Blog | Gloria Krolak | Author Jazz Lines

Gloria Krolak

Food for Thought

Updated: Apr 17, 2021

Bobby Hutcherson was once asked what he wanted as a listener. He responded, "Jerk me around! Jerk my soul around! Make me smile and laugh. Make me sad. Make me feel like it's raining."

From Joe Locke's new CD, Subtle Disguise, when describing his tune "Make Me Feel Like

It's Raining." He does.

Gloria Krolak

Judd Roth, Ruth Cooper and Jeff Hersch started something. To the small town of Flemington, New Jersey, (officially a borough, population about 4600) they brought a jazz series. With the help of local grants from Flemington Community Partnership and Hunterdon County, they've presented an increasingly popular run of jazz events. The Borough donates the use of a former bank building at 90 Main Street - complete with impressive steel-door vault. Roth invited some jazz legends and up-and-comers to perform on Saturday evenings. For five seasons (2016 – 2018) Roth has opened the doors of the now DIY Community Art Space that he shares with other local groups, to great names and superb jazz. Most recently, in the 2018 once-a-month series he welcomed the Mike Yamanaka Trio to open. Young new vibraphonist Sasha Berliner followed, and then Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet with bandoneòn player Rodolfo Zanetti. The bandoneòn, BTW, is an instrument resembling a small accordion, originating in Germany but now identified with Argentina, and totally captivating. The last performance of the season, guitarists Olli Soikkeli from Finland and Brazilian Cesare Garabini, sold out. For those in the audience – the smallish room holds about 60 - it was well worth the $15 price of admission. The duo played Brazilian jazz with its deserved intensity, explaining the “choro” form beforehand, Gypsy jazz a la Django, and Henry Mancini’s theme from the movie Two for the Road. Truly versatile guitarists. You can check out the series' truly international array of musical talent on YouTube. Then sign up for the 2019 series which begins Saturday, January 26, 2019 and features pianist Tomoko Ohno, leading a trio including Marcus McLaurine (bass) and Samuel Martinelli (drums). They will be playing music from the album, “Crossing Paths.”

Gloria Krolak

The Jazz Vibes Showcase Makes Landfall in January

Updated: Apr 17, 2021

World-Class Vibraphonists Come to Arts Center

Jazz Vibes Showcase & Workshops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The World Vibes Congress is a gathering of professional players, college percussion teachers, and students whose mission is to promote the vibraphone through improvisation and composition, encouraging students to play and working with teachers to develop curriculum for the instrument. For the last six years, they have met annually in New Jersey each January.

In cooperation with the World Vibes Congress, in January, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina will host four of the best vibraphone players on the music scene today. Tony Miceli, Joe Locke, David Friedman and Warren Wolf will perform on Sunday, January 6 at 2pm on the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina’s mainstage.

As part of the Jazz Vibes Showcase on Sunday, January 6, the four will play individually with a rhythm section of professional musicians including Martin Lesch on piano, Chris Russell on drums, both local Island jazz celebrities, and Ron Brendle on bass, hailing from NC.

For the finale, these four incredible vibraphonists will perform together in a dynamic musical extravaganza. The mainstage performance is dedicated to the memory of Lowcountry jazz legend and owner of The Jazz Club, Bob Masteller. The event is co-sponsored by the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and Junior Jazz Foundation.

As part of the Jazz Vibes Showcase, each of the four vibraphonists will present a 4-session Workshop Experience on Saturday, January 5, 2019 from 10am-3pm. A fifth player,

West Coast native Anthony Smith, will give a fith seminar at 3pm.

The two sessions before lunch are Tony Miceli's workshop "How to Study and Work with Chords and Harmony,” and Joe Locke’s session “Inspiration and Transformation - Creating New Lines for Improvisation.” Following lunch, Warren Wolf presents “Bebop and More,” and the final session will be David Friedman’s “Vocal Phrasing on a Hunk of Metal.” Smith's presentation is to be determined. Out of town guests can take advantage of special group rates at both Sonesta Hotel (130 Shipyard Drive, HHI 29928; 843-842-2400) and Park Lane Hotel & Suites (12 Park Lane, HHI, 29928; 843-686-5700). Contact either hotel directly for rates and details, or go online to artshhi.com/performance-shows/jazz-vibes-showcase to learn more.

Showcase tickets are $40 for adults and $20 for students (ages 18 and younger). The four-session workshop is $50, which includes lunch; or $25 with an early-bird concert ticket purchased by October 12; and $35 with concert ticket purchase after October 12. Visit www.artshhi.com or call (843) 842-2787 (ARTS).

The Arts Center is located at 14 Shelter Cove Lane, Hilton Head Island, SC and is a non-profit, 501(c)-3 organization, which includes professional theater productions, a Great Performances series, as well as region-wide educational and outreach programs. Gloria Krolak is co-producing the event with financial services industry wizard, Rich Speer.

Joe Maita, creator of jerryjazzmusician.com, does it again!

He curates one of the best jazz poetry collections I’ve ever read.

(Poetry, you say? Don’t think you have to be a “longhair” to read poetry. These are readable, thought-provoking and memorable. In poetry, every word, every piece of punctuation is important. Poems are meant to savor, read again and again to absorb the mood and feeling the poet intended.)

Joe’s Summer 2022 Collection is not to be missed. Nor is the rest of his highly erudite and informed website of jazz, interviews, history, paintings and commentary. IMHO, this is the very best of what the internet offers.

