Second Line Syracuse, an interactive, roving community jazz band is the brainchild of musician & composer Melissa Gardiner. Sunday afternoon the group marched thru the streets of the Near Westside to the delight of neighbors and passersby.
Competition obviously makes for plenty of invention.
We finally got to see the Second Line Syracuse project (winner of the Salt City Dishes prize) up close yesterday, and we were impressed. We hope their dedication to the craft (they marched in the rain) is a reflection of the shape of jazz to come here in the city. Maybe they will show up at the Downtown Syracuse Arts Festival or a street party near you soon.
Our performance of the week goes to Ronnie Leigh and Melissa Gardiner’s MG3. Below is a clip from their final number (Aint Misbehavin‘ with Leigh on vocals), which is so rich and velvety it gets stuck between your ears.
Here’s a great gift for Father’s Day: a sweet melody. This original composition was performed by Eric Sprague at the OCPL Masterclass Finale. He said it was inspired by his father.
The performance for this song was so well done we thought it was from an opera. During the OCPL Masterclass Finale 2, McCoy gave a short translation, then showed her vocal skills (in Italian).
Melissa Gardiner, Will Gorman and Ronnie Leigh, along with Byron Cage (not pictured) served up a hot set at Tokyo-Seoul last night.
We got to see a few generations of musical performers at Melissa Gardiner’s gig at Tokyo-Seoul last night. Her MG3 band, along with veteran vocalist Ronnie Leigh, made for a sweltering combination.
Leigh, who is the equivalent of a made guy in the music scene here (our version of Tony Bennett), has been around for years and has multiple SAMMY Awards. But don’t let his musical mileage fool you however, because he still had enough in reserve to close the show with a Fats Waller cut (“Aint Misbehavin”) that had the ebbing energy of a strong summer storm.
Our take-away question is this: has anyone recorded these sessions (which began in December)? They would make a great compilation CD.
Jake Ford was called up to share the Tokyo-Seoul stage with MG3 on Thursday.
You have to be secure with your art & abilities to let someone share your stage. We thought it big-hearted for Melissa Gardiner and her new power group,MG3 (Gardiner, Gorman & Cage), to shine some light on guitarist Jake Ford last night. Ford sat in briefly during the MG3 + Ronnie Leigh show at Tokyo Seoul.
This is only our second time seeing the Third Thursday’s series, but generally when it comes to the Syracuse scene, established musicians are quick to show love to up-and-coming talent.
At this year’s Juneteenth we had to do a double take. The guitar player for Angie Stone looked so much like Rod Little from the Blacklites…Glance again, the resemblance is uncanny.
R. Little, the Blacklites (Jazz in the City event).
Lawrence Czajkowski performed his original composition “Electric Fancy” at the Onondaga County Public Library Masterclass “Finale 2” on Monday. Czajkowski (chy-KAWF-skee ) was the closing act. The event featured nearly 20 artist performances and was held at Le Moyne College. The third finale will be held tonight.
Thanks to Larry Luttinger for inviting us to this event last night. The OCPL Masterclass sounds like a great way to expose emerging and under represented talent. We also found out that the Masterclass is a free program. Check out below, as Larry (Luttinger) introduces another Larry (Czajkowski), and reminds us that CNY is also home to some great composers.
