Sunday, November 27, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIV, No 12

Hello friends.  More exceptional talent, this week from the Syracuse area...
Tuesday, 11/29 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Tom Bronzetti, guitar     Andrew Carroll, piano     Wayne Moose, bass     your host, drum set
Tom Bronzetti has made my job easy this week.  If you'll view this clip:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOby6Yvk7Yc, I need say no more...  And while you're at the You Tube site you can choose from a few other video clips featuring Tom:  interviews, gigs, and studio clips from his maiden release as a leader, Make Someone Happy.  What with so few venues featuring jazz music, there is some concern for the vitality of our art form.  But meet and hear a musician like Tom Bronzetti, and you'll go away with the confidence that the Great American Songbook is in capable and loving hands.  We invite you to share in this rare Buffalo appearance by Tom and pianist Andrew Carroll.  Still keeping the music alive at the Iris Restaurant, you'll find us in the Maple-Ridge Plaza at the intersection of Maple & Sweet Home Roads.  Please join us.
Friday, 12/2/2011 at Wegman's Amherst St     6:00 - 8:00
Jimmy Kipler, guitar     Paul Zapalowski, bass     your correspondent, drum set
And speaking of world class guitarists, Jimmy Kipler will be leading a trio date at the Wegman's Amherst Street store this Friday.  Honored to get the call...
next Tuesday, 12/6/2011 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Three Brothers & a Distant Cousin
Phil Sims - trombone & arrangements     Andy Weinzler, Russ D'Alba, Kelly Bucheger - tenor saxophones     George Caldwell - piano     Paul Zapalowski - bass     your host - drum set
upcoming at the Iris Restaurant...
Friday, 12/9 Hammond B3 artist Bobby Jones with saxophonist Bobby Militello
Tuesday, 12/13 Phil DiRe
Tuesday, 1/17 Miles & Wayne Tucker
links...
You have to workout...
The brain is like a muscle.  When it is in use we feel very good.  Understanding is joyous.
 - Carl Sagan
Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
YouTube - Videos from this email

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Monday, October 31, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIV, No 8

Hullo friends.  Another new voice...
Tuesday, 11/1 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Karl Stabnau, bari sax     George Caldwell, piano     Danny Ziemann bass     your host, drum set
Sometimes it mystifies even me.  Thirteen years on, and we're still meeting new talent.  Karl Stabnau is yet another product of the rich jazz education offered at the renown Eastman School.  And bassist Danny Ziemann the same...  I haven't met Karl, so the lion's share of this week's conversation will be of the musical variety - long of the jazz tradition.  I do know that if you want to catch him, you should do so now.  Karl has won the bari chair in one of our esteemed United States Military jazz ensembles, so his local performances are short lived.  Please stop in.  Help us keep our tradition alive.  Hear talent new to you & me, and offer Karl your support as he prepares to accept a new challenge in service to our country.  As always, you'll find us in the comfortable environs of the Iris Restaurant.  Still in the Maple-Ridge Plaza at the intersection of Maple & Sweet Home Roads - good music, good food, good people, chilled spirits, and a great hang.
Friday, 11/4 at Wegman's Amherst Street      6:00 - 8:00
Dave Scott, guitar     Buddy Fadale, bass     yours truly, drum set
Back to the Wegman's circuit this Friday, this time city-side.
Saturday, 11/5 at the Iris Restaurant     8:00 p.m.
Mike Jones, piano     Danny Vitale, bass     your correspondent, drum set
This is huge, and we do hope you can join us.  Lackawanna native Mike Jones has earned a national reputation as one of the hardest swinging pianists on the scene.  He's on sabbatical from his gig with Penn & Teller at the Rio in Las Vegas, and he's chosen our venue to celebrate a homecoming.  Tickets are still available, but don't delay.  There's a local buzz about this performance, and Mike's family alone could sell the club out.  Pre-sale tickets offer a 20% discount.  Go to www.ticketweb.com, click on venues, and type Mike Jones in the artist search box.  Iris Restaurant will come up.  Or to save a service charge, order your tickets by calling the club directly at 831-3271.  Our thanks to the perspicacious Bruce Eaton for making this very special one performance happen.
Tuesdays at the Iris Restaurant...
Tuesday, 11/15 Clay Jenkins & John Hasselback, Jr
Tuesday, 11/22 Chris Ziemba & Doug Stone
Tuesday, 11/29 Tom Bronzetti
Tuesday, 12/13 Phil DiRe

links...