Here is a link to the Summer Poetry Collection, including one of mine, “Which Way Did She Go?” My poems, less serious than the others, are playfully built of jazz tune titles and tell a little story.

https://jerryjazzmusician.com/a-collection-of-jazz-poetry-summer-2022-edition/

Leave a comment if you enjoy your visit.

And while you’re here, check out my book Jazz Lines…free verse in the key of jazz.

Best,

Gloria

8/15/22

"Which Way Did She Go?"

JERRY JAZZ MUSICIAN PUBLISHES KROLAK POETRY

December 16, 2022

jerryjazzmusician.com is a non-commercial website to which you’ll want to subscribe. It’s all things jazz curated by Joe Maita, founder and publisher, in Portland, Oregon in 1997. Music, culture, history, art, poetry, interviews, fiction, Maita shares the best in jazz. It’s as if the best museum, book, magazine and newspaper united to present its worldly view of the subject.

The name came from one of Woody Allen’s stand-up routines from the 1960’s. Called “Unhappy Childhood,” Allen describes traveling the subway to his clarinet lessons dressed as “Jerry Jazz Musician,” his idea of what a jazz musician looked like. That might have included a beret, black turtleneck sweater and maybe a beard, if he’d been able to grow one at the age of 15, when he began his lessons. Maybe this was Allen’s first acting role that mattered. Joe Maita doesn’t need to act; his fascination with everything jazz is real and natural and you’ll see it when you visit his website.

The winter 22/23 issue is another sweet poetry collection, which includes a new poem of mine, “And In Vibraphone News…” Different than my previous poetry, this one builds with album titles, not song titles. They’re in italics for easy identification. Here’s the link.

https://jerryjazzmusician.com/a-collection-of-jazz-poetry-fall-winter-2022-23

My lighthearted poetry has to stand on tiptoe trying to reach the height of insightful odes by true poets, to the giants of jazz like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, and many worthy others. I’m so excited to be included!

Joe Maita, Oregon

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Christian Tamburr Count Basie Orchestra Charlton Singleton

Hail to the Chief!

by Gloria Krolak
We've been almost on music overload (notice I wrote "almost") these past few days as the Jazz for All Ages annual festival spooled out at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, once again the host site. Presented by The Jazz Corner as a fundraiser for their Junior Jazz Foundation, it all began at a jazz brunch with vibraphonist Christian Tamburr and pianist Scott Giddens, a formidable duo under any circumstances. With a vibraphone in the room, you know I'm in my element. They played a variety of tunes honoring Gary Burton and the late Chick Corea, as well as a Tamburr original called "The Chief,' which Tamburr explained is his dad's nickname for him.

The brunch is a new addition to the festival. A hot breakfast, a mimosa in hand and an unbeatable playlist by two well-seasoned players is a great way to start the day! Tamburr/Giddens included "Libertango," an Astor Piazzolla original that Burton recorded on an album of the same name, bringing the tune around full circle.
That night the Count Basie Orchestra headlined the program, after a set by the Junior Jazz Band, a quartet of musicians raised in music by the JJF. Having watched them grow physically and musically as little guys over the years at the summer bandcamp, it is always a pleasure to be entertained by the Rising Stars.
When the Basie band started up it was like standing behind a jet ready for takeoff. What do they call that, the blast zone? Neal Hefti's "Lil Darlin'" was on the playlist, as well as "Honeysuckle Rose," with vocalist Carmen Bradford. And it wasn't just the volume that blew the audience a few feet back, it was the artistry, talent and professionalism that made the orchestra such a big hit.
On the next and last night we heard trumpeter Charlton Singleton and his tribute to the seminal Earth, Wind and Fire band (mostly fire). Quiana Parler paired with Singleton on vocals, both Grammy winners, were explosive together, and the rest of the band played at that same high level. Hearing "Sun Goddess" made my day.
It was a weekend to remember. Next year get your tickets early. It's a festival worth attending and the island is your playground.

10/31/2022
#jazz #hiltonhead #JazzFestival #ChristianTamburr #CountBasieOrchestra #CharltonSingleton #QuianaParler #ScottGiddens

#JuniorJazzFoundation #TheJazzCorner #GoodVibes #EarthWindFire #GaryBurton #ChickCorea

In Which Nica Reveals Her Dreams

by Gloria Krolak

April 2022

The real life Rothschild heiress and Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter (1913-1988) was a fervent patron of jazz. She fearlessly left her husband and five children to support and encourage the jazz artists she loved. Although the Rothschilds disowned her and her husband won custody of the children, she maintained contact with them. She is especially well-known for her assistance to Thelonious Monk, but many others benefitted from her generosity in the form of rent payments, grocery deliveries, hospital stays and the famously speedy adventures in her Bentley. She chaperoned them to gigs and defended them against racism. There are at least 11 tunes by various musicians named for her. “Nica’s Dream” was written by Horace Silver. There is even a jazz club in Nantes, Frances named for her, Le Pannonica.

You can read "Nica's Dream," my latest verse, at the website, Jerry Jazz Musician. Joe Maita, founder, publisher, and jazz enthusiast, curates one of the most comprehensive and best jazz websites. Go ahead and get lost in it!

http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/

Food for Thought

In Our Little Town

The Jazz Vibes Showcase Makes Landfall in January

JERRY JAZZ MUSICIAN PUBLISHES KROLAK POETRY

Christian Tamburr Count Basie Orchestra Charlton Singleton

Food For Thought