A Night of Classic Jazz and Other Gems

Gems from the Great American Songbook, opera and operettas, and a few classic-jazz staples were in the splendid mix when The Midiri Brothers brought their quintet to Punta Gorda FL on Monday, March 13 for their first Charlotte County Jazz Society appearance.

The Midiri brothers

Paul and Joe Midiri have both serious chops and a love for the instrumental jazz tradition. Together, they imbued the music with a bright sound and connected with the audience through humorous, well-honed banter about their identical twinship.

The band this fine night included Paul - the older brother by one minute - on vibraphone, Joe on clarinet and saxophones, Jeff Phillips on piano, Jay Mueller on bass, and Patricia Dean on drums. It was night three of a brief Florida tour.

Joe Midiri

The brothers have a finely honed sound warmed by the collective brightness of their primary instruments. Paul's vibes style draws much from pioneers Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, while Joe's clarinet playing comes straight from the Benny Goodman approach. The pair hail from the Mid-Atlantic Region. They've been a hit at classic jazz festivals across the U.S. for more than 20 years.

Their interplay and the band's swinging tempos made for a joyous night as they coursed through an interesting range of Swing-era standards. "Always" and "Poor Butterfly" (inspired by Madame Butterfly) led into a burning version of "Lady Be Good." 

Jeff Phillips

Paul Midiri shifted with ease between two and four mallets depending whether he was featured on the melody or comping with chords behind his brother's solos. Joe switched to soprano sax for a beautiful take on "September Song," which featured an elegant yet understated piano solo from Phillips. 

Patricia Dean

Whether or not intentional, then came an interesting thematic grouping of songs with "You" in the title. 

Patricia Dean, a Southwest Florida double threat on drums and vocals, was featured on the Peggy Lee hit "I Don't Know Enough About You." Phillips provided the keyboard pyrotechnics on "Yours is My Heart Alone," a Franz Lehar gem from the 1929 German operetta The Land of Smiles. It was first recorded in the U.S by Bing Crosby and later was a mega-hit for Mario Lanza. The thematic cluster, and the first set, ended with the quintet's take on Eubie Blake's nostalgic classic "Memories of You," which was popularized by Goodman and Rosemary Clooney.

After intermission, The Midiri Brothers offered more treats from a wide range of sources. Fat's Waller's classic "Honeysuckle Rose" turned into an extended improvisational jaunt, particularly for clarinet, piano and vibes. Then came "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," Frank Sinatra's first hit  when he sang with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1940. Ol' Blue Eyes stayed with the band for three years before launching his solo career.

Paul Midiri, Jay Mueller

Dean was featured on no-theatrics vocals again on "This Can't Be Love," a Great American Songbook staple by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart from the Shakespeare-inspired Broadway musical "The Boys From Syracuse." 

The Midiri brothers

Joe Midiri's soprano sax artistry on the Sidney Bechet ballad "Si Tu Vois Ma Mere" (If You See My Mother) was poignant moment. Bechet wrote it in 1952 after moving to Paris. The song was popularized in Woody Allen's 2011 film Midnight in Paris.  

Joe then shared his lone vocal solo of the night, a Louis Armstrong-like take on "Pennies From Heaven." His Satchmo-like singing voice is uncanny, delivered in a reverential style that triggered much applause when he was done.

The quintet closed on another instrumental high note, roaring through "After You've Gone," a 1918 popular song whose early hit performers included Armstrong, Guy Lombardo and Rudy Vallee. While more than a century old, it still finds its way onto new recordings by young jazz musicians. A staple for sure. And still a crowd pleaser.

The CCJS concert was at the Military Heritage Museum's Gulf Theater.

Jeff Phillips, Paul Midiri, Jay Mueller, Joe Midiri, Patricia Dean

The other side of Marty Morell

Tampa-based Marty Morell is best known for his seven-year tenure as pianist Bill Evans' longest-serving drummer, from 1968 to 1975. He was in the house last season as the drummer in saxophonist Jeff Rupert's ensemble featuring singer Veronica Swift, but the Charlotte County Jazz Society's 2018-19 season finale on Monday, April 8 was the first local opportunity to hear him on vibes - and with a decidedly Latin flair.

Marty Morell

Morell came to Port Charlotte with the M&M Latin Jazz Ensemble, a septet that he co-leads with his wife, Michiko, a talented Japanese-born percussionist who also sings. On this night, she didn't sing nearly enough.