Musically, politically, socially, spiritually...
We shall not cease from exploration.
And the end of our exploring
Shall be to return to where we started
And know the place for the first time.
 - T.S. Eliot
Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIV, No 3


Hullo friends.  Some good things happening...
Tuesday, 9/27 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Matt Michaud, guitar     Jeff McLeod, organ     your host, drum set
This week we offer the classic organ trio sound, and welcome yet another talent new to our continuing jazz experiment.  I've never had the pleasure, but Jeff McLeod comes highly recommended by Matt Michaud.  And that's good enough for me.  Matt's still a young guy, but I recall some infectious playing in his younger days while sitting-in at our curiously lit location.  The talent and conception were obvious, but ears bigger than mine heard it first.  When Matt started showing up on gigs with Chu Nero, I knew then that we had a guitarist to be reckoned with.  Chu was always ahead of the curve...  So we humbly keep Chu's legacy alive, and present one of his inspired sidemen leading a trio date at the new Iris Restaurant.  Maple & Sweet Home Roads in the Maple-Ridge Plaza - good music, good food, good people, chilled spirits, and a great hang.
next Tuesday, 10/4 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Phil DiRe, tenor saxophone     Matt Michaud, guitar     George Caldwell, piano     Sabu Adeyola, bass     your host, drum set
I know it's a week away, but I'm telling you now, make your plans & get there early.  We proudly re-introduce a Buffalo living legend to his audience.  Saxophonist Phil DiRe returns.
And check this out...
Upcoming at the Iris Restaurant...
Friday, 10/21 guitarist Gene Bertoncini & vocalist Cindy Miller with bassist Wayne Moose & yours truly
Saturday, 11/5 pianist Mike Jones of Penn & Teller fame with bassist Danny Vitale and your correspondent
You read right.  Both Gene Bertoncini with Cindy Miller, and Lackawanna native Mike Jones (now with Penn & Teller at the Rio in Las Vegas) are confirmed for separate one-night-only appearances at the new Iris Restaurant.  Pre-sale tickets will be available both at the club & on-line at www.ticketweb.com.  We'll let you know when the on-line tix are available.
Tuesdays at the Iris Restaurant...
Tuesday, 10/11 Jeff Hackworth
Tuesday, 10/25 Mike Kaupa
Tuesday, 11/1 Karl Stabnau
Tuesday, 11/15 Clay Jenkins

links...

Gene Bertoncini, Mike Jones...
Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.
 - Emily Dickinson

Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIV, No 1


Yikes!  Volume XIV, Number 1.  Our fourteenth campaign begins this Tuesday.  Two venues, two management teams, and we're still standing...  Our thanks are fourfold:  First, to Mike Milkie - genuine, heartfelt, and sincere.  In business for over 50 years, Mike is the embodiment of what we all know, and too often forget:  It's all about relationships.  How good you do what you do is an indispensable factor in the equation of success.  But how you treat your equals - and that would be all of us - lies at the bedrock of your achievements.  He took a chance on a stranger and an idea back in the fall of 1998, and he stayed steady and loyal throughout.  Next, our thanks to the musicians.  This gig has never paid a lot of money.  And yet we have cats driving from Erie, Cleveland, Rochester, Ripley, Fredonia, St. Catherines, Hamilton & Toronto to contribute their artistry and establish our gig as the voice of the music in our home town.  Thirdly, our thanks to Pat & Phil Georger of Hamburg Music Center.  Today, the electric piano is ubiquitous at virtually every venue - that is every venue but ours.  Thanks to the vision and the generosity of Hamburg Music Center, we are a true jazz club.  And speaking of genuine?  You will not find more sincere nor honest businesspeople than the Georger's and Hamburg Music Center.   And finally, our thanks to you, dear listener.  No matter the level of artistry, passion, or creativity, our musical efforts would charm only the silence were it not for your support and encouragement.  Thank you for being an equal partner.
Tuesday, 9/13 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Tim Clarke, trumpet     George Kane, guitar     Wayne Moose, bass     your host drum set
What with the level of musicianship in Buffalo, the possibilities seem infinite.  All of the guys on the band this week have done our gig before - just never in this combination.  And if you want an endorsement as to the aforementioned native musicianship, just ask Tim Clarke.  Tim came east from Eugene, Oregon to take a position at Fisher-Price as a senior-level music producer.  He there maintains a busy schedule composing and arranging for toys, multimedia products, web productions, commercials and other media.  Tim flat out told me how privileged he is to be among us, where he is as enamored of the people as he is of the world-class musicians our precedents spawned.  So on this first Tuesday of our new campaign we offer Tim in the company of guitarist George Kane, who is known as much for his taste as he is for his swing.  Bassist Wayne Moose rounds out the rhythm section, too preferring taste and a careful monitoring of the dynamic spectrum.  Will you join us?  Please help us to grow again, now in year 14 at the Iris Restaurant in the Maple Entertainment Complex.  As always, good music, good food, good people, chilled spirits, and a great hang...
Wednesday, 9/14 at Wegman's Dick Rd 6:00 - 8:00
Dave Scott, guitar     Buddy Fadale, bass    your correspondent, drum set
The wise people at Wegman's Dick Rd have expanded their music policy to include Wednesdays.  If you're a mid-week shopper, maybe you'll want to rest your feet at the Cafe for a set.
next Tuesday, 9/20 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Bruce Johnstone & the Carousel Strings
upcoming at the Iris Restaurant...
Tuesday, 9/27 Matt Michaud
Tuesday, 10/4 Phil DiRe
Tuesday, 10/11 Jeff Hackworth
Tuesday, 10/25 Mike Kaupa
Tuesday, 11/1 Karl Stabnau
Tuesday, 11/15 Clay Jenkins

links...

Heart, courage, sacrifice...
Are you guys ready?  Let's roll.
 - Todd Beamer, Flight 93

Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIII, No 50


Hullo friends.  How blessed are we?  While a Category 3 hurricane threatens the East coast, we bask in the sun and warmth of the Niagara Frontier.  I even got a sunburn on my balding pate while cruising Center Street at the 10th Annual Lewiston Jazz Festival.  How do they ever pull that off?  Ronnie Corsaro, Carol Calato (Regal Tip sticks & brushes), Sandy Hays, County Legislator Richard Soluri, and all of the board members who so unselfishly pour their collective energies into making this music and friendship festival a reality are owed a serious debt of thanks.  While our "leaders" in Washington sabotage the very stability that our fiscal policy balances on with their irresponsible debt-ceiling gamesmanship, the Niagara County policy makers come together in the interest of the common good.  To paraphrase the late Tip O'Neill, all politics is indeed local.  And lucky are we that this local is where we reside...
Tonight - Sunday, 8/28 at the Niagara Arts & Cultural Center     6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Ron Corsaro & the Upstate Express
As the jazz festival concluded last night, the Sunday performances at the NACC conclude today, fittingly with the man who organized and booked all of the performing artists for Lewiston.  After appearing every Thursday this (and every) summer at the gazebo in Lewiston, Ronnie's Upstate Express plays its final concert of the season on the steps of the former Niagara Falls High School.  One last time for 2011, we're going out swinging.
Tuesday, 8/30 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Mike Kelly, guitar     Danny Vitale, bass     your host, drum set
I'm especially grateful to the above mentioned presenters of the Lewiston Jazz Fest for reasons both musical and personal.  Their skill at organizing the whole event allowed me to bring my friend Mike Kelly home.  His performance last night, along with that of Pete Malinverni and the incomparable Danny Vitale, was truly inspiring.  Mike was a world-class guitarist when he moved from Rochester to New York in the 80's, and from New York to Atlanta in the 90's.  For those of you who heard it last night from the Frontier House porch, you know this to be true:  He's simply brilliant.  And he hasn't lost a step.  After all these years I am still knocked out by his musical vocabulary, his feel, his swing, his knowledge of tunes, his artistic temperament, and his fundamental musicality.  To this day, he sounds like he was born with a guitar in his lap.  And thanks to our continuing embarrassment of riches, we get to reprise the moments musical again this Tuesday.  Pete will have headed back to New York, but Mike's lifelong friend Danny Vitale will return, and this time you can hear all of the nuance that is sometimes lost in an outdoor performance.  Please join us as we extend the Jazz Festival one more evening, in the intimate environs of the Iris Restaurant.  We're still at Maple & Sweet Home Roads in the Maple-Ridge Plaza.  Good music, good food, good people, chilled spirits, and a great hang...
next Tuesday, 9/6 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
George Caldwell, piano     Miles Tucker, saxophone     Sabu Adeyola, bass     your host, drum set
upcoming at the Iris Restaurant...
Tuesday, 9/13 Tim Clarke & George Kane
Tuesday, 9/20 Bruce Johnstone & the Carousel Strings
Tuesday, 9/27 Matt Michaud
Tuesday, 10/4 Phil DiRe
Tuesday, 10/11 Jeff Hackworth
Tuesday, 10/18 Mike Kaupa
Tuesday, 11/1 Karl Stabnau
Tuesday, 11/15 Clay Jenkins
links...

