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Jazz on Jay No. 6 – Dylan Perrillo Quintet July 22

“Schenectady is a-a-a-a-ll right,” said Dylan Perrillo late in his quintet’s Jazz on Jay show Thursday. The sunny noontime concert was also very a-a-a-a-ll right.  Perrillo said this without irony; the bassist-bandleader wields a wry wit and was often pretty funny at the announcer mic. But he clearly meant this, and he and his guys … Continue reading Jazz on Jay No. 6 – Dylan Perrillo Quintet July 22 →

It all felt just so…normal.

At 151, the restaurant-bar on Lafayette Street, we met and hugged friends, we heard live music, we enjoyed food and drinks. 151 sits two blocks north of long-gone St. Joseph’s, middle school for my brother Jim and me, and next door to Great Flats Brewery; these two new-ish businesses sharing what once was a tire … Continue reading It all felt just so…normal. →

Jazz on Jay No. 5 – Center Square featuring guest Dylan Canterbury July 15

“I’m not used to being the old guy in the band,” said Dylan Canterbury, the (still dark-) bearded “old guy,” late in Center Square’s set at Jazz on Jay Thursday. “But it’s fun playing with these young guys, kicking my butt.” The trumpeter and flugelhorn player was actually first among equals, though bassist Nicholas Dwarika … Continue reading Jazz on Jay No. 5 – Center Square featuring guest Dylan Canterbury July 15 →

Thanks to old friend Ray Simboli for suggesting a photo safari on a soggy, gray day when rain fell about every 15 minutes and I might otherwise not have dragged my camera out into the wet. I’m posting these despite believing – as I told Ray – he might have shot all the good ones. … Continue reading →

Jazz on Jay No. 3: Matty Stecks and The 518, June 24

Indulging his inner “jazz nerd,” saxophonist Matty Stecks said he and his quartet The 518 would install new chords in the familiar “East of the Sun And West of the Moon.” After this jaunty moon-shot under Thursday’s bright sun, he noted his bassist Rich Syracuse had played this standard many times with Stecks’ teacher, the … Continue reading Jazz on Jay No. 3: Matty Stecks and The 518, June 24 →

Live, Alive-O! Azzaam Hameed and Friends at Jazz on Jay

Gathering at Jazz on Jay Thursday wasn’t just that warm buzz of being with people; it was the particular joy of being with MY people; both the jazz fans I’d see at every cool show before the plague and Schenectady in all its diverse and goofy glory. Jazz on Jay crowds are as rainbow-y as … Continue reading Live, Alive-O! Azzaam Hameed and Friends at Jazz on Jay →

Wise-Ass Wednesday (or whenever)

Takes a REAL wise-ass, a persistent curmudgeon, to post a Wednesday rant days later… But I digress. Vin Diesel has much to answer for.  Drivers are emulating his “Fast & Furious” film antics and turning roads into raceways. Meanwhile, COVID is tearing up conventional behavioral restraints as police departments face calls for reform and deadly, … Continue reading Wise-Ass Wednesday (or whenever) →

“…the rest of the story…”

CBS Sunday Morning swung and missed badly in their May 23 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young story. Celebrating the quartet’s 1970 “Deja Vu” album, CBS went all obvious. They recalled romances and breakups and discord within the band and its celebrated second gig at Woodstock. Touting what Rhino Records calls a super deluxe version of … Continue reading “…the rest of the story…” →