Mike Binsky presented many of his Jazz Artists Management concerts at An die Musik Live and was an avid supporter of our venue. A portion of the concert revenue will be donated to America Cancer Society in memory of Michael Binsky.
Tickets: $20 in advance/$23 at door/$10 full-time student with ID
Mike Binsky, Authentic Jazz Champion
By Gail Marten, BJA Newsletter, June 2017
If youâre a Baltimore jazz musician or devotee, you undoubtedly know the name Mike Binsky, owner of Jazz Artists Management. The enthusiastic jazz promoter brought the best of the best to our city for decades. ...
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Mike Binsky presented many of his Jazz Artists Management concerts at An die Musik Live and was an avid supporter of our venue. A portion of the concert revenue will be donated to America Cancer Society in memory of Michael Binsky.
Tickets: $20 in advance/$23 at door/$10 full-time student with ID
Mike Binsky, Authentic Jazz Champion
By Gail Marten, BJA Newsletter, June 2017
If youâre a Baltimore jazz musician or devotee, you undoubtedly know the name Mike Binsky, owner of Jazz Artists Management. The enthusiastic jazz promoter brought the best of the best to our city for decades.Â
Michael Robert Binsky, a true jazz warrior, passed away on April 18th. He had been a merchant seaman for 40 years, but music was his passion. He managed The Bandstand (owned by Shelton Oshinsky) from 1978 to 1981. Although the club on Fleet Street in Fells Point wasnât much to look at, it was a magnet for musicians and jazz fans due to the nationally known artists who performed there, often with a local rhythm section made up of pianist Reuben Brown, bassist Steve Novosel and drummer Hugh Walker. As a new arrival to Baltimore in the late â70s, I had the opportunity to hear Art Pepper on one occasion and Houston Person with Etta Jones on another. Jazz luminaries played memorable dates in The Bandstandâs laid-back ambience that kept fans coming back again and again.Â
Many jazz celebrities dropped in at The Bandstand, including Dizzy Gillespie, Earl âFathaâ Hines, Sam Jones, Jimmy Forrest, Al Grey, Monty Alexander, Eddie Harris, Freddie Hubbard, John Hicks, Tommy Turrentine, Willis Conover (Voice of America) as well as Al Pacino and other cast members of the film . . . And Justice for All.Â
The great musicians based in the Baltimore/DC area who graced the stage at The Bandstand and contributed to its unique aura included Reggie Johnson, George âDudeâ Brown, Marc Copeland, Tommy Cecil, Dave Wondrow, Charles Covington, Gus Sims, Don Walters, Terry Plumeri, Keith Kilgo, Bernard Sweetney, Joe Clark, Phil Harris, Mickey Fields, Billy Murphy, J.J. Wiggins, Arnold Sterling, Andy Ennis and Whit Williams.Â
Mike also booked many jazz greats for Baltimoreâs Artscape, and he and his wife Ruth have been a significant part of the Baltimore jazz scene for many years. In days of yore they sponsored annual bus trips to regional jazz festivals and were regularly seen at the Left Bank Jazz Society Sunday concerts at The Famous Ballroom. He was a contributor to the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz for many years.
In 2005, Mike retired from the Sailors Union of the Pacific and began promoting jazz in venues around the city. In recent years he brought jazz giants Louis Hayes, Larry Willis, Houston Person, Steve Davis, Hugh Masekela, Richie Cole, Ethel Ennis, Charles McPherson, Ira Sullivan, Johnny OâNeal, Steve Turre, Albert âTootieâ Heath and many other jazz notables to the Eubie Blake Cultural Center, Caton Castle, An die Musik and other Baltimore jazz venues.
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