Have a good one...
A day is Eternity's seed, and we are its Gardeners.
 - Erika Harris

Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
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Monday, August 22, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIII, No 49


Hullo friends.  If the summer has to end, there's no better way to usher it out than with the Historic Lewiston Jazz Festival...
Tuesday, 8/23 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Friday, 8/26 on the Main Stage, Lewiston Jazz Festival     5:30 - 7:30
Pete Malinverni, piano     Jody Sandhaus, vocals     Dick Griffo & Dave Schiavone, saxophones     Tim Clarke, trumpet     John Hasselback, trombone     Cameron Kayne, bass     dh, drum set
In fact, it's the Lewiston Jazz Fest that brings Pete & Jody to town this week.  After a year hiatus, our reunion resumes.  These next two Tuesdays hold special meaning for your correspondent, mostly because of the friendships involved.  And as is so often the case, the music is central to it all.  This Tuesday Pete & Jody make their first appearance at our new venue.  So as you heard Pete at the Art Gallery with Eliot Zigmund and Lee Hudson on the Steinway (that Pete personally chose for the Albright-Knox), this week you'll hear him on our 6 foot Yamaha.  Back at our curiously lit location, Mike Milkie would often ask me if we could turn that funky little bar into a jazz club.  And I would always give him the same answer:  "No, Mike.  Not without a real piano".  Thanks to Pat & Phil Georger at Hamburg Music Center, we are now for real.  Our performance at the Jazz Fest is going to feature Pete's septet arrangements for Jody, which we'll preview at the club on Tuesday night.  So please join us as we offer Pete, Jody, & the Upstate Express horn section in the intimate environs of the newly named Iris Restaurant.  Indoors, you'll hear all of the artistry and nuance of an acoustic performance.  And Friday evening we'll do it again on the Main Stage at the Jazz Fest, taking in the outdoor energy, directing it into the music, and out to you.  We hope to see you at both venues.
Saturday, 8/27 on the Rising Star Stage, Lewiston Jazz Festival     12:30 - 2:30 p.m.
The Mike Kaupa Quartet
Mike Kaupa, trumpet     Lisa Hasselback, piano     Buddy Fadale, bass     your correspondent, drum set
Serendipity.  Ronnie Corsaro is not only a substantial pianist, arranger, and bandleader in his own right, he is also the contractor for the Lewiston Jazz Festival.  (How he manages that considerable task is a mystery to me.  Impressive, to say the least...)  Ronnie came into the club one Tuesday past & heard the quartet that Mike Kaupa had assembled for a featured performance.  The musical magic that Mike, Lisa & Buddy created was all Ronnie needed to hear.  The Festival beckoned and Mike was booked.  And this Saturday afternoon, the magic is recreated.  The Rising Star Stage is opposite the Main Stage at the other end of Center Street.
Saturday, 8/27 at the Frontier House, Lewiston Jazz Festival     7:45 - 9:45
Mike Kelly, guitar     Pete Malinverni, piano     Danny Vitale, bass     your host, drum set
My man comes home...  Again, the music brings us together and refreshens the friendships.  Mike Kelly is not only a guitar legend in his hometown of Rochester, and he is not only the first-call guitarist in all of Atlanta, he is my friend of 28 years.  And thanks to Ronnie Corsaro and all of the good people who organize and support the Lewiston Jazz Festival, we are bringing Mike home for a short but very special stay.  Try to be there by downbeat.  A mere 15 minutes after we start, we have the unenviable task of competing with Kurt Elling's appearance on the Main Stage.  The scheduling didn't work out for us on this one, but if you dig straight ahead and swinging, you may decide to divide your loyalties.
Sunday, 8/29 at the Niagara Arts & Cultural Center     6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Ron Corsaro & Friends
The Niagara Arts & Cultural Center is the former Niagara Falls High School.  Weather permitting, we're outside on the steps.  If rain threatens, we'll be in the auditorium.  After witnessing Ronnie's organizational chops at the Jazz Fest, come and hear both his arranging and pianistic chops at the NACC.
next Tuesday, 8/30 at the Iris Restaurant     7:30 - 10:30
Mike Kelly, guitar     Danny Vitale, bass     your host, drum set
upcoming at the Iris Restaurant...
Tuesday, 9/6 George Caldwell
Tuesday, 9/13 Tim Clarke & George Kane
Tuesday, 9/20 Bruce Johnstone
Tuesday, 9/27 Matt Michaud
Tuesday, 10/4 Phil DiRe
links...

