STAND BY FOR JAZZ!
Your SEMass Jazz Newsletter for March, 2008

That was a close one! But somehow we’ve survived another New England Winter, or most of it, despite the flu, skyrocketing heating oil prices and a funky economy.

So now it’s time to pick up the beat.

March 23 is Easter and that means only one thing: The Dixie Diehards Jazz Band strutting along with the Easter Bunny at the Taunton Holiday Inn Easter Brunch. It was a gas last year which saw, among other things, trumpeter-cutup Rick Foster dancing with Ms. Hoppy herself. We expect no repeat of those hijinks—unless the rabbit learns how to do the Charleston!

The greenclad New Orleans-style jazz band will be playing in the foyer from 11:30-1:30 p.m., with a delicious brunch to be served by our accommodating hoteliers under the direction of our good friend Mr. Angelo Diniz. Reservations are recommended. Visit hitaunton.com. The Holiday Inn is at 700 Myles Standish Boulevard, Taunton just off I-495.

The Diehards will also be playing at the Attleboro Council on Aging Center, South Main St., at 10 March 17 in honor of St. Pat’s. Anyone for “Danny Boy?”

Rick Foster’s Sunday Night Jazz at Steve’s Backstage Pass, 15 School St., Taunton, kicks off the month with Jeremy Quick and Low Profile 7 p.m. March 2 and welcomes the incomparable Amanda Carr on March 16. (See Monthly Schedule, below.)

Got Amanda’s delicious new album, “Soon?” Rick’s verdict is if you’re a jazz lover you want it, you need it, so get it SOON! Pick it up online at CD baby or ‘Manda’s web site!

Your personal SEMass jazz calendar for March!
DATE

1 Sat Mike Erickson Band, 9 p.m., Copperfield’s Downunder Pub, 90 Brookline Ave., Boston.
2 Sun 7PM Low Profile, led by guitarist Jeremy Quick, struts its eclectic jazz into southeastern Massachusetts with a debut performance at Steve’s Backstage Pass, 15 School St., Taunton.
3 Mon 6-9pm Squirrel Hill Olde Tyme Band at the Dolphin Restaurant ~Dinner & Jazz. 12 Washington St. Natick Center.
4 Tue 7-9:30pm Wolverine Jazz Band at the Sherborn Inn, 33 N. Main St. Sherborn MA (508) 655-9521 $10 admission.

5 Wed 8-11pm Jimmy Mazzy & The Last Minute Men Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Square, Concord, MA (978) 369-9200 6 Thu 7-10pm
6 Blue Horizon Five, Ma Glockner's, 155 Maple St. Bellingham MA (508) 966-1085
6 Thu 8pm Grace Kelly Quintet at Sculler's Jazz Club $18 show, $63 dinner & show. then she's off to Moscow, Idaho and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival the next week
7 Fri 8:30pm-midnight The Love Dogs at Swing City, The Bishop MacKenzie Center, 1337 Centre Street, Newton Centre, MA 02459.
7 Fri 9:30pm Dan Fox Quartet at Tosca, 14 North Street Hingham, MA 781-740-0080 .
8 Sat 8-11am Squirrel Hill Olde Tyme Band at the Organic Farm Pancake Breakfast in South Natick at the Memorial School, 107 Eliot St. South Natick MA.
9 Sun 7pm Bay State Stompers at Steve's Backstage Pass, 15 School St. Taunton $10 cover.
11 Tue 7-9:30pm La Crème Featuring Molly Malone at the Sherborn Inn, 33 N. Main St. Sherborn MA (508) 655-9521 $10 admission.
12 Wed 8pm Jimmy Mazzy & The Last Minute Men Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Square, Concord, MA (978) 369-9200
14 Marcus Monteiro Quartet, The Blackstone, Cumberland, R.I., 8 p.m.
14 Fri 8-12pm The White Heat Swing Orchestra at Swing City The Bishop MacKenzie Center, 1337 Centre Street, Newton Centre, MA
15 Sat 2pm Winter Jazz with Bart Weisman at Provincetown Art Association and Museum , 460 Commercial St. Provincetown MA 508.487.1750
15 Sat 7:30pm Wolverine Jazz Trio Goff Memorial Hall, 125 Bay State Road, Rehoboth, MA . Tickets are $25 per person and $150 for tables for six. Light refreshments. 508-252-5781
15 Sat 8pm $12 Swing n' Strings CD release Chan's Egg Rolls and Jazz, 267 Main St., Woonsocket RI
16 Sun 7pm The Amanda Carr Quintet at Steve’s Backstage Pass, 15 School Street Taunton, MA
17 Dixie Diehards Jazz Band, Attleboro Council on Aging, South Main St., Attleboro, 10 a.m.
18 Tue 7-9:30pm Blue Horizon Jazz Band at the Sherborn Inn, 33 N. Main St. Sherborn MA (508) 655-9521 $10 admission.
19 Wed 8pm Jimmy Mazzy & The Last Minute Men Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Square, Concord, MA (978) 369-9200

