Joel Fass, guitar, songwriter Tim Givens, bass;cello Vanderlai Pereira, drums Special guest players and singers PREMIERING NEW MUSIC, PLAYING OLD FAVORITES WHERE: Smalls 183 W. 10th St. (West of 7th Ave. So) WHEN: Early (7:30 & 9 PM) More info: www.smalljazzclub.com WHEN:

MySpace.com | rss | sign in | sign out Joel Fass Last Updated: Nov 12, 2008 Send Message Instant Message Email to a Friend Subscribe Blog Archive [media] 1234567891011121234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829302000200120022003200420052006200720082009 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Bandleader’s diary Current mood: rejuvenated Category: on a roll.... Life 11/2/08: MY RECENT/UPCOMING COMINGS AND GOINGS: On October 24th I did my first bandleading job for the Jazz Foundation of America's Jazz in the Schools Program. If you don't know of the numerous great deeds of this saintly organization, please take a minute and go to www.jazzfoundation.org to get the scoop. Briefly, for me personally and a whole lot of others I know who immediately come to mind: our initial contact with the Foundation was as clients with medical issues and no insurance. Their initial MO, it seems, was to help musicians in need. That they have done like gangbusters, as witness their astounding success in relocating/housing scores of musicians set adrift after Katrina's ravages. The Jazz in the Schools program, administered by Amy Merril, is another great idea on many levels. The obvious one is exposure of live music to children, many of whom (through no fault of their own) think music is something you download or that actually lives inside a computer. As a person who believes in live recording, business dealings, and general interaction I can't tell you how many seeds are planted by getting on an auditorium stage or in a classroom and playing to show how much fun music is. The objective to me is to show that music goes with friendship, and that they can do it, too, if they want to. Most important, since upwards to 99% of kids will not be pro or even amateur musicians, the ones that had a good enough time to plunk down cash to see a show guarantees that our art and livelihoods will live on for generations. So we showed up, myself; Sean Smith, bass; Steve Ash, piano; Vanderlai Pereira, drums, and, given around 7 minutes by a typically confused school environment (don't ask...) to do our thing, basically showed those beautiful little faces a great time. Since I couldn't get Eddie Locke, the great Detroit drummer who helped a previous band kick keisters and take names at Mercy College, I decided it was time for me to get to the little guys in my own way: after opening with the ABC song as a swinging waltz wherein before playing I asked the K-3rd graders 'who wants to play a guessing game' (me! me!) we stopped the tempo and had the kids sing the last last chorus with us (actually they had started singing almost from 'jump'). Next was a forum my haminess/biggest-kid-thereness : I put a $4 K-mart frog on a cap (alas, I couldn't find a Kermit hat) to sing "It's not Easy Being Green". The kids even applauded my outgoing guitar cadenza! The only drag was that time ran out before I could feature our drummer Vanderlai, very accomplished at Brazilian music, to set up and lead Samba de Orfeu----to me a good call because in the movie Black Orpheus Orfeu sings and makes the sun rise---with children all around him on the mountain. Speaking of the Jazz Foundation, last night I went to hear Jimmy Norman, composer of "Time is On My Side" (made famous by the Stones) who I became aware of through that organization. My reason for going was to sound Mr. Norman about a project---more on that if and when it develops. What I got was much more, to see an old school pro and beautiful cat at work and in great form. Great feeling, humanity and pipes. The guitarist, Sean Harkness---who does a fine job supporting---even insisted I come on the stand to join in, so I even got to play a few with Jimmy. And we talked before and after the set, so I found Mr. Norman the warm, approachable, and sage guy I expec

MySpace.com | rss | sign in | sign out Joel Fass Last Updated: Nov 12, 2008 Send Message Instant Message Email to a Friend Subscribe Blog Archive [media] 1234567891011121234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829302000200120022003200420052006200720082009 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Bandleader’s diary Current mood: rejuvenated Category: on a roll.... Life 11/2/08: MY RECENT/UPCOMING COMINGS AND GOINGS: On October 24th I did my first bandleading job for the Jazz Foundation of America's Jazz in the Schools Program. If you don't know of the numerous great deeds of this saintly organization, please take a minute and go to www.jazzfoundation.org to get the scoop. Briefly, for me personally and a whole lot of others I know who immediately come to mind: our initial contact with the Foundation was as clients with medical issues and no insurance. Their initial MO, it seems, was to help musicians in need. That they have done like gangbusters, as witness their astounding success in relocating/housing scores of musicians set adrift after Katrina's ravages. The Jazz in the Schools program, administered by Amy Merril, is another great idea on many levels. The obvious one is exposure of live music to children, many of whom (through no fault of their own) think music is something you download or that actually lives inside a computer. As a person who believes in live recording, business dealings, and general interaction I can't tell you how many seeds are planted by getting on an auditorium stage or in a classroom and playing to show how much fun music is. The objective to me is to show that music goes with friendship, and that they can do it, too, if they want to. Most important, since upwards to 99% of kids will not be pro or even amateur musicians, the ones that had a good enough time to plunk down cash to see a show guarantees that our art and livelihoods will live on for generations. So we showed up, myself; Sean Smith, bass; Steve Ash, piano; Vanderlai Pereira, drums, and, given around 7 minutes by a typically confused school environment (don't ask...) to do our thing, basically showed those beautiful little faces a great time. Since I couldn't get Eddie Locke, the great Detroit drummer who helped a previous band kick keisters and take names at Mercy College, I decided it was time for me to get to the little guys in my own way: after opening with the ABC song as a swinging waltz wherein before playing I asked the K-3rd graders 'who wants to play a guessing game' (me! me!) we stopped the tempo and had the kids sing the last last chorus with us (actually they had started singing almost from 'jump'). Next was a forum my haminess/biggest-kid-thereness : I put a $4 K-mart frog on a cap (alas, I couldn't find a Kermit hat) to sing "It's not Easy Being Green". The kids even applauded my outgoing guitar cadenza! The only drag was that time ran out before I could feature our drummer Vanderlai, very accomplished at Brazilian music, to set up and lead Samba de Orfeu----to me a good call because in the movie Black Orpheus Orfeu sings and makes the sun rise---with children all around him on the mountain. Speaking of the Jazz Foundation, last night I went to hear Jimmy Norman, composer of "Time is On My Side" (made famous by the Stones) who I became aware of through that organization. My reason for going was to sound Mr. Norman about a project---more on that if and when it develops. What I got was much more, to see an old school pro and beautiful cat at work and in great form. Great feeling, humanity and pipes. The guitarist, Sean Harkness---who does a fine job supporting---even insisted I come on the stand to join in, so I even got to play a few with Jimmy. And we talked before and after the set, so I found Mr. Norman the warm, approachable, and sage guy I expec