First we make our habits, then our habits make us...
That which we think about, we do.  That which we do, we become.
 - Bernie Schallehn

Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
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Monday, August 15, 2011

Danny Hull Newsletter: Musically This Week Vol XIII, No 48


Hullo friends.  Laurie...
Tuesday, 8/16 at the Iris Restaurant
Laurie Bordonaro, vocals     Casey Filiaci, piano     Sabu Adeyola, bass     your host, drum set
Are you fortunate enough to know someone who is so fundamentally good within, that her capacity for confidence and joy is fully realized?  Laurie.  Do you know anyone who is so grateful for her family, her friends, and her health that her gratitude is sung in every lyric?  Laurie.  Who do you know, artist or otherwise, who emotes with such sincerity that the tears in her eyes become the tears in yours?  Laurie.  OK, so I love my friend.  But I'm not alone.  And if you know her, you do too.  You've heard her at the club before.  You've witnessed her energy and her esprit at the summer Art Gallery concerts.  Maybe you've taken the drive to Mayberry for the Russell Park concerts.  Her genuine, outgoing embrace for the music in her life and the people she loves knows no barrier between stage and audience.  She is a rare gift.  And we're sharing that gift this Tuesday.  Please join us, and know no bounds yourself.  We are now the Iris Restaurant, Maple & Sweet Home Roads in the Maple-Ridge Plaza.  Good music, good food, good people, chilled spirits, and this week?  A joyful hang.
next Tuesday, 8/23 at the Iris Restaurant
Pete Malinverni, piano     Jody Sandhaus, vocals     Cameron Kayne, bass     your host, drum set
upcoming at the Iris Restaurant...
Tuesday, 8/30 Mike Kelly
Tuesday, 9/13 Tim Clarke & George Kane
Tuesday, 9/20 Bruce Johnstone
Tuesday, 9/27 Matt Michaud
Tuesday, 10/4 Phil DiRe
links...

Comfort in your own skin...
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
 - Mahatma Gandhi

Health,
Hope,
Dialogue,
Respect,
Tolerance,
and Peace.
dan
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