By Gregory Burrus | Posted Wednesday, December 15, 2021

The South Orange 24 Hours of Music Jamboree started in 2017 as a local live music event, where the musicians performed on multiple local stages, year after year for 3 years in our neighborhood parks, stores, and gazebos. However, in our new pandemic world in 2020, we all had to adjust in many unexpected ways. The COVID-19 pandemic drove many industries to instantly shut down. Borders, race politics, it did not matter.

We were faced with a new world and understanding that to resolve this problem we needed to know that “we were and still are all in this together“. Hence, the 24 Hours of Music Jamboree had no choice but to adapt and evolve with the times. In 2020, we adapted the event to be totally online. And we had a great time.

The great thing we learned is that live music is universal and musicians can play with each other from all over the world. We evolved this year's performance program to meet the lingering needs of a global pandemic, ongoing social distancing, and sporadic worldwide travel restrictions.

Making It All Happen

Additional adjustments were needed this season as we had scheduled a full-day tribute to one of our fallen musicians, bass player Darryl Clark. We kicked off the Darryl Clark Tribute in July, but we ran into some extremely uncooperative weather. Hence, we had to reschedule this event before the end of the Summer Saturdays season. Addressing the above issues of travel restriction, rescheduling, budget restrictions, lingering social distance issues, etc., we turned this year's 24 Hours of Music Jamboree into a hybrid affair of online and offline performances. While not continuous due to pandemic restrictions, we used a single venue flow for all performances, therefore turning the 24 Hours of Music Jamboree into 36 hours of music over the weekend.

Set 1: Saturday, 10 AM - 10 PM

Planning was done in time to enjoy 3 sets of live music performances. The weekend was divided up between 12 hours live on Saturday, 12 hours overnight, and an 11-hour in-person Tribute on Sunday. Now, let's take a walk through a wonderful day of live music, jazz, R&B, and a DJ Dance party.

Baker Street Duo with Alex Desrivieres and Senia Raines

The Baker Street Trio, featuring Ben Collins-Siegel on keys, Ben Schwartz on drums, Alex Desrivieres on Sax, and Sen Raines on Bass kicked off the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Music Jamboree. The music at 10 AM was wonderful and a great way to start the day. You can read more about these youngsters here:

Matt Chertkoff Trio featuring Houston Person, Vince Ector, and Matthew Parish

This was an off-the-chain performance at the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Music Jamboree. Thank you to the phenomenal Matt Chertkoff Trio performance with Houston Person on Sax, Vince Ector on Drums, and Matthew Parrish on Bass. The noon to 2 PM performance was a jazz performance that will be remembered for a long time. Read more about Matt Chertkoff Trio feat. Legendary Saxophonist Houston Person.

Leonieke Scheuble Quartet

Thank you to the fabulous Leonieke Scheuble Quartet for joining us in the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Music Jamboree. The music performed by Nick Scheuble on Drums, Chuggy Carter on Percussion, and Leonieke Scheuble on Keys, with the legendary bassman Bill Crow, was swinging and just beautiful to listen to and the audience loved it all.

Learn more: Exciting Rising Pianist Leonieke Scheuble Leads Her "Jazz Across The Generations Trio" for Jazz Appreciation Month 2021.

Kumiko Tanaka

As you can see, the Kumiko Tanaka Trio’s performance was absolutely wonderful. Loving this performance and knowing that folks in Japan faced a lot of the same pandemic challenges we do in performing live music, I requested some background. I asked Kumiko about how they prepared, how they felt about their performance, and how it was received by their audience in Japan.

MPack Music

Thank you to MPack Band for kicking off the dancing Sounds In Spiotta Park for the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Music Jamboree. The band consisted of Kev Moore (Natz) on Drums, Larry Greenberg on Keys, Kenny Robinson on Guitar, with Patricia Walton on Vocals, led by Clarence Conover on Guitar and Vocals. We switched over to R&B, and folks started moving to the beat with their feet as all entered into jamming and dancing part of the weekend. The audience loved it.

MPack is the musical brainchild of bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and vocalist Clarence 'Groove Master' Conover. He’s the founder, leader, and vocalist of the Clarence Conover Project, the MPack Band, and the Founder and CEO of M-Pack Music Productions, whose motto is “Life Changing Sounds.” He released his first CD, My Time, in 2014.

