicians: Rohn Lawrence, Shilts, Bob Nunno
Shilts stuck around for the next song. He told the audience, and Jay, that he was “honored” to perform “for this great event.”
The song he played was…
SONG #2: Look What’s Happened (Shilts)
Originally heard on: “HeadBoppin,” 2006
Featured musicians: Shilts, Rohn Lawrence
Rohn had a guitar solo…
…and Jay had a keyboard solo:
Next, Jay introduced “one of my favorite guitar players in the world, one of my favorite producers in the world, one of my favorite songwriters in the whole wide world, and most importantly, one of my favorite people in the whole wide world…”
Mindi let us know we’d be “having so much fun tonight,” and that it was “great to have so many great artists to play with; so many great artists to interact with; so much great music.”
SONG #3: Smooth Sensation (Ken Navarro)
Originally heard on: “Smooth Sensation,” 1997
Featured musicians: Ken Navarro, Mindi Abair
Next up was…
SONG #4: On My Way To Somewhere (Ken Navarro)
Originally heard on: “The Grace of Summer Light,” 2008
Featured musician: Ken Navarro
What would Smooth Jazz for Scholars be without Dancing Eric in the audience?
Back on stage…
Ken: “This was the first time that the five of us have ever played that song together. That’s how good these guys are.” Agreed.
Ken welcomed Chieli Minucci to the stage:
SONG #5: The Buzz (Ken Navarro)
Originally heard on: “Dreaming of Trains,” 2010
Featured musicians: Ken Navarro, Chieli Minucci
“The Buzz” was a tribute to guitarist Buzz Feiten.
“Chieli Minucci. ‘The Buzz!'”
Now, it was Chieli’s turn. “How’s everybody doin’? We got a full house tonight.”
SONG #6: Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers (Chieli Minucci; written by Stevie Wonder; Jeff Beck cover)
Originally heard on: “Renaissance,” 1996
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Mindi Abair
“I need Ken Navarro! Where’s Ken?”
“I need Mindi!”
Jay: “The first official standing ovation of the 8th Annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert.”
“How amazing was that? Sometimes, magic happens.”
“So, is it all right if I keep Chieli out here to rock the house with me?”
And Rohn Lawrence came out, too:
The next song was “a song I wrote kind of as a fun jam song”…
SONG #7: High Five (Mindi Abair)
Originally heard on: “Come As You Are,” 2004
Featured musicians: Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence
From “High Five,” we went right into…
SONG #8: Mojo (Mindi Abair)
Originally heard on: “Stars,” 2008
Featured musicians: Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence
A musical call and response by Chieli…
…and Rohn:
Another standing ovation!
Next up, a Special EFX song based on “Sambuca Nights,” a song on their debut album.
SONG #9: The Night Is Ours (Chieli Minucci & Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Without You,” 2010
Featured musician: Chieli Minucci
Time to introduce Nick Colionne:
SONG #10: No Limits (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “No Limits,” 2008
Featured musician: Nick Colionne
SONG #11: Hurry Up This Way Again (Nick Colionne; The Stylistics cover)
Originally heard on: “Arrival,” 1996; “Just Come On In,” 2003
Featured musician: Nick Colionne
SONG #12: Nature Boy (Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Confidential,” 1989
Musician: Chieli Minucci only
Chieli dedicated “Nature Boy” to his late Special EFX partner, percussionst George Jinda:
Before the next song, Jay wished Steve Scales a belated Happy Birthday:
SONG #13: Foolish Heart (Journey cover)
Featured musicians: Lamone Andrews, Rohn Lawrence
Another big guitar solo from Rohn, who will have played together with Jay for 31 years as of October:
SONG #14: High Flyin’ (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “Just Come On In,” 2003; “Keepin’ It Cool,” 2006
Featured musician: Nick Colionne
SONG #15: Everyone Loves Mia (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Red, Hot & Smooth,” 2006
Featured musician: Ken Navarro
Jay wrote “Everyone Loves Mia” for his mother, Mia DiStasi.
“Thanks, Mom,” Jay said after playing it.
“Please welcome back Mindi Abair.”
After Jay “played such a beautiful ballad,” Mindi felt she “had to swing the pendulum back the other way.”
You could consider this next song “stadium jazz.”
SONG #16: Bloom (Mindi Abair)
Originally heard on: “Life Less Ordinairy,” 2006
Featured musicians: Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence
In lieu of lighters, audience members waved their cell phones:
“I see those cell phones. Milford can rock out.”
For the next song, Jay brought out the Foran High School Select Ensemble Chorus and Horns.
SONG #17: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Michael Jackson cover)
Featured musicians: Lamone Andrews, Foran High School Ensemble Chorus, Foran High School Horns, Bob Nunno, Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Shilts, Rohn Lawrence
Lamone told everyone to get out of their seats for this one.