20 Thu 7-10pm New Black Eagle Jazz Band at Ma Glockner's, 155 Maple St. Bellingham MA (508) 966-1085
21 Marcus Monteiro Quartet, New Wave Café, New Bedford, 8 p.m.
21 Andy Solberg and Marshall Wood, Wetherlaine’s. 350 River St., Woonsocket.
22 Sat 8:30pm-12:30pm Leah Souza Trio at TOSCA, 14 North Street Hingham.

23 Sun. Little Mahrud Jazz Orchestra, Steve's Backstage Pass, 15 School St., Taunton, 7 p.m. $5.
23 Sun. Dixie Diehards Jazz Band, Easter Brunch at Taunton Holiday Inn, 700 Myles Standish Blvd., Taunton, Ma. 11:30-1:30 p.m. Reservations recommended www.hitaunton.com
26 Wed 8pm Jimmy Mazzy & The Last Minute Men , Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Square, Concord, MA (978) 369-9200
29 Sat 9:30pm Dan Fox Quartet at Tosca, 14 North Street Hingham, MA 781-740-0080.
30 Sun 2pm Wolverine Jazz Band with the Mood Elevators at Amazing Things Arts Center, hopefully in the new Hollis Street Fire Station.

DIEHARDS A SMASH!



The Dixie Diehards and featured vocalist Maria Ventura packed the house Sunday, Feb. 10 at the Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland, R.I.
The crowd was hungry for traditional and Jazz Age tunes like "Basin Street Blues" and "Everybody Loves My Baby."
Many thanks to all of you who joined us for a fun-filled afternoon--and demanded two encores!

grassroots jazz profile
GRACE KELLY:

Sax, recording star:
at 15, she's all that


By Rick Foster
Even as a little girl beginning to study classical piano, the creative gravity of jazz exerted its pull on Grace Kelly.
“When I was playing I’d make up my own little songs,” said Kelly, at 15 now one of the country’s foremost young jazz performers and composers. “So I really didn’t get that much practicing done.”
After a switch to saxophone and some initial steps as a vocalist, it became apparent that Kelly had found her voice not in the world of Beethoven but in that of Charlie Parker and Stan Getz. Kelly’s attraction to jazz — and its magnetism for her — turned out to be so potent that the youngster was soon studying voraciously and playing like a natural. Jam sessions with famous artists and recordings with such luminary performers as Lee Konitz followed.
Kelly also began piling up honors, including the 2007 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composers Award and the top vocalist prize in the 2007 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.
Kelly, who spoke by cell phone from New York this week prior to a recording session with Konitz, said her fascination with jazz music and the saxophone began early in life.
“When I was little there was always music in my home,” said Kelly. “My mother would play music by Stan Getz on the radio.”
In fifth grade, she was too young to study saxophone in her public school music program so she picked up a clarinet—and hated it.
“I found it was hard to get a good sound out of it; it squeaked a lot,” she said. So she switched to studying saxophone privately.
“From the first note I could make a good sound,” she said. “I just fell in love with it.”
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since. Kelly has recorded or performed with a host of notables including Konitz, Phil Woods, Frank Morgan, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, Dianne Reeves, Billy Hart, James Cotton and James Montgomery. She’s also performed at a number of famous venues both at home and abroad including Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Scullers Jazz Club, Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall and B.B. King’s.
Kelly says there’s no question that jazz — particularly jazz performed in front of a live audience — is her language.
“Jazz frees you and the people you’re playing with to express what you’re feeling in that moment,” said Kelly. “And performing in front of an audience that loves jazz and understands the music is just so satisfying.”
Kelly has already released three CDs as a band leader: “Dreaming” and “Times Too” 2005 and “Every Road I Walked” in 2006. She currently studies saxophone with Jerry Bergonzi, Konitz, and Allan Chase. She also studies composition, arranging, flute, drums and piano.