Articles By Sanford Josephson
Ted Chubb Quintet at NJ Jazz Society's Jersey Jazz LIVE!
In 2020, trumpeter Ted Chubb and his wife, Rachel Ryl, purchased The Statuary, a former sculpture factory in Jersey City, and converted it into a jazz club. Five years later, Chubb's quintet recorded an album, Live at the Statuary, which was released in May of this year by Circle 9 Records
published on 10/01/2026
Vibraphonist Joe Locke to Honor Roy Hargrove and Billy Strayhorn at West Orange Jazz Festival
The late WBGO Radio personality Michael Bourne hosted an annual "Jazz on the Mountain" festival at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY, for 22 years. In 2013, he asked vibraphonist Joe Locke to perform a solo vibe concert. "Michael Bourne," Locke recalled, "threw the gauntlet down. He kind of challenged me to do a set of solo vibraphone. At first, I said, 'Absolutely not. I can't do a whole set of solo vibraphone.' I did it, and I ended up really enjoying it, and so did the audience."
published on 09/15/2026
TD James Moody Jazz Festival: Pianist George Cables
In 1976, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon made a triumphant return to the United States after spending 14 years living in Copenhagen. He quickly established a working quartet with George Cables on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and Eddie Gladden on drums. Cables, who will turn 81 on November 14, believes being hired by Gordon was a pivotal point in his career. "Up until that time," he said, "I was spending a lot of time with the electric piano and with other keyboards -- clavinet, synthesizer, and the like. With Dexter, for me, it was rediscovering the piano."
published on 11/01/2025
At William Paterson, Ted Rosenthal Will Showcase His Trio Arrangements of Music by George Gershwin
About 12 years ago, pianist Ted Rosenthal was approached about performing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in a small venue. "I said, as a matter of fact, I've been thinking of coming up with a trio arrangement, so why don't we make this an occasion where we actually put a trio arrangement together for this concert."
published on 10/06/2025
Leigh Pilzer: Hearing the Basie Band was Like 'a Bolt from the Blue'
Baritone saxophonist Leigh Pilzer likes to recall a scene in the movie, The Godfather, "where the son (Al Pacino), who falls in love in Italy, says, 'It was like a bolt from the blue.'" That's how Pilzer felt when she first heard the Count Basie big band.
published on 09/01/2025
Two NJ Jazz Musicians Will Play with The Jazz Ambassadors in Morristown
Pianist Anthony Pocetti grew up in Hamilton, NJ, studying piano, "doing sort of traditional piano lessons. I have an uncle who was always encouraging me to get into the jazz thing. He gave me the (Miles Davis) Kind of Blue CD, and he knew that the jazz pianist Jim Ridl was living in Hamilton."
published on 07/01/2025
Guitarist Dave Stryker Headlines First-Ever Ross Farm Jazz Festival in Basking Ridge
On March 3, 2024, jazz guitarist Sally Shupe of Maplewood, NJ, then a senior at Columbia High School, led a quintet as the Rising Stars opening act at the New Jersey Jazz Society's Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert in Madison. To celebrate Women's History Month, the quintet played three tunes associated with female composers: "Blues for Herb" written for guitarist Herb Ellis by guitarist Emily Remler; "Games" by jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby; and "Just Another Day at the Office" by pianist/educator Monika Herzig.
published on 05/01/2025
Pianist Luther Allison Brings the Music of New Orleans to Audiences Across the Country
James Black was a New Orleans-based jazz drummer, little known outside of the Crescent City. James Carroll Booker III was called the "piano prince of New Orleans." Harold Battiste was a reedist and composer who worked closely with such artists as Ellis Marsalis, Sam Cooke, and Dr. John.
published on 02/01/2025
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Will Mix Holiday Songs with 'All the Hits' at Grunin Center
In 1935, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra recorded "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on the Victor record label. Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, it had become a hit in 1934 when Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio show. The Dorsey version featured vocals by Cliff Weston and Edythe Wright, and the current Tommy Dorsey Orchestra will perform it at the band's "Sentimental for the Season" holiday show on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts in Toms River, NJ.
published on 12/02/2024
SNL Trumpeter Summer Camargo to Play at December NJJS Jersey Jazz LIVE! Concert
During the pandemic, the New Jersey Jazz Society held virtual concerts that appeared on njjs.com and the NJJS Facebook and YouTube sites. In March 2021, the performers were two second-year Jazz Studies students at Juilliard: trumpeter Summer Camargo from Hollywood, FL, and pianist Tyler Henderson from Houston.
published on 11/01/2024
John Scofield Trio to Mix Jazz-Rock and Original Compositions at the Newton Theatre
In October 2023, guitarist John Scofield released an album on the ECM label called Uncle John's Band. The two-CD recording mixed the Grateful Dead title track, Bob Dylan's "Tambourine Man", Neil Young's "Old Man", the Miles Davis/Bud Powell jazz standard "Budo", and "Somewhere", written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for West Side Story, with several Scofield originals.
published on 10/02/2024
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: "I'm Just Repeating a Model"
Drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr.'s Cellar Music album, A New Beat, featuring his Generation Y of up-and-coming young jazz artists, spent eight weeks at Number 1 on the JazzWeek charts.
published on 05/01/2024
Chicken Fat Ball Returns to Maplewood on April 14th
It's been several years since pianist Ehud Asherie performed at the Chicken Fat Ball, but he'll feel right at home. "These are guys I've played and recorded with many times before," he said.
published on 04/01/2024
Pianist Sean Mason Puts Jazz Spin on "100 Years of Disney" Music
On Tuesday, October 3, at the Numerica Performing Arts Center in Wenatchee, WA, pianist Sean Mason played a solo performance of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez's "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from Frozen: The Broadway Musical to an audience of middle school students. It was part of the "When You Wish Upon a Star – A Jazz Tribute to 100 Years of Disney" tour, featuring Mason and the House Band of The National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
published on 11/01/2023
Pianist Lafayette Harris, Jr., Embracing 'Everything' from Eubie Blake to Max Roach
In 1975 when Lafayette Harris, Jr., was 12 years old, growing up in Baltimore, he saw a television commercial advertising a "hometown hero who is coming back to Baltimore to play." Harris was just starting to learn to play the piano, and the "hometown hero" was Eubie Blake. "I had no idea who Eubie Blake was,” he recalled. "They showed him playing this piece, 'The Maple Leaf Rag'. I'd never heard of that, and I just had to learn how to play that music.
published on 09/01/2023
