Dave Spitzer, keyboard, guitar, and vocals, Bill Logozzo
percussion and vocals, Sal Basile guitar, keyboard and vocals.
Triple Play recreates classic rock of the 50's and 60's as close
as the original arrangements are remembered; Bill's idea of getting
the 1960's Flower Children (who are now turning sixty) into re-living Woodstock. It was appropriately held
outdoors by the MountainRidge Resort pool, where several folks were enjoying a
relaxing, cooling swim.
Forty years later, they still have persistence and tenacity, gyrating to Traveling Man, Follow Me - they couldn't sit
still to this music. Shari joined on the sideline
with a tambourine for Neil Diamond's Cherry, Cherry, and
the Eagles' Love Will Keep Us Alive. She distributed
other instruments to members of the audience for
the 1957 Killer - Great Balls of Fire. It felt like the 60's all over again.
Then Bill moved to a softer, slower, Latin beat for
Dust in the Wind. He was intently watching a Praying Mantis that had jumped into his
drum pit, and was reluctantly bouncing every time Bill hit a beat.
(Shari is an avid Animal Activist - if she finds an ant in the
house, she will pick it up and carry it outside.) Bill had a choice
of stopping in the middle of the tune to remove the bug, or being very gentle with
his drum beats. He tenderly finished the song, Shari rescued the
Mantis from the drum and released it in a nearby
bush, where it quickly leaped away. Good jazz
musicians are clever improvisors!
We all returned to the 60's, with everybody singing along -
Hello, Mary Lou. Sal had The Righteous Brothers Unchained
Melody all to himself, with melancholy falsetto - this is a
difficult song. Finally, one we could all
appreciate - Sal
traded places with Dave on vibes for a great rendition of Mr. Bojangles. Three notes were all it took
for the audience to sing along with You
Belong To Me, and Some Kind of Wonderful (My baby, she's alright, My
baby, she's clean out-of-sight, Don't you know that she is.... Some Kind
of Wonderful. ) They were all teenagers again. Those of us here
who were listening to music on the radio in the 30's and 40's could relate.
That's what our music does to us too.
Note: Bill also leads the Heartbeat Dixieland Jazz Band
currently playing a fun luncheon every Wednesday 11:30am-1pm at the
Yankee Clipper Restaurant,
157 West Main Street, Niantic, CT, usually with Noel
Kaletsky, Bill Logozzo, Art Hovey, Fred Vigorito, Bill Sinclair, and
special guest trombonist/vocalist Skip Hughes.
This is as hot as it gets folks!
Take exit 72 off of I-95 (the Rocky Neck exit), take a left at the end of the
exit and the Yankee Clipper is about a mile down on the left.
(860-739-9634)
The 2010 Great CT Jazz Festival will be
July 30 - August 1 at the
Sheraton Four Points Hotel, located at
275 Research Parkway
in Meriden, just a few miles north of Mountain Ridge.
There will be several indoor and outdoor venues.
Full weekend passes are now available;
call 1-800-468-3836 (1-800-Hot Event) to get yours now!
To Sponsor a band next year, see
http://greatctjazz.org/Sponsor.html
