PAST EVENTS

MAY 2: DANNY HARRINGTON & FRIENDS
Myana, Amanda Carr, and Phil Porter in a tribute to Lenny Sogoloff

Baritone saxophonist, Danny Harrrington, a faculty member of the Berklee College of Music, and a headlined this fundraiser for educational workshops which we bring to Norh Shore high schools. This concert celebrated Jazz Week and was dedicated to Lennie Sogoloff, who for years, brought such stars like Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Rich, and Bette Midler to the North Shore as the owner of Lennie's on the Turnpike. Panels from the Salem State archive were on display, showcasing photos, reviews, performance contracts and other documents of Lennie's history. Below: Photos by Jay Pivor

MARCH 28: AN AFTERNOON OF LATIN MUSIC: JAZZ & GYPSY FLAMENCO
Maxim Lubarsky & Alexei Tsiganov Quintet
D Rafael

photos by Udi Bram, udi_bram@walla.com

The March 28th Maxim Lubarsky & Alexei Tsiganov Quintet, D Rafael concert was fabulous.More videos are on our blog >>.

photos by Jay Pivor

This program is supported in part by a grant form the Beverly Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by
the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Maxim Lubarsky & Alexei Tsiganov Quintet: Using Latin-American Rhythms with the lyricism of European music - the group ignited the audience with Latin - flavored and improvisation-spiced performance. Alexei Tsiganov - Vibraphone, Maxim Lubarsky - Piano, Yulia Musayelyan - Flute, Fernando Huergo - Bass, Pablo Bencid - Drums.

This photo collage is from our Funny Valentine, soiree at the home of John Archer, February 12, 2010, with wonderful music, food, and dancing.. a great time was had by all. John Turner, bass, John Hyde, piano, Roger Brockelbank, drums, Mark Early, Sax, and Sandi Bedrosian, vocals.
photos by Jay Pivor, video below by Henry Ferrini

The North Shore Jazz Project is hoping to make a difference after the disaster in Haiti. The funds raised benefit KONPAY, a Haitian non-profit connected with Gloucester residents: Elise Hansen and Scott Southard.

KONPAY Works Together for Haiti/Konbit Pou Ayiti Supports Sustainable, Haitian Led Solutions to Environmental, Social and Economic Problems.It is directing 100% of earthquake donations to getting deliveries of aid to the devastated city of Jacmel and the surrounding villages of the southeast. For details on this Rapid Response campaign, visit www.konpay.org.

The event was held at Chianti where the Greta Bro Group and Gerry Beaudoin with Teddy Lavash played to two full houses. Stay tuned for more event photos.

Dear Henry, Chava, Greta and Rich,

Thank you, North Shore Jazz Project and Chianti Restaurant, for tapping into that deep-seated reservoir of strength and making a soulful connection with Haiti. Thank you for carrying out an event to honor Haitians who have experienced an historically devastating experience.

KONPAY began mobilizing the moment the earthquake struck and is coordinating the Haiti Response Coalition of non-governmental grassroots organizations to continue relief that is still in desperate need. Proceeds from your concert allowed us to buy food in the Dominican Republic and transport it to the city of Jacmel, where our staff distributed it to local communities.

Thank you especially for including KONPAY in your Jazz happening. Grassroots causes and creative artists both need strong social networks to advocate for them -- and as a counter to the corporatocracy in media and society. NSJP's leadership in making a connection with us serves to link two powerful cultural and humanistic forces and make the world a better place!

We would be grateful if you could pass our thanks on to Rich Marino, Gerry Beaudoin, Teddy Lavash, Stan Strickland, Maurice Cahen, Sarah Mendelsohn, Mike Rivard and others who helped make this event possible.

My best regards,
Elise

Elise Hansen
www.konpay.org

January 10th event was a sellout!!
Barrence Whitfield with the Monkey Hips and Preacher Jack with Dave "Doc" Vincent rocked the house at our January 10 fundraiser at Chianti's Tuscan Restaurant in Beverly, MA, with emcee Jacky Ankeles, from of North Shore 104.9 FM. The musicians were jammin' and the house was filled to capacity.

