Oct. 11--RSVP to Hear Sustainable Jazz at the Caldwell Sessions

Come Saturday, October 11, to hear Steve Hiltner and Phil Orr perform at the Caldwell Sessions in Princeton. The Caldwell Sessions provides a comfortable house concert setting to hear our all-original melodic adventures in samba, swing, and tango.  

When: Saturday, October 11

Doors open: 7:00 PM, 

Show starts: 7:30 PM

Suggested Donation for the Artist: $25 cash or Venmo at the door

 

RSVP to reserve a seat! 

Email caldwell.sessions@gmail.com 

California Tour 2025

This summer, we had two tours with the Lunar Octet, the jazz/latin band I've been a part of since its beginnings 42 years ago. I write most of the music for the group, much of which I composed in New Jersey and perform locally with pianist Phil Orr in our Sustainable Jazz duo. 

Additional compositions for the Octet come from our conguero, Aron Kaufman. Occasionally we pull out a beautiful ballad by drummer Jon Krosnick. Though based in Ann Arbor, the Lunar Octet also has a California version. Jon, a Stanford professor who periodically performs with renowned trumpeter Randy Brecker, booked our Lunar Octet for 8 gigs in 5 days this past June.

The final gig was in a central plaza in Sonoma, with our all-original music drifting out to a thousand people enjoying a beautiful afternoon.

Other gigs were at the Las Positas Vineyard and a brewery named the SacYard.

It's always a good feeling to play amidst the stacks at libraries, many of which have beautiful central spaces for the community to gather.

One highlight was playing as a sextet at Mr. Tipples Jazz Club in downtown San Francisco. 

To play these tours, members of the band converge from all over the country. Bassist Jeff Dalton flies in from the Florida Keys, conguero Aron Kaufman travels from Michigan. To fill out the band, drummer Jon Krosnick recruited his fabulous California-based colleagues, with Murray Low on keyboard, Tod Dickow on tenor sax, and new addition Chris Aschman lighting up the stage with his trumpet playing.

Michigan Tour, July 2025

This past July, our Lunar Octet toured for two weeks in Michigan, performing our all-original latin and jazz at gigs ranging from Ann Arbor up to Traverse City.

One of the first gigs was at our favorite jazz club, the Blue Llama down on Main Street in Ann Arbor. Such a special place to play, with stellar performances from the Michigan contingent of the band: Zen Zadravec on piano, multi-instrumentalist Paul Vornhagen, Tim Blackmon on trumpet, Olman Piedra on percussion, guitarist Sam Clark, and conguero Aron Kaufman