New Jersey DJ Services LLC w DJ Jimmy

Thank you to New Jersey DJ Services LLC and their killer sound system for rocking Spiotta Park in the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Music Jamboree. The music played by DJ James Buttros was swinging and got folks up on their feet dancing the rest of the night. It was a perfect way to end 13 hours of live music in South Orange Downtown Summer Saturdays.

Watch: https://www.facebook.com/gregory.burrus/videos/410486934031777/

“New Jersey DJ service is a DJ, entertainment, and party rental services. Party Rental includes bouncy houses, game trailers, etc.. We've been in business for over 25 years and our rates are best in the business.” https://www.facebook.com/newjerseydjservices

Set 2: Saturday, 11 PM to Sunday, 12 PM

Set 2 was reflective of last year, 2020, which was all online. Pre-recorded performances were played throughout the night.

Set 3: Sunday, 10 AM - 10 PM — Darryl Clark Tribute

As mentioned above, thanks to the Town of South Orange and South Orange Downtown, we were able to use the final weekend of the Summer Saturdays Live Music Season. The third part of this hybrid weekend was an in-person 3rd set of all-day music on Sunday 9/26. Here's a short snippet:

You can review and listen to the full Sunday tribute here:

Darryl Clark Tribute in the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Music Jamboree

It’s been a lot of fun every year since the beginning. Hopefully, we see you next year. For now, enjoy some of the good times above and below that went from in-person to totally online, and now back to hybrid events.

Enjoy Past 24 Hours of Music Jamboree Experiences:

Hopefully, you enjoyed this video walk-through. Talk soon.

About the Author

Gregory Burrus books bands and produces, promotes, captures, and records live music events along with various community and private activities.

My mission is to help my customers, which are community groups, live music bands, and local nonprofits, reach their goals and accomplish their missions while enjoying the day-to-day process of life.

Learn more at https://24hoursofmusicjamboree.com and https://gregoryburrusproductions.com

By Gregory Burrus | Posted Saturday, April 17, 2021

Jazz Appreciation Month 2021

April is Jazz Appreciation Month and for 2021 it's about Women’s Impact and Contributions in Jazz. Along with that, the industry has decided to feature on this year’s official 2021 poster pianist, singer, songwriter, storyteller and civil rights activist Nina Simone, who was born in 1933. Nina Simone became enamored with music at the early age of three when she learned to play the piano by ear. Throughout the years Simone received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 and was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Nina has had a very interesting career and to learn more about Nina Simone, visit ninasimone.com.

The Fox and Falcon Restaurant

As previously mentioned we are honoring Jazz Appreciation Month here in South Orange with a series of events at the Fox and Falcon restaurant. According to NJ Monthly, "The Fox & Falcon is Part Trattoria, Bistro and Pub and Totally Awesome. The South Orange restaurant and bar is worth the trip for its seasonally inspired menu and signature cocktails."

It also has some great live music events and now for jazz lovers, these Jazz Appreciation Month events are being sponsored by Gregory Burrus Productions in recognition of the significant contribution that jazz music has made to our area and also pay tribute to jazz for its historic and cultural significance.

Jazzy Afternoons Interviews

In getting ready for this event, we conducted an interview with moderator and vocalist Lynette Sheard, band leader Leonieke Scheuble and drummer Nick Scheuble. They spoke on many subjects as the Leonieke Scheuble Jazz trio has members that were born across the generations from the 1920s through to the 2000s. Take a listen and you will hear and see how they have performed, in all the decades since the 50's till today. This also means all those jazz influences are ingrained within their performances whenever they perform. Let's learn a little more about the band.

Pianist Leonieke Scheuble

Nina Simone learned to play music by ear, which is not normally accepted, and Nina did not let that hold her back. Our Jazz Across the Generations bandleader is Leonieke Scheuble who did not formally learn to play music. As her dad recounted, Leonieke (phonetically pronounced "lay-o-nee-ka") Scheuble started to play piano after being inspired by "Ray," a movie based on the life of Ray Charles. Without any prior musical training, she began to spend great lengths of time at the piano creating pieces that were rhythmically interesting and compositionally balanced. She was 5 or 6.

