The summer weather may have taken a quick trip out of town, but jazz lovers in New York City, eager to keep the party going, still have a dazzling array of musical options at their disposal. Thanks to creative booking practices and a strong commitment to provide patrons with new and refreshing musical experiences, venues of all shapes and sizes are offering a healthy menu of jazz pairings as this week and next tumble headlong into the Labor Day holiday festivities.
The legendary Frank Zappa gets the City Winery Music and Wine Treatment tonight at 8pm with ZAPPA AND ZIN - a live musical performance by the acclaimed Ed Palermo Big Band. The evening will feature a skilled and passionate sonic exploration of songs from the full cannon of Zappa's extraordinary legacy of music, from the instantly recognizable to the obscure and strange. Throughout the performance by this stellar and inventive, highly-acclaimed band leader and his 16-piece big band, the City Winery staff will be pairing Zappa tunes with a selection of world-class wines that will attempt to compliment the different periods and themes of Zappa's career. Jazz and wine, always a winning combination, can be had for a mere $25 per person.
City Winery is the brainchild of Michael Dorf, founder of the iconic Knitting Factory, who has created a space in Manhattan where he could combine his shared passions for wine and music. This evening's patrons are not only treated to a uniquely flavored big band jazz, but enjoy another flight of fancy; being transported out of the Big Apple into the heart of a Napa Valley-esque winery experience. (City Winery; 155 Varick St., New York, NY 10013; 212.608.0555; www.citywinery.com.)
Hot off their sizzling sets at Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing Series, the JC Hopkins Biggish Band, featuring vocalist Champian Fulton and tap dancer extraordinaire DeWitt Fleming, Jr., hits The Iridium tonight for two shows at 8 and 10pm. A multi-faceted, Grammy-nominated composer, playwright, musical director, film maker, and record producer, JC Hopkins has been performing tasty and original material with his group of stellar musicians for almost a decade in New York City. Every performance is fresh and hip with a dynamic "show biz" flair. (Tonight at The Iridium; 1650 Broadway @ 51st St, New York, NY 10019; 212.582.2121; www.iridiumjazzclub.com. $25 per person with a $10 food/bev minimum.)
Thursday, August 26th is Big Band Night at Smoke Jazz And Supper Club-Lounge on the Upper West Side featuring the Smoke Big Band directed by Bill Mobley. This group swings hard through three driving sets. A two-course, prix-fixe dinner is available at 7pm & 9pm for $29.95 and there is final 10:30pm set for $20 (dinner optional.) Smoke is one of the hottest little clubs on the scene, offering jazz 7 nights a week, plus a sensational Sunday Jazz Brunch opening with the Jeremy Siskind Trio at 11:30am who then play a supporting role to the versatile, be-bop loving jazz and Broadway star Lea DeLaria & Friends. There has been some indication that these Sunday soirees have been going so strong that they are considering adding a Saturday brunch for this dynamic jazz vocalist who "Talks like a coffee grinder, and sounds like a cross between Ella Fitzgerald and a Broadway Diva" (The Guardian.) DeLaria's Sunday sets are at 1 and 3pm. No cover charge and a fine brunch menu is available. (Smoke Jazz And Supper Club-Lounge; 2751 Broadway between 105 & 106 Streets, New York, NY 10025; (212) 864.6662 www.smokejazz.com.)
If you like your jazz smooth, sultry, sophisticated, and swinging, you're in luck. The legendary songwriting/performance team of Ashford & Simpson are devoting a few nights a month to jazz of the female vocalist variety with the Shaynee Rainbolt Quartet at their Upper West Side neighborhood boite, Sugar Bar. On Wednesdays, September 1st and 22nd, this enticing chanteuse employs the skills of veteran sidemen (and women) with Ted Kooshian (9/1) and Janice Friedman (9/22) on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Ray Marchica on drums. Rainbolt has become a New York City favorite, in large part due to a "voice, sweet as jasmine and honeysuckle, bold as brass and yet as seductive as a candlelit boudoir." (www.JazzTimes.com)
Rainbolt is able to inhabit multiple vocal styles with adroitness and aplomb. Her demeanor is charming, warm and welcoming with a hint of mischief. Her choice of material is always fresh, even with fan favorites peppering any given set. The arrangements are intelligent and inventive with equal attention paid to melody, improvisation, and lyric interpretation. She always lets her band stretch out with instrumental solos for texture and interest. At any given gig, the party atmosphere that Rainbolt naturally creates is enhanced by a wealth of other performers (some of whom sit in with the band on occasion) who make it a point to visit her monthly gatherings of jazz and cocktails. Look for Rainbolt to sweeten up the fare at Sugar Bar every month this fall. (Sugar Bar; 254 W 72nd St between Broadway & West End Ave; New York, NY 10023; (212) 579-0222; info@sugarbarnyc.com; www.sugarbarnyc.com.)
Go out. See live music. It matters.
Comments