The Somers Point Jazz Society presents the free Jazz Education Concert Series at the Ocean City Public Library July 17, 24 & 31.
Tenor player, band leader and jazz historian Hassan Abdullah, of Atlantic City, N.J.
The Somers Point Jazz Society is presenting a free musical and educational program in Ocean City on Sundays (2-3:15pm) during the month of July.
Hosted by the Ocean City Public Library, the "Jazz Education Concert Series" includes three events, the first of which will be held Sunday, July 17 from 2-3:15pm.
Atlantic City's Hassan Abdullah will discuss the "The Blue Note Years," the age of jazz and the players who made the legendary label one of the most prolific and acclaimed jazz record companies in the world.
Abdullah, a band leader and jazz historian who makes regular presentations about the world of jazz at various schools and universities, will lead his Quintet in a concert performance, along with the discussion.
Among the musicians who are associated with the formative years of Blue Note, and who will be discussed in detail on Sunday, are Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley (one of Abdullah's biggest inspirations), John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey.
Somers Point Jazz Society's Michael Pedicin will host the program, which will be held in a different location than the often crowded (during past events) O.C. Library Lecture Hall. The space where the Jazz Education Concert Series will take place in the Ocean City Public Library can be accessed from the 18th Street entrance of the building.
"Hassan has been working very hard, putting this all together," says Atlantic City's Sandy warren, who represents Abdullah and who is helping organize this July series in Ocean City. "There will be a lot of great stories told about how Blue Note came about, from an idea somebody in Germany has, as well as fascinating stories about the Blue Note years, including some stories you've never heard before!"
Abdullah and his tenor saxophone will be joined by musicians Tim Angelo (drums), Mike Boone (bass), joe Breidenstine (trumpet) and Ben Gillece (vibes).
Abdullah and his band will be playing Atlantic City's Gardner's Basin on the day before (Saturday, July 16) as part of the City of Atlantic City's free summer concert series.
Following this Sunday's event, July 24 will feature "The Music of Art Blakey," which will include music and a discussion by Eddie Morgan and his quintet. Blakey, one of the most significant and historically important American musicians of all time (for a variety of reasons; you'll have to come to find out why if you don't already know!) lived in Northfield for a brief period and lived with the aforementioned Sandy Warren, who raised Blakey's son Takashi in Northfield and Ocean City.
Warren will have her recently released book about her life with Blakey available, as well as rare photos and stories that have never been heard before.
(Click here for AC Weekly's award-winning feature on Art Blakey and his connections to the area.)
The final program, to be held July 31, "The Music of Dave Brubeck," will actually feature two of Brubeck's current sidemen (drummer Randy Jones and bassist Michael Moore) as well as the Michael Pedicin Quartet/The Brubeck Project. Pianist Dean Schneider will also perform with the musicians.
For more about the Somers Point Jazz Society, which raises funds for music programs in the Somers Point school system, visit spjazz.org.
"He had no known history of heart or breathing problems. This is a big shock for everybody."
Whenever you think of Ocean City, your mind usually calls up images of warm tropical breezes and an island archipelago covered in rain forest. No? Then maybe you haven’t heard, but Ocean City New Jersey has a sister city out there, namely San Jose Occidental Mindoro of the Philippines. And that relationship has resulted in an annual tribute to the Philippines each year in the southern New Jersey beach town. And what a tribute it is. This year’s celebration is this weekend, July 23-24, and will be centered at the city’s Music Pier, Boardwalk and Moorlyn Terrace, as most city celebrations are. Included are a craft...
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"Dr John's forward is worth the price of the book alone," says Warren. "When he tells you how he met Art, that is worth the price of the book. It's too funny to be fiction; it's got to be real life."
When Art Blakey, the legendary jazz drummer (and 2005 Grammy lifetime achievement award recipient), lived in Northfield during the late 1970s and early '80s, he could not help running his bicycle into the side of the 507 NJ Transit bus, which, at the time, stopped right in front of the home he shared with his longtime companion, Sandy Warren, and son, Takashi, at the intersection of Mill and Shore roads. "The bus driver would just sit there and look at him," remembers Warren. "He just never really learned how to ride his bike. But he kept trying because he thought, you know, that's a nice thing that you can do in Northfield--you could ride your bike. "It's so weird because you think of someone talented enough to be the world's greatest drummer, who can close his eyes and throw the sticks up in the air and catch them with his eyes still closed and never miss a beat - that he should be able to ride a bicycle and do some other things that require a bit of dexterity. He couldn't. Drumming was the only thing that required dexterity that he could do!" Thank heaven for that. In the decades after the Pittsburgh-born...
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