Hot Summer Nights = Hot Jazz!

The Century Room downtown is a go-to place on hot summer nights in Tucson. Besides showcasing our local talent, there are many visiting artists on their way to Phoenix or Las Vegas or Los Angeles, that Artistic Director Arthur Vint manages to capture along with their talents for special evenings at this cozy venue in Hotel Congress.

Marco Rosano and his Polos are all local traditional jazz enthusiasts with their multi-instrumentalist leader on piano, clarinet, bass and/or tenor sax, the group swings hot! Chris Constantine (dr), Evan Dain (bj) and Sly Slipetsky (tuba) provide the rhythm and Rob Boone (tb) and Cameron Davidson (tp) give the front line a new meaning.

The Gaslight Theatre is celebrating 48 years of bringing us parodies, musical melodramas, concerts, comedies, olios, westerns and spoofs and with their sister venue, The Gaslight Music Hall, it is a Tucson treasure! Owner Tony Terry Jr. has defied all odds in creating a place where fun is number one and its family oriented menu with extremely reasonable prices means sold-out crowds. With free popcorn at each table the emphasis is on celebration and general silliness. The audiences cheer the hero and boo the villain. Those in attendance celebrating birthdays or anniversaries get a free ice cream cone and a shout out from the audience. An evening of smiles and laughter is on the menu for all!

We attended a concert with Joe Bourne, a local vocalist known for his Great American Songbook renditions. With Susan Artemis (p/v), Mike Levy (bs), Angelita Ponce (bongos), Fred Hayes (dr) and Max Goldschmid (cl/sax/tp) the evening was filled with Cole Porter, Gershwin and Warren standards. I was so happy to see Max there on a few of his many instruments as we see him often at the Century Room or with vocalist Sheryl Ann Mckinley at other venues.

The following week we were there again to see the current farce—Gnatman! I can’t help but sing the Batman intro every time I reference it: na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na—Gnatman!! With Mike Yarema as Mr. Kent Dale (the alter-ego of Gnatman) and his pal Todd Thompson as Jake Pason (the alter-ego of Atom the Teen Marvel) the plot involved them conquering the evil Jester (the head of E.V.I.L—Everything Vile in Life) played by Jacob Brown, who was out to destroy the Mammoth City and eventually the world!!

With appropriately silly costumes (from the Gaslight Theatre Costume Shoppe) and altered lyrics to well-known songs, the group managed to sing, dance and entertain the audience throughout the play! The live band (piano, drums, guitar) accents the activities on the stage and provides direction for the musical pieces. There were groups of high-school aged kids in attendance and I wondered what their reaction would be to such “low-tech” shenanigans and they were clapping and boo-ing along with the rest of us – it was a delightful evening!

Another evening at the Century Room to celebrate Louis Armstrong’s touted birthday as July 4th, had local Tucson native trumpeter James Williams who we first met in New Orleans with the Swamp Donkeys. He plays there often and I hope to see him again in October. Kevin Ravellette (reeds) was back in town for the summer before returning to pursue his music degree in Texas and I always enjoy his performances. Rob Boone (tb) completed the front line while Sly Slipetsky (p), Ray Templin (dr) and Colin McIlrath (bs) held the rhythm section during their renditions of Armstrong’s most famous tunes.

It was as close to being in New Orleans as I could get!!

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Musician friends from New Orleans were in New York for the big July 4th weekend to see Chuck Redd (dr/vibes) at the Jazzcultural, a new club in Times Square on 46th Street. Both Danny Rubio (p/tuba) and Pam Murphy (v) enjoy when Chuck visits New Orleans as we all did this past April at Snug Harbor! An added bonus was the legendary Monty Alexander on piano.

The following night they went to Birdland Jazz Club on 44th Street to see Grammy Award winning bandleader, composer and Jazz Age preservationist, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks Orchestra. You may be familiar with his band on episodes of Boardwalk Empire, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel orother TV series in addition to the soundtracks on many period movies. Vince held up an issue of The Syncopated Times and referenced my column! What a thrill to have a shout out from the Vince Giordano at such a famous venue!