The percussion-rich ensemble also featured Rupert on tenor sax and flute, Richard Drexler on piano, Cuban-born Mauricio Rodriguez on bass, Omar Perdomo on congas and Dimas Sanchez on drums, the latter pair originally from Puerto Rico. Michiko played bongos and a gourd-like güiro, a Latin percussion staple that has exterior notches that when rubbed by a stick creates a ratchet sound.

Richard Drexler

Omar Perdomo, Mauricio Rodriguez

The band for the most part presented the cooler side of Latin jazz, with Morell's resonating and shimmering vibes riding over a poly-rhythmic cushion on tunes mostly from the Great American Songbook - or the mainstream jazz canon. They included "Night and Day," John Lewis's "Django" (from the Modern Jazz Quartet repertoire), "Midnight Sun," Mal Waldron's ballad "Soul Eyes" and Victor Young's "Delilah" from the movie score to "Samson and Delilah."

Highlights included:

• Morell's take on a Bill Evans arrangement of "Goodbye," a poignant Gordon Jenkins tune that became Benny Goodman's closing theme for his big band broadcasts.
• The band heating up on "The Day After Yesterday," one of two Morell originals shared this night with Rupert shifting to flute.
• The band's Latin take on Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood." Rupert turned in a superb tenor sax solo here as the band transformed this classic into something exotic.



Jeff Rupert, Michiko Morell

• Michiko's passionate vocals and güiro playing on the lone Latin tune in the program, the Cuban band Orquesta Aragon's classic "Son al Son." This gem also featured Rupert on flute. 

Vocals were featured only "Son al Son," which would have been far more effective had it been performed in the first set rather than after the intermission. The enthusiastic crowd response it drew also showed that there should have been more vocal numbers.

The ensemble only performed five tunes in each of the lengthy sets. As superb as the playing was, the extended solos given to each player in every arrangement slowed the evening considerably.

The concert drew a crowd of more than 300 to the Cultural Center of Charlotte County's William H. Wakeman III Theater.

Drexler, Rupert, Perdomo, Rodriguez, Michiko, Marty Morell, Sanchez

Warren Wolf brings great vibes to Naples

Warren Wolf

Vibes player Warren Wolf was the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra's special guest on Wednesday, March 28 in the sextet's 2017-18 concert series at Artis-Naples' Daniels Pavilion. His performance was an artful showcase of his instrument's wide range of shimmering possibilities - given the right hands and musical approach. The mallets were indeed in the right hands this fine night.

Wolf is blessed with a fertile musical mind and a mesmerizing technique. Indeed, he imbued each solo with something fresh and personal. The material included one original - "Soul Sister," which was so funky it sounded like something from Horace Silver, a wide range of classic bebop tunes, a bit of bossa nova and couple of classics from the Great American Songbook.

Spotlighting Naples-area jazz talent

Two Naples FL bandleaders brought their groups to Port Charlotte on Monday, April 11 to close the Charlotte County Jazz Society's 25th Anniversary Season with a double concert.

Jazz vibes player honors his masterful predecessors

Christian Tamburr

The way vibes player Christian Tamburr sees it, he honors his musical forebears every time he picks up his mallets. He paid homage Monday night, January 12, principally to Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson as part of the Charlotte County Jazz Society's Artist Series in Port Charlotte FL. "The music I play is influenced by all of these great players," Tamburr said, also noting Red Norvo, Cal Tjader and Gary Burton. 

Jazz from Naples hits Port Charlotte

"Sir John" Jeffrey

Monday night was Naples Night at the Charlotte Cultural Center as the Charlotte County Jazz Society wound down its 2012-13 concert season in strong fashion. The double bill featured two small groups that made the 70-mile trek north from Naples.

In walked Mike...

One of the cool things about a jam session is that you never know who may show up and enhance the proceedings - above and beyond the regulars. Such was the case last night at the South County Jazz Club's weekly jam at Allegro Bistro in Venice FL.


Goodman, Mainieri, Mancini, Hassan, Ellison

Mike Mainieri, a longtime fixture in jazz fusion and the New York and studio music scene, popped in - and ended up playing five tunes over the course of the three-hour jam. Between the two men, club fixture Jack Fanning’s vibes never had such an extensive workout at Allegro.

Tamburr & Co. bring fire and subtlety

Vibes player Christian Tamburr’s quintet, featuring trumpeter Dominick Farinacci, closed out a three-week, 5,000-mile tour up and down the East Coast last night in Port Charlotte FL as part of the Charlotte County Jazz Society’s Artist Series.

Extended solos and a blend of subtlety and fire were the order of the night for this band, which showed from the opening notes how much it enhances a band’s chemistry if the players work together for extended periods. The band also included pianist Scott Giddens, bassist Billy Thornton and drummer Justin Varnes.