The Select Ensemble Chorus, under the direction of Theresa Voss:
One more song to go…
SONG #18 (Finale): Staten Island Groove (Down to the Bone)
Originally heard on: “From Manhattan To Staten,” 1997
Featured musicians: Shilts, Ken Navarro, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence, Mindi Abair, Bob Nunno
“Go Shilts, go Shilts.”
And that’s it!
Another Smooth Jazz for Scholars is in the books.
That leaves us with the meet-and-greet.
I had to get a shot with Kevin McCabe:
Thank you so much to Jay, to Kevin, to Chieli, Ken, Mindi, Rohn, Shilts, Nick, Bob, Dave, Trever, Steve, the city of Milford, and all involved in making the 8th Smooth Jazz for Scholars the best one yet. See you next year!
6/13 UPDATE: Ken Navarro wrote about SJFS at his blog on May 18:
… I recently played the Smooth Jazz For Scholars concert in Connecticut with Jay Rowe, Chieli Minucci, Mindi Abair, Nick Colionne and Shilts. There were so many highlights in the show and it may very well have been the best one so far (this was the 8th annual Smooth Jazz For Scholars show!). One of the highlights for me was performing my song “Smooth Sensation” with Mindi Abair guesting on saxophone. I seldom have sax on this song and so it’s fun to introduce a new sound into the mix of a song I have played literally hundreds of times. But the real treat was hearing how Mindi found a part within my arrangement which added a new dimension. This was a challenge due to the fact that there was so much music to be rehearsed during the sound check that Mindi and I did not get a chance to rehearse the song with the band (Jay Rowe on keyboards, Dave Livolsi on bass, Trever Somerville on drums and Steve Scales on percussion). So, Mindi and I found a quiet place backstage and I taught her the melody and the form of the song. Mindi is a “let’s go for it” musician and I was quite impressed with her ability to quickly absorb the song and her totally positive attitude. Some musicians would have declined to perform a new song without a full rehearsal but not Mindi! She played great on it and took this hit song of mine to a new place.
Another cool moment for me was guesting on Chieli’s version of “Cause We Ended As Lovers”. I love that song and the way Chieli plays it and we had some special moments together on it. And Chieli returned the favor by guesting on a new song of mine from “Dreaming of Trains” called “The Buzz”. And he played wonderfully on it too as we traded melodies and improvised off of each other.
As always, Jay Rowe kept all of the music together for all of the “star” musicians. I don’t know how Jay pulls off this magnificent event year after year and my hat is off to Jay. There were close to 1,000 people at the show and much money was raised for the music departments of the schools in Jay’s home town of Milford, CT. …
SJFS 2010 recap still to come May 2, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography.add a comment
As I type, I’m still editing pictures from last night’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert. Once I finish, the next step will be to select the best ones and upload them to the blog. Then, the writing part. The recap should be up by next weekend; hopefully sooner.
Thanks for your patience.
5/5 UPDATE: The recap is up.
Ken Navarro, “Dreaming of Trains” April 24, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Travel.add a comment
On March 16, Ken Navarro’s 19th album, “Dreaming of Trains,” album was officially released. It’s been out on Ken’s website since January 16.
As the title indicates, it’s like a trip through a dream, track by track. Whenever I’ve listened, I daydream that I’m on the Long Island Rail Road. I’m looking out the window as we pass through different hamlets and villages of Nassau County or sections of Queens and Brooklyn. The doors open and close. There’s a ding-dong sound followed by either an automated message or live conductor on the public address system letting us know where we’re headed, what station is next, or what station we’re at.
The tracks:
1. Dream So Real (2:46)
2. Self Propelled (4:46)
3. True Stories (8:44)
4. Dreaming of Trains (8:27)
5. The Buzz (4:35)
6. Shared Air (5:43)
7. Everything Being Is Dancing (5:43)
8. The Stars, The Snow, The Fire (7:23)
9. Gymnopedie No. 1 (3:04)
The musicians on “Dreaming of Trains” are the same as on “The Grace of Summer Light”:
Ken Navarro – guitars, keyboards
Jay Rowe – acoustic piano, keyboards
Tom Kennedy – acoustic bass, electric bass, fretless electric bass
Joel Rosenblatt – drums
The specific instruments played varies by track. Ann Sacks appears on vocals on “Dream So Real,” where the dream is intended to begin.
I’m dreaming of trains, and you will be, too, when you listen.
6/9 UPDATE: I linked to this post at the Magic Island BBS and Ken had this to say in reply:
Thanks Mike – and here is a link to another very nice review – http://jazzartistrynow.com/?p=267
You’re very welcome, Ken.
MikeChimeri.com 