As she said within her "No Boundaries” TEDx Talk when she was 13 and Bill Crow was 88, Jazz is her classroom and the learning as you go process is what makes Jazz so special and you learn in the moment. Take a listen. It’s very enlightening, informative and has a wonderful piano performance. The bottom line is Leonieke encourages children and adults alike to think, dream, and achieve without boundaries.

Leonieke was honored to be selected by Carnegie Hall/Weill Music Institute as as alternate musician for their 2018 NYO JAZZ season. She can been seen performing regularly as a featured artist or leading her trio at many of New York and New Jersey's finest Jazz venues.

Drummer, Percussionist Nick Scheuble

In the middle of the Generations of Jazz band is the proud dad and musician, drummer Nick Scheuble. Nick Scheuble (b. 1960s) is a very versatile, progressive, in demand Jazz drummer and Latin percussionist. Like me, Nick was born in the Bronx and his career has enabled him to perform in many noted venues throughout America, and in his earlier years Nick performed extensively in Europe and alternated residence between the US and the Netherlands. And of course, as mentioned in the interview above, we were honored to have him as a performer a number of times in our South Orange Downtown After Sundown live music concert series, as pictured above.

In addition to running his own very successful bands for a number of years and, as bandleader, his bands have earned considerable praise from several noted Jazz critics. Nick has performed and/or recorded with jazz luminaries such as Wynton Marsalis, Ray Barretto, Dave Valentin, Chico Mendoza, Peter Bernstein, Bill Crow, Vince Giordano, Mike LeDonne, Wycliffe Gordon, Don Braden and Eric Alexander, to name a few.

Legendary Bassist Bill Crow

Bill Crow (b. 1920s) is a funny, affable and storytelling type guy. We are lucky because he distributes history across the generations in a way that makes it real and seeable. In doing research for this article, I came across this Jazz Loft Project's oral history produced by The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University on legendary bassist Bill Crow. Take a listen.

Crow was the long-term bassist in saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's bands in the 1950s and 1960s. He was in one of the house bands at the Playboy Club in New York and also worked in theater orchestras for Broadway shows where he sometimes played tuba. His career has taken him all over the world, and he has has rubbed elbows with such luminaries as Gerry Mulligan, Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, JJ Johnson, Benny Goodman, Milt Jackson, Duke Ellington and many more. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Crow)

Bill has captured his wonderful life, as he has authored two books that he believes you will like called Jazz Anecdotes: Second Time Around (published by Oxford University Press in 1990 and in paperback in 1991) and a second book called From Birdland to Broadway: Scenes from a Jazz Life (published by Oxford University Press in 1992 and in paperback in 1993).

I will be booking Leonieke Scheuble Bands throughout the upcoming outdoor season as we all try to find a new normal in this COVID Pandemic-driven world. There is no doubt that these guys love to play, as throughout the pandemic they held sessions in their backyard where musicians came to play, and as Nick Scheuble said, it turned in to a "hang." Leonieke is just entering Manhattan School of Music, and she has one awesome career in front of her.

You can find more about the Trio at:

http://www.billcrowbass.com/
https://www.nickscheuble.com/
http://www.leoniekescheuble.com/

About the Author

I have been watching, booking and promoting Leonieke Scheuble bands for a number of years. Above was another fabulous concert at Rutgers University Clements Place Jazz location, and it was once again one awesome swinging event. The audience absolute… — I have been watching, booking and promoting Leonieke Scheuble bands for a number of years. Above was another fabulous concert at Rutgers University Clements Place Jazz location, and it was once again one awesome swinging event. The audience absolutely lived it and some have been following her events all over Essex County after that performance.

Gregory Burrus curates and manages the South Orange Village Center Alliance's Summer Saturdays Live Music Concerts. This SOMA resident arrived in South Orange 23 years ago and just loves South Orange, NJ. Gregory enjoys all music genres, but his first love of jazz began as a boy when his mother and father played jazz on the good old record player at home and took him to clubs all over Manhattan. Gregory is putting his expertise and knowledge gained from his former business environment to work producing music, art and community events across South Orange, Maplewood, Newark and other towns around the JerseyNYC area.