The community comes together for the Somers Point Jazz Society Benefit Concert and Silent Auction, which will be held Friday, Jan. 6, this year.
George Mesterhazy plays with his trio at the benefit concert Friday night.
Four years ago, revered local jazz pianist George Mesterhazy felt compelled to help an organization that fosters a genre of music he holds dear, during a time when a down economy was making things miserable. It would also become an opportunity for him and other outstanding jazz musicians to give something back to a southern New Jersey community that has shown a deep appreciation for an American art form that gave rise to numerous other musical styles worldwide over the years.
“About four years ago, when the economy started going south, we had to start looking for other ways to raise money,” says Somers Point Jazz Society (SPJS) president Nick Regine.
“Luckily, through the good hearts of the musicians — and especially George, who basically raised his hand and said ‘I want to do this for you, and I’ll do it every year’ — we’ve been able to rely on this event to take the place of the kind of money we’d look for from a major grantee or corporate sponsor. All the musicians are donating their time — this is not a paid gig for anyone.”
The event is the fourth annual SPJS Benefit Concert and Silent Auction, to be held for the second consecutive year at Sandi Pointe Coastal Bistro in Somers Point on Friday, Jan. 6.
The silent auction starts at 7pm and two sets of music (8-9pm and 9:30-10:30pm) will feature the George Mesterhazy Trio with Grammy-nominated Mesterhazy on piano, Tim Lekan on bass and Bob Shomo on drums.
This year’s special guest is Barry Miles, a pioneer of “fusion” music who performs on electric piano and synthesizer. Miles has appeared in the past at the Cape Bank Jazz @ the Point Festival (a four-day, multi-artist event to be held for the 14th year in March), and recently played with Mesterhazy at Sandi Pointe.
“I’m really looking forward to playing at this event,” says Miles, whose vast musical pedigree includes serving as Roberta Flack’s musical director from 1980-’94.
“The audiences are great and Sandi Pointe is a wonderful venue. So much great music happens there thanks to the Somers Point Jazz Society and Tim Lekan’s artistic input. My wife and I have lived in South Jersey for the past six years and I’m thrilled to be a part of such a vibrant jazz community.”
In its first three years, the SPJS Benefit and Silent Auction has raised between $4,000 and $5,000 annually based on a $20-per-person donation, and the silent-auction sale of items donated by the community. This year’s donations include several jazz-oriented pieces of artwork.
“The art pieces have a jazz theme to them — many are representations of jazz artists in paintings, drawings, photographs — all of which were donated,” says Regine.
“We probably have between 30 and 35 items for the silent auction, which is a big help because, like everybody else, local musicians have been feeling the crunch of the economy and yet still have been able to provide us with some items that we can sell to help us out.
“Lots of local businesses help out with things like gift certificates to restaurants, and [esteemed jazz tenor saxophonist] Michael Pedicin and another musician are donating an hour of their time performing as musicians. They’ll come to your house and perform for an intimate dinner or whatever you’d like. That’s something that has some real value to it.”
Last Thursday, April 5, Henrietta Shelton and the Chicken Bone Beach Foundation opened their spring jazz series at Top of the Trop in the Tropicana Casino. With a room full of supporters, Mayor Lorenzo Langford was on deck to present Henrietta with a proclamation from the City of Atlantic City for service to the community by way of preserving family values, developing community engagement and promoting an appreciation of America’s classical music — jazz.
Mesterhazy had just played with his renowned trio at Sandi Pointe in Somers Point the night before, Wednesday night, April 11.
The Mulgrew Miller Trio is one of this year’s headlining acts at the 15th annual Somers Point Jazz Society Jazz @ the Point Festival, which runs Thursday through Sunday, March 8-11. Miller’s trio performs two sets (8 and 10pm) Friday, March 9, in the banquet room of Sandi Pointe Coastal Bistro (see sidebar for details).
The Mulgrew Miller Trio and Jimmy Cobb's Mob headline this year's 15th annual Cape Bank Jazz @ The Point Festival in March.
“We haven’t had a disappointing month yet, and Dan and Sandi have been fantastic. They’ve gone above and beyond anything we could ask them to do, and the audience has been terrific. It’s been a lot of fun. We couldn’t do it without the support of the community and without the help of Dan and Sandi. They’ve really championed the cause of jazz music in the Somers Point community.”
One reason the Cape Bank Jazz @ The Point festival has not only survived but thrived regardless of the economy is that it’s given jazz fans top-flight entertainment for a reasonable fee. That’s certainly the case with the 13th version of the festival, which takes place this Thursday through Sunday, March 10-13, at three venues in Somers Point.
What has evolved into a most popular and highly anticipated festival featuring many top-flight jazz musicians from in and around the area turns 12 years old this month.
The Somers Point Jazz Society has been blessed with the support of some of southern New Jersey's best jazz artists even as they support jazz in southern New Jersey.
"When I first blew into the saxophone, it was a very different experience than I had with the flute. I instantly got a sound and it was a big sound when I played the low b flats. I just felt connected to the instrument."
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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