Right around the corner from Rittenhouse Square, Jacobs Music Company is hosting a free, eight-hour marathon of live, jazz piano music on Friday, June 21st, from 11 am to 7 pm. The Philadelphia Jazz Project has lined up ten master pianists from our area who will perform throughout the day at the Jacobs Music store at 1718 Chestnut Street. WRTI is proud to be a media sponsor for JAZZ AT JACOBS - one of many programs taking place on Make Music Philly Day. Don't miss it!
Here's the schedule:
11 a.m.
Steve Rice is a pianist, composer and accordionist whose jazz compositions and recordings have been heard in many popular films and television shows including The Big Bang Theory, Smash, Revenge, Identity Thief, and Sparkle. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he’s proud to have received the “Oscar Peterson Award.” New to Philadelphia, he resides in Mt. Airy, but spent 25 years of his career in Seattle, where he toured and recorded with a large eclectic mix of jazz and world music groups including the Harry James Orchestra, the Mazeltones (Klezmer), Gary Gibson (calypso jazz fusion), Jean Jacques Perrey (electronica) and "Walk All Ways" (third stream). Steve's musical personality starts with Bebop, then veers thoughtfully and widely from that center.
Noon
Terry Klinefelter, a resident of Conshohocken, is an accomplished jazz and classical pianist. Her 2013 jazz release, Zingaro, remained on WRTI’s “Hot 11” countdown for two solid months, and reached #30 nationwide for jazz radio airplay. Her debut jazz trio recording, Simple Gifts, was described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “on the cosmic cusp where Mozart might meet Mingus.” She performs with orchestras (keyboardist with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra) and in jazz concert settings where she recently had the world premiere of Tarry Not, a solo piece written for her by David Bennett Thomas, and performs with crossover violinist Diane Monroe. Dr. Klinefelter is an assistant professor at West Chester University.
1 p.m.
Raymond A. King, a Philadelphia resident who lives in the Tioga/Nicetown section of the city, is a self-taught jazz pianist. He plays in an avant garde tradition but with a love of swing and bepop. He has been performing and composing for more than 40 years and is an underground legend in Los Angeles and his native Philadelphia. He has worked with saxophonist Sabir Mateen since the 1980s. King is also a visual artist who visits schools in Philadelphia to teach children about music and art.
2 p.m.
Ted Gerike, known as a Bebop Machine, lives in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. A beloved jazz pianist who played for 22 years at the Society Hill Hotel in Old City and plays regularly at Chris’ Jazz Café, can reel off Monk pieces from the best-known to the most obscure. He also has an encyclopedic knowledge of musicians and their stories and is nationally known for his work on the syndicated PBS series "The Furniture Guys"
3 p.m.
Suzzette Ortiz, a resident of Pennsauken, NJ, is a gifted pianist, signer, arranger and composer. After receiving her Bachelors degree in piano performance from the Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico, she received a Master of Music Education from Temple University and studied conducting at Juilliard and the University of the Arts. Traveling extensively nationally and internationally as a pianist and a choral conductor, she recorded with Philadelphia’s Orquesta La Paz and their album Déjà vu was nominated for four Latin Grammys. Suzzette’s newly released Latin jazz album, Renacer, not only portrays Latin jazz but world music, as well.
4 p.m.
Luke Carlos O’Reilly, a native of Colombia, who resides in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia and is one of the most in-demand jazz pianists in the area, is a jazz artist of eclectic styles combining his passion for Latin jazz with soul as well as the spoken word poetry. A Temple Univ. graduate in Piano Performance, he has performed with such jazz greats as Curtis Fuller, Dave Valentin, Red Halloway, Slide Hampton, Nicolas Payton, Bobby Watson, and Billy Paul. His first recording is 'Living In The Now' and he is currently working on his next studio album.
5 p.m.
Al Rinaldi, the Chairman and CEO of Jacobs Music Company, is an accomplished musician who plays the Midi-Accordion. He is pleased to be performing on his new, customized Musitech Midi-Accordion, the first of its kind in the world. Rinaldi is a jazz artist who performs frequently and has five CD’s including his latest “Ciao Bella,” which is Italian music in a Jazz style recorded with world-class instrumentalists and vocalists. As a businessman, he is a leader in the piano industry, honored to be presented the Steinway & Sons Lifetime Achievement Award, following only two other recipients in the company’s history– Van Cliburn and John Steinway. Rinaldi is thrilled to perform with Dom Cicchetti and Andy Lalasis at Jazz at Jacobs.
5 p.m.
Domenic Cicchetti is such an accomplished pianist that he has performed with some of the most famous singers of all time including Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Charles Aznavour, Marvin Hamlisch, Michael Feinstein, Vic Damone, Sammy Davis Jr., Meatloaf and Blood, Sweat and Tears in venues including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the White House and the London Palladium. He has recorded primarily jazz and pop standards and his TV and film projects include music production for NBC Sports, All My Children and the popular Robert DeNiro film, A Bronx Tale.
5 p.m.
Andy Lalasis is a highly respect bassist who is frequently sought-after on an international basis. He has performed with many major headliners at the Golden Nugget Hotel from Ann Hampton Calloway, Keely Smith , Joanie Sommers to Billy Eckstine, Billy Daniels and a frequent visitor – Francis Albert Sinatra! Andy has been a member of the famed Ed Vezhino & Jim Ward Big Band for 10 years. In 2011 he released his first solo CD of original compositions titled Fret Not. Andy's unique sound on either upright or electric bass makes him the consummate bass player of choice for artists everywhere.
6 p.m.
Farid Barron, a Germantown area resident, is currently the pianist with the Sun Ra Arkestra. He was the house pianist at Ortleibs Jazz Haus early in his career, he has since been a member of the acclaimed Wynton Marsalis Septet and the renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He has performed at the Grammy Awards and at the White House and is proud to have played with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, James Moody, and Mickey Roker among others.