It's happenin'! The orrsome Phil Orr and I will be performing at the totally awesome Princeton Public Library, Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3pm in the community room.
We'll be serving up fresh, original melodies made buoyant by Phil's grooves in styles ranging from samba to swing, tango to funk. We tend to make it fun and engaging.Sustainable Jazz Ensemble
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Sustainable Jazz Duo Plays the Princeton Public Library - Dec. 8, 3pm
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Upcoming Performances
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Lunars Play Sounds of the Zoo
Sunday, September 1, 2024
A Review of Our Lunar Quartet
Thanks to Joe George of Harrison Township, Michigan, for his facebook review of my compositions. At the Harrison Speakeasy, just north of Detroit, we combined repertoire from the Lunar Octet and Sustainable Jazz and played it all as a quartet, with Keaton Royer, Jeff Dalton, and Jon Krosnick on piano, bass, and drums. This was the first time my music had ever been performed with a quartet. Very rewarding.
"I couldn't help but identify with the music. I never heard a lick of it before, but it still had the familiar sounds of recognizable modern jazz classics like you might hear from Chick Corea or Gino Vannelli. It was absolutely brilliant. The drummer led the band, but each composition was written by Steve Hiltner, who played a mean saxophone, and he wrote the charts for every instrument.
This band wasn't just good, they were NATIONWIDE. Steve is from New Jersey, the bassist hailed from Michigan but of late lives in the Florida Keys. One of the guys lives in California, and the last was from BFE or some such thing. But what great music! It was a real showcase for talent, great writing, and dedication like nobody's business. I'm grateful for the fabulous show and an impressive booking.
People have no idea what went on. And the people that do know seem kinda casual about it. But I know what went on and it blows my mind. To begin with, writing music takes talent. Transcribing music takes hard work and dedication. But writing music for all the musical parts and transcribing all those parts, and then having it all performed together like a Symphony.....and then have us dancing in the aisles because it swings like Ellington, well that's coooool! Like having Mozart hanging around your local tavern."
The never before heard combined with the never before seen. The Harrison Speakeasy has a deep sea diving theme meant to evoke prohibition days, an idiosyncratic patio with swings for chairs, an outdoor game I'll call "kickpool," and a post-gig photo op. Sometimes a creative, "never before" setting can make you feel at home.
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Touring California and Michigan With the Lunar Octet
Among the hightlights thus far is the Cameo Theater in St. Helena, with a great audience and standing ovation.
We've been lucky with the weather, with outdoor gigs at Mission College,
and another big crowd at Portola Vineyard.
The backdrop for a performance at Las Positas was a beautiful vineyard and tawny hillsides.
Friday, July 5, 2024
July 12: Sustainable Jazz Returns to Salon 33
The fabulous Phil Orr and I will be back at Salon 33 in West Windsor on Friday, July 12, playing original latin and jazz.
Potluck starts at 7, followed by the performance 8-10. This is a donation-based event. Go to this link to register, and to receive location info.Saturday, May 18, 2024
Lunar Octet at Rancho Tranquilico, Friday, May 24
For anyone who lives in or has friends in southeastern Michigan, we'll be performing in a country setting outside Ann Arbor on Friday, May 24 with a 9-piece latin/jazz group that's grown beyond its name, the Lunar Octet. We've been playing all original music for 41 years, in Michigan, California, Ohio, and England. Shows at this venue frequently sell out. Ticket info below.
Ann Arbor: Enjoy an evening of Latin jazz with The Lunar Octet on Friday, May 24 at 7:30 pm in the 130 year old barn at Rancho Tranquilico, while taking in the beauty of acres of farm and prairie land. The setting is casual…bring your favorite portable chair and beverage. https://bit.ly/4aPSwr8Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Performances in Michigan and California in 2024
I return to Michigan early this year to perform with the Lunar Octet--the all-originals latin-jazz group now in its 41st year. I'm the musical director and primary composer for the group, which toured England in 2022.
Dates are Jan. 17 at the Blue Llama Jazz Club in Ann Arbor, and Feb. 8-10 at the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Detroit.Tours in Michigan and California are planned for the summer.
Friday, September 22, 2023
Sustainable Jazz Duo To Perform for Princeton Community Housing Gala
My two lives as bandleader and nonprofit leader have come together this fall.
Our Sustainable Jazz Duo will be performing at the Princeton Community Housing Gala on Friday, October 6.
Friday, September 15, 2023
Lunar Octet Plays The Ark
On August 26, our Lunar Octet performed at the legendary Ark in Ann Arbor, MI.
The Lunar Octet was founded 40 years ago under the whimsical name Lunar Glee Club. It started as a composer's workshop, and still plays all original music. Along with many of my own compositions, we perform tunes by band members Aron Kaufman, Paul Vornhagen, and Jon Krosnick.Monday, May 15, 2023
Recent Performances in Michigan and Princeton Junction, NJ
I'm very fortunate to have such great musicians to perform my original compositions with.
Our Lunar Octet, now in its 40th year, performed a sold out show of latin, jazz, and funk this past week at the Blue Llama, a gorgeous jazz club in Ann Arbor, MI. Left to right in the photo are Sam Clark (guitar), Jeff Dalton (bass), Olman Piedra (percussion), Aron Kaufman (congas), Brandon Cooper (trumpet), Paul Vornhagen (woodwinds), and Keaton Royer (piano). Jon Krosnick plays the drums. Last year included tours in California and England.Back in NJ, I teamed up this past weekend with the fabulous Phil Orr on piano, here shown coming up with a setlist for our concert at Salon 33 in Princeton Junction. Salon 33 happens monthly, with potlucks followed by a concert. We played for a great crowd--standing ovation!
