St. Thomas's Day
School, New Haven, Connecticut / Created by Craig
S. O'Connell
Jazz is America's classical music!
Our
Jazz Club pages:
The
Concerts / Suggested Jazz CDs / Ed
German Art Show / Jazz
In The Classroom /Jazz Resources
/ Jazz Books
For Kids / K4 Jazz Poetry
Project / FirstGradeJazz.com
Jazz 2010
- 2011
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Rudeyna Babouder engages children in scat while
the quartet swings in the background.
September 3, 2010.
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The George Lesiw Band played Valentine's
Day demonstrating the instrumentation and historical forms of jazz.
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Karl Testa (left) and Louis
Guarino (right) play
a 40 minute set of experimental sounds for the first grade class.
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Arts
Week 2010
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Baba Coleman |
Arti Dixson Quartet |
Learning to Scat! |
Andrew Barnett Trio |
Click on the thumbnails to see the larger images.
Greg
Abate Quartet Performance - December 3, 2009
The
Greg Abate Quartet performing at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church on December
3, 2009. This was an education
in the
music of jazz bebop with tunes drawing from the best of Thelonious Monk and
Charlie Parker. The music was
straight
ahead and it really swung.
Left to right: Kent Hewitt (piano), Greg Abate (sax),
Phil Bowler (bass) and Ben Bilello (drums). Photos by Craig S. O'Connell
Click on the photos above to see the larger images.
School Wide Trip
to the Jazz Standard / Blue Smoke October 18, 2009
This was our 6th
annual trip to this first class jazz club/barbecue restaurant in New York
City. Photo
by Pradeep Varma.
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The
Mark Whitfield Trio on March 4, 2009. |
Giacomo
Gates Trio on February 20, 2009. |
OCTOBER
19, 2008
On October 19,
2008 about 70 parents, grandparents and children drove or trained
into New York City for our fourth annual trip to the Jazz Standard jazz club
/ Blue Smoke Restaurant
for a fabulous afternoon of family dining and great jazz played by the area's
best young musicians.
Click on the thumbnails above to see the larger images.
Photo credit: Frank Stewart. |
Giacomo Gates in Concert
Jazz vocalist Giacomo Gates was the
highlight of this year's fund raising event at St. Thomas's on Saturday,
May 3, 2008. Gates, no stranger to the school, was enthusiastically
received by the 150+ attendees.
Mr. Gates dazzled the audience with a variety of
tunes off his four CDs including "Route 66", "I'm A
Hungry Man," "Melodious Funk," "Epistrophy"
and "You Go To My Head." His style revives a genre of jazz
known as "vocalese," the art of putting vocals to horn solos.
Indeed, at one point Mr. Gates used his voice to represent the sounds
of both flute and trombone. Vocalese, originally made popular by jazz
greats Jon Hendricks and Eddie Jefferson, is being revived by Mr.
Gates and another well known performer, Mark Murphy.
Having traveled the Globe and made appearances at
some of America's top jazz clubs (Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola,
Lenox Lounge, Zanzibar Blue among others) Gates was recently voted
as one of the top jazz vocalists in the world, ranking number 7 with
Tony Bennett heading up that list.
Appearing with Gates was the accomplished jazz bassist
Jeff Fuller and pianist Kent Hewitt. The trio received a standing
ovation at the end of their two set performance. The first set was
also filmed live for Comcast Cable TV's program "Bourbon Street."
The jazz event was accompanied by a live and silent auction.
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BRIAN BUTLER GROUP HEADLINES AT ST.
T's
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Guitarist John Judd, Bassist Jim
Tutunjian, Drummer Brian Butler and Saxophonist Joe Cutrone. |
Guest vocalist Synia Carroll backed
by Guitarist John Judd. |
On Thursday, February 14, 2008 St. Thomas's Day School played host to the
Brian Butler Band. The concert, an hour long live performance, featured
the music of Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk among other jazz notables.
The band led off with two by Miiles Davis: "So What" and "All
Blues" and followed up with the standard "Autumn Leaves."
Synia Carroll then delivered an outstanding rendition of "'Round Midnight,"
one of the most beautiful jazz songs ever written (composed by Thelonious
Monk when he was 19 years old and originally titled "Grand Finale")
and then went into an Ella Fitzgerald classic "How High The Moon."
The band followed with Monk's "Straight No Chaser," featuring
some fine solo licks by each of the band members. They closed out with a
Miss Carroll crooning to the Harold Arlen hit "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
and a Charlie Parker favorite "I've Got Rhythm."
The concert was fully sponsored by the Jazz Club.
Click on the thumnbnails above to view the larger images.
All photos by Craig
S. O'Connell
TRIP TO THE JAZZ STANDARD / BLUE
SMOKE IN NEW YORK CITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2007
On Sunday, October 21, 2007 about 75 St. Thomas's children,
parents, grandparents and staff met at the Jazz Standard club on 27th Street
in New York City for an afternoon of barbecue food and live jazz provided
by the club's own band of young, mostly high school age musicians. The Jazz
Standard is part of the restaurant Blue Smoke, rated one of the top barbecue
eateries in all of NYC. This was the third year in a row that a group from
St. Thomas's has made this trip.
Click on the thumbnails above to view the
larger images./ Many thanks to parent Laura Grosso for coordinating this event.
All photos by Craig S. O'Connell
Click Here for more information.
2007 JAZZ / ART SHOW
Check out the 2006 art show - CLICK
HERE
Ed German, artist, with world famous jazz vocalist Giacomo Gates.
Proceeds from the sale of Mr. German's jazz portraits have helped the St.
Thomas's Jazz Club sponsor jazz events for the children at the school.
from the 2nd Annual Ed German
Jazz Art Show Reception - Caffe Adulis,
228 College St., downtown New Haven, CT.
Jazz pianist Horace Silver, pastel on paper, dimensions: 19 1/2"
x 25 1/2" by Ed German
The reception for the Ed German Art Show at Caffe Adulis in downtown New
Haven drew a crowd of over 200 people from the school and the local community.
Here are some photos documenting the event. 24 pastel portraits of jazz and
R&B musicians were on display for this event and throughout the month
of May.
Click on the thumnbnails above
to view the larger images. All
photos by Jack Benas.
Check out the 2006 art show - CLICK
HERE
Inspired by the work of artist Romare Bearden, first graders display their
jazz collage work on a corridor bulletin board.
"Jazz Club" by Olivia, first
grader
Dizzy, Monk, Charlie too
Playing the blues to their shoes
are the cat's meow
Playing at the Jazz Club
Like their hearts depended on it.
Wow!
Return to St. Thomas's Day School Homepage
/ Return to First Grade Jazz
page created by Craig
S. O'Connell
