A Couple of Upcoming Dates for Great Jazz

The Joe Potenza Jazz Quartet

2/18
James Seabra Vibraphone; Jeffrey Cashen Guitar;
Bart Lingley Drums; Joe Potenza Bass

2/25 Brenda Padula Vocalist; Ron Sanfilippo Piano;
Frank Padula Drums; Joe Potenza Bass

Aspire Restaurant at The Hotel Providence

The Joe Potenza Jazz Quartet

Joe Potenza is one of the premier jazz bass players playing the RI jazz scene today.

The Joe Potenza Quartet plays every Friday night at Aspire Restaurant in the Hotel Providence.

Joe is a Rhode Island native who grew up playing electric bass in rock, R&B and funk bands, and doing commercial work.

To his credit, Joe has played in a local band called ‘Contact’ with Dave Tanury and Vinny Pagano. Over the years, Joe has played with Joe Esposito, Ed Tomassi, Dan Moretti, Greg Abate, Paul Murphy, Jack Menna, Alan Dawson and trumpet player Mike Metheny ( yes, Pat’s brother). Joe has opened for the Neville Brothers too! Joe is also a member of the Chili Brothers with Tony Medeiros and Greg Takemoto.

            So how does a local rock bass player end up doing a great Jazz gig. By going to local sessions and sitting in with jazz players. It’s a hard learning curve. Joe says that ‘you just have to jump in and do it’. “You learn so much by sitting in with guys that have more experience than you. In the ‘old days, that’s how all those great players did it”.

Joe has a reputation of showing up to gigs with at least two electric basses, just to be prepared. He’s been referred to as the ‘Swiss Army’ bass player. I’ve seen Joe play an inexpensive borrowed bass at a jam, and make it sound like he’d been playing it for years. Why? It’s not the price or quality of the instrument, but the ability of the player, and the quality of the music. I’ve seen Joe play a fretless electric bass at Aspire. If you didn’t see him playing it, you’d swear he was playing a full size double bass with a bow. Again, it’s the ability of the musician that makes the quality of the music so good. Joe’s mission is to try to get listeners and players alike to appreciate the fact that you can play an electric bass in a jazz context, and really make it ‘swing’.

With all those gigs to his credit, Joe now has a jazz quartet which plays every Friday night at the Aspire Restaurant in the Hotel Providence.  The Hotel Providence and Aspire have been very supportive of Joe’s Quartet, even with management changes and a sagging economy. That’s the kind of professionalism and musicianship that Joe brings to his gig.

 Joe brings in different players every week. No matter what group Joe puts together for the evening, there is never a chance of being disappointed. This Friday Joe’s Quartet includes Debra Mann on piano and vocals, Mike Turk on Chromatic Harmonica and Steve Langone on drums. (If you read my earlier blog on The Dave Zinno Jazz Trio, you'll remember reading about Steve) 

So stop by Aspire on a Friday and enjoy some swinging jass with the Joe Potenza Jazz Quartet.

The Dave Zinno Jazz Trio

Every once in a while one gets a chance to see a musician who is truly at the top of their game. The type of musician who, as you watch them play, you can tell that they seem as one with their instrument. Their complete dominance of the instrument makes the instrument seem to be an extension of themselves.  Well, yesterday I had the opportunity to see three of them. Yes three……be jealous now.

            I had the opportunity to see the Dave Zinno Jazz Trio at URI. Dave is a faculty member in jazz studies at URI and Brown University. He has played all over the United States, Europe and South America as well as Cairo, Egypt. Dave is clearly a master of the double bass. I sat riveted as Dave demonstrated his tremendous skills. He used finger plucking, played octaves, strummed and used a bow in ways that I’d never seen, including a tapping technique.