Event photos by Jay Pivor

Our mission is to create an environment on the North Shore where music education, performance and appreciation can flourish.

But The NSJP is more than just another music performance program...

THE PROJECT is raising the money for a Jazz and Blues TV series with each hour long television show to be produced on the North Shore!

Our thanks to the following musicians for their participation:
Willie Alexander John Archer Sandy Bedrosian Roger Brockelbank Mark Earley Rich Greenblatt John Hyde Dave Mattacks	Dan Murphy Maureen Pilot Mark Ratalleck Alex Razden Rikki Razden Dave Saginario John Turner

November 15 Fund-raiser, photo by Colleen Brockelbank

Photos by Geoffrey Richon.

Willie Alexander bleeds for North Shore Jazz Project

Willie Alexander leaves his blood on the keyboard as he performs at the first benefit for the North Shore Jazz Project at Chianti Tuscan Restaurant in Beverly, MA. These excerpts are from a performance on November 15, 2009.

Willie is on piano and vocals and is supported by Henley Douglas, Rikki Razden and Alek Razden on sax, Garth Retallack on trombone, Dave Saginaro on bass and Roger Brockelbank on drums. Video by Joe Cultrera

North Shore Jazz Project kicks off with SRO Fund-raiser at Chianti’s, By David Masters

Thinking that jazz would no longer be able to attract much of a crowd to Beverly, or anywhere else for that matter, on a Sunday afternoon at one o’clock no less, I decided to head over to the Chianti Tuscan Restaurant at around two just to see what the scene was going to be like. To my amazement, the room was standing room only, the music was great, and I suddenly became frantic that I wouldn’t be able to get in.

Luckily, Rich Marino, the affable owner of Chianti’s, saw my predicament and, ambling over to me, suggested that he could “sneak” me in through the “old” entrance of the restaurant. Thank the heavens that he did, because I’ve been wearing a smile ever since last Sunday, November 15 and it’s already Wednesday morning..

At first I felt I was in some kind of a North Shore time warp, and pinching myself thought “Nah, this can’t be Beverly, all the great old music venues like Sandy’s, The Commodore, and the Shanty closed years ago. I must be dreaming. People are having way too much fun for Beverly on a Sunday afternoon, and they’re not even watching the Patriots.”

But this was no dream. Everyone was dressed up and looking sharp in their own way, as the demographic age range was extremely wide. Word had somehow gotten out to jazz and blues- starved music fans from the area: something really great was going to be happening on this day to launch a new era for great music in the North Shore. And what better place than Beverly, always a well known oasis for this genre of music?

For Beverly, was home at one time to the renowned Sandy’s Jazz Revival, while Lenny’s on the Turnpike made its home in nearby Peabody. In 1975 I thought nothing of driving all the way up to Sandy’s from Brockton, for five straight nights, simply to see guitar demi-gods Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel play together with their facile, jaw dropping finesse. After summoning up the courage to approach Mr. Ellis with a few silly questions and observations, he said, after suffering my nonsense for a minute or so, that he thought that Sandy’s was a “great room” or words to that effect. I’m sure he would feel much the same way about Chianti’s, 2009. One now has the feeling that some kind of musical renaissance is occurring in the area on some level.

While many music entrepreneur/ visionaries like Sandy Berman are long gone, folks like Henry Ferrini, Chava Hudson and Rich Marino want to keep their dream of bringing great music to people alive. The North Shore Jazz Project, which is the brainchild of Ferrini and Hudson, will most certainly be able to accomplish this if Sunday’s event at the Chianti Tuscan Restaurant is any indication. All I could think after I left was when’s the next jazz or blues show around here? and I am sure I was not alone in that feeling.

The event showcased many different musical forms and moods, from the rollicking, pulsating blues/boogie- woogie of Willie Alexander to the more cerebral, “cool” as well as bebop stylings of Rikki Razden, John Hyde and many others. Finally, I have to say that a wide grin came over my face as well as onto those of many other listeners in the room when a young Alex Razden, Rikki’s son, played on the last set, reminding me of the first time I heard Michael Tucker play at the Rhumb Line in Gloucester at the age of fifteen in the mid-nineties, somehow evoking Coltrane and Bird all at the same time.