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Link for Signing Up for Tonight's Performance
Our Sustainable Jazz Duo performs tonight at Salon 33 from 8-10, after an optional potluck at 7. Registration is required by the host: https://lookingglasspond.wufoo.com/forms/x1on5yya1r9z0mo/
The venue is on Alexander Rd on the way to the train station, with details provided upon registration. It's a nice performance space and community of people, and a donation-based event. We'll be performing all original music--some old, some new--spanning 40 years of composing.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Playing Piano for "People and Stories"
I have two friends named Mimi, and by chance both are part of an organization called People and Stories that asked me to play some solo piano for their spring fundraiser. The forsythia was blooming in vases along the edge of glorious Mackay Lounge at the Seminary, and a grand piano was waiting to be played as people filtered in.
One small admission: I'm more of a reed player than a pianist, but people seemed very happy with the string of original piano pieces I had prepared for the occasion, pieces like Will a' the Wisp, This is Love, Anyway, and Dorothy's Garden. Some of these I play and talk about on my youtube channel. There's always someone who comes over and wants to talk at length while you're playing, and I was glad to see that my chops are good enough to carry on a conversation in the midst of performing.The fundraiser event was very impressive--well attended, with a very articulate and moving expression of the organization's mission by one of its leaders, followed by a reading and Q and A by famed author Jennifer Egan. She kept the audience spellbound through her reading, the sort of rapt attention where you could have heard a pin drop. Egan is a gifted writer and an equally gifted presenter. It turned out to be their best attended benefit to date.
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Upcoming Performances of Sustainable Jazz
April 16 - Private event (Community Without Walls)
May 6, 3pm - Princeton Public Library -- Join us in the Community Room for tuneful, joyful all-original jazz and latin
May 13 - Salon 33 -- a long-standing music series, now based in West Windsor. Potluck at 7pm, concert at 8pm. Contact me for more info.
May 10 -- Blue Llama, Ann Arbor, MI -- I'll be performing many of my original compositions with the Lunar Octet.
Our Lunar Octet Plays the Dirty Dog
The Lunar Octet, our latin/jazz group now in its 40th year, played a four night engagement earlier this year at one of Detroit's premier jazz clubs, the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe. All-original music, sold-out shows, a standing ovation or two--it was a good week.
The photo was taken through the window at the club's entrance, which has musical and canine figures etched in.Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Our Lunar Octet to Perform in the Detroit Area This Month
Monday, November 21, 2022
The Lunar Octet's Storybook Tour of England
Scarborough, known to Americans primarily for the traditional song made famous by Simon and Garfunkel, is a beautifully preserved town on the North Sea, northwest of York. Before and after our appearance at the festival came performances for jazz societies, a wonderful jazz club in Nottingham, along with a couple enthusiastically received workshops at grammar schools.
Later that day, we played at the Pantiles for dancers.
The highlight was our performance at the Scarborough Jazz Festival,
followed the next day by a warm, standing ovation sendoff at a beautiful jazz club in Nottingham, named after the Mingus tune Peggy's Skylight.
To increase capacity, they repurposed some seating from a theater. That's our pianist Adam Biggs, who joined us for the tour from his home in Bath, England, and percussionist Olman Piedra hanging with Miles. Adam and Olman excelled at the driver's seat as well as on stage, guiding our vans from gig to gig.
The piano at Peggy's Skylight, which inspired Adam to new heights, was purchased through crowdfunding, with each contributor paying for a different part of the piano--the pedals, the legs, the keys. One person bought an A minor chord. Having founded two nonprofits in my life, I felt a strong connection to the way jazz gets hosted in England, whether it be a society of jazz enthusiasts raising money to host performances in a local venue, or a privately run jazz club that also draws strength from community support.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Sustainable Jazz to Perform at eCommuterfest
Fittingly enough, Phil Orr and I will bring our Sustainable Jazz to an event this Friday, September 30, hosted by Sustainable Princeton. Featuring electric bicycles and cars, the eCommuterfest will take place in the parking lot for Westminster Choir College from 4-7pm.
You can come to test drive an eCar or eBike, get a free tuneup of your existing bicycle, donate an old bike you no longer need, get some food or Bent Spoon ice cream, and of course listen to our original latin and jazz music wafting over the proceedings. Should be a great event hosted by the highly capable folks at Sustainable Princeton
Friday, September 2, 2022
Sustainable Jazz Plays its Original Music in Kingston Park
Thanks to the Kinston Historical Society and Fire Department for inviting us to perform for their first town picnic in eight years, in Kingston Park. The Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands was also there to share information about their work at what was long called the Mapleton Preserve.
We joke that no virgin timbres are harvested for our performances, but we did feel a strong urge to squash a few of the invasive spotted lanternflies that happened by.Saturday, August 27, 2022
Back From the Lunar Octet's Tour of California
A performance at Portola Valley Vineyards on August 21 completed our Lunar Octet tour in California.
In addition to the vineyard concert, we played Mr. Tipples jazz club in downtown San Francisco,