            With Dave, playing piano was Tim Ray. Tim was Lyle Lovett’s pianist for 15 years. Tim has played at Carnegie Hall and several times at the White House. He has toured the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Central America. He is a faculty member at the New England Conservatory, Berklee and URI. Watching Tim was amazing.  He reached into the grand piano and muted notes as he played by touching vibrating strings inside the piano. He also used a sweeping technique by again, reaching inside the piano and “strumming” across strings.

            The drummer for the trio’s afternoon recital was Steve Langone. A graduate of Berklee, Steve has played on television and film soundtracks including Sesame Street, National Geographic and Miramax films. He has toured the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Albania, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Steve is also a faculty member at URI. Steve used a combination of sticks, mallets, brushes and his hands in his playing. I’d never seen any drummer use some of the techniques that Steve did. He even used the end of a stick on a cymbal to make a very unusual sound that worked quite nicely in the piece the trio was playing.

            These fine artists were taking part in the URI University Artist Series. I’ll certainly be back. This recital was truly a treat. I don’t know all the correct terminology for the techniques used, but I can tell you that I was mesmerized.

Don’t miss a chance to see The Dave Zinno Jazz Trio.

Please check the URI music department’s calendar of events for further recital dates.

The Jazz Jam At Two Jerks

The "Hottest" Jazz Jam with the "Coolest" music. Every Wednesday night at Two Jerks Pub at 446 Waterman Avenue in East Providence, come and enjoy the hottest jazz around. How did this all come about you ask?

Well, once upon a time about 6 or 8 months ago, I ran into a great up and coming jazz guitar player by the name of Alex Curnow. I was at another little club where they were doing a jazz jam. I approached Alex and introduced myself. I told him that I had just picked up the guitar after many years, and was looking for someone to get together with to play a little. He said, 'sure, why not'.  So eventually we were able to compare schedules and got together to kick around a couple of tunes. By around October, I suggested we stop by Two Jerks on a Tuesday for their 'Open Mic' night to play a few.  After playing three tunes, we were ready to get off the stage. To our surprise we were approached by the host for the evening who asked us to 'play another one'. The jazz sound was so well received that Koby, one of the owners approached us and asked if we'd be interested in hosting a 'Jazz Jam'! So here we are.

We've had a great mix of young music students from URI, Hartt (Hartford), Loyola (New Orleans) and  CCRI so far. We're hoping to tap more talented young players from RIC too! Along with the young jazz guys, there's a mix of guys who've been playing jazz and swing in the RI music scene for many years. It makes for a nice mix of younger and older guys who just love jazz.

On average there's around 20 players on a given night, which is a great turn out for a 'Jazz' jam. Stop in, sit in or just enjoy the music some Wednesday night. Charts and real books are welcome. We typically have a keyboard, guitar amp and PA system already there, so come on down and join us!

If you go to the blog archive and click on Tenor Madness you can see a video from one of our jams.

Two Jerks Pub Jazz-Tenor Madness-12-22-10

So What's This all about?

I've decided to share my view of the RI music scene, with a specific interest in Jazz and Blues. I'll share information on Rhode Island's tremendous local musicians, venues to hear great live music, jams,  music projects and all the other interesting topics we all seem to gravitate towards in our conversations of the 'Live' music scene in Rhode Island.

I'm still working out ideas on content. I'm particularly interested in showcasing particular Jazz and Blues legends both nationally and locally. You may see some names of musicians that your parents listened to at home when you were growing up, and you'll certainly recognize some names of local musicians you see regularly here in RI.

Why you ask? There's a fabulous eclectic collection of talented musicians here in The Ocean State as well as a variety of venues bringing live music to the public. I know that URI, RIC and CCRI are all turning out some great young Jazz musicians. Unfortunately, the public isn't always aware of the caliber of local talent right here at home. Too bad. So let's get the word out!

If you have a jazz band, blues band, jam, music project or other topics related to jazz or blues and would like to get the word out, drop me a line. Let's share the treasure of L'il Rhody's hidden talent!

Today's assignment jazz and blues lovers: Find and listen to Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass' Georgia On My Mind...Enjoy