Time to start off the New Year with something new in your life!!
Please join us this Sunday evening, January 6th, at 7:30 PM for January Jazz Vespers at Pleasantdale Church.
Jazz Vespers combines the age-old tradition of evening meditation with the unique musical language of jazz. It includes contemporary prose, poetry, sometimes even a joke or two and some truly outstanding music performed by an amazing group of internationally recognized jazz musicians.
January’s Jazz Vespers will be led by Todd Shumpert. We are pleased to welcome back band leader Dave Rimelis on guitar and violin, Ted Brancato on keyboard and Dave Longworth on drums. We look forward to meeting our featured musician Mike Lee on saxophone. We hope to see you there!
Jazz Vespers is held in the main building at Pleasantdale Church, 471 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange. The building is fully accessible.
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About our January musicians:
Dave Rimelis (Bandleader and Guitar / Banjo / Violin) – Dave Rimelis’ music has been performed by orchestras internationally, including the Boston Pops, National Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Western Australia Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. He has been a featured artist with the Colorado Symphony, Eugene Oregon Symphony, Waco Texas Symphony, Concordia Orchestra, Plainfield New Jersey Symphony, The Cascade Festival of Music Orchestra, the New Sussex Symphony, the New Jersey Pops, the Oregon Festival of American Music Orchestra, and the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra.
Dave is artist-in-residence for the New Jersey State Council on The Arts and teaching artist for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. He is also Director of Music Education for the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children in Newark. He served as composer-in-residence for the Concordia Orchestra in New York City from 1990 - 2002. His music is featured in the film about violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg “Speaking in Strings”, PBS and New Jersey Network documentaries “Summer Camp”, “It’s Red It’s Edible It Bounces”, the Mo Willems cartoon “The Man Who Yelled,” and the feature film “She Devil.”.
National Television appearances as featured musician include “Emeril Live” (improvising original music as “Dr Strings), CBS’s “The Guiding Light” (fiddler and country band leader), and NBC’s “Four Stories” (volunteer music teacher to HIV affected children). As a guitarist and violinist, Dave has toured the United States, South America, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East. His unique charanga violin style has been featured with many prominent Latin ensembles, including Jose Fajardo, Johnny Pacheco, Roberto Torres, Orchestra Broadway, and Africando. Rimelis is the founder and leader of the band “Life,” which performs original world jazz. The son of country western singer “Idaho Ed,” Dave was raised on American folk and popular music; he has won prizes in a number of regional fiddle contests. And . . . Dave is a music teacher at Liberty Middle School in West Orange!
Ted Brancato (Piano / Keyboards) – Originally hailing from Washington State, Ted has worked as a freelance musician, arranger, composer, musical director, professional transcriber and sound engineer. He has recorded several albums and toured to Asia, South America and Europe with vocalist Jeanie Bryson. For the past ten years, he has served as the Music Director/Arranger for Hunterdon Hills Playhouse. In 2009, he opened a recording studio, Mahogany Studio, with the goal of capturing the full warmth and depth of acoustic instruments and voices. Since opening, the studio has catered to folk, country, classical and jazz artists. The studio’s first full album, completed in September 2010, was Mark Pearson’s “Following the Light.” He is currently working on another album project for vocalist Mari Green. Both projects have utilized Ted’s many talents as owner and engineer. He is also in the process of mixing an album of his own jazz compositions featuring bassist Ron Carter. The album is expected to be released in the Spring of 2013.
David Longworth (Drums/Percussion) - From CBGB to Carnegie Hall, David Longworth brings over 30 years of performing experience to our Jazz Vespers. He has toured internationally with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Ben E. King, and Phoebe Snow. He has performed with Bruce Springsteen, Jon BonJovi, Michael McDonald, and countless R&B acts. He has worked Off-Broadway in 'Lone Star Love', featuring the Tony award winning "Red Clay Ramblers', 'Almost Heaven', the John Denver musical, and more recently, 'Godspell' at Bergen Community College. He has been a member of LaBamba and the Hubcaps for over 25 years, featuring the horn players from the Conan O'Brien Show.
Mike Lee (Saxophone) – Mike Lee’s musical career has taken him many places musically and geographically. From the mid to late 80’s he resided in Brooklyn, where he developed his musical concepts with many associates and mentors. This period of creative inspiration was highlighted by his lessons with Joe Lovano and his musical collaborations with his then roommate, Dave Douglas.
Inspired by the wealth of information these associations gave him, he returned to Cleveland to assimilate this material. This was a productive time musically. Along with constant practicing this period was punctuated by gigs with Marcus Belgrave, Bobby Watson, Geri Allen, Joe Lovano, Rosemary Clooney, Marlon Jordan, Johnny Coles and touring as a member of Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd.
In 1993 Lee resumed residency in New York City and flourished on the jazz scene playing on numerous occasions with the Village Vanguard Orchestra (formerly the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra), the Maria Schneider Orchestra (with whom he was featured in Maria’s CNN profile) and the Bill Mobley Big Band with which he performed and recorded alongside acclaimed pianists James Williams, Harold Mabern and Mulgrew Miller. He has appeared around town with small groups which include New York musicians such as guitarists John Hart and Ron Affif, bassist Ron McClure and drummer Elliot Zigmund.
Two of Mike’s compositions were selected among the top five in the 1997 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and BMI International Jazz Composers Competition. He was a member of Joe Lovano’s “Celebrating Sinatra” touring ensemble. His critically acclaimed CD, Above the Battleground, Consolidated Artists Productions (CAP), featuring Tim Hagans on trumpet, Tim Horner on drums, Matt Ray on piano and Ben Allison on bass was released in 1998. My Backyard (Omnitone) released in 2000. Both albums receive very high praise from trade publications.
Beginning in the late 90’s, Mike became a very in-demand Jazz Educator and guest soloist. He has toured the United States and Europe since then, performing with local rhythm sections and presenting clinics at over 100 universities and schools.
The past few years have found Mike continuing his musical pursuits while raising a family and digging deep roots in the Northern New Jersey/New York jazz community. His musical associations have flourished while interacting with other jazz musicians residing in the area. Musical encounters with Bruce Williams, Cecil Brooks III, T.S. Monk, Billy Hart, Andy McKee, Geri Allen and Christian McBride have made this a satisfying period in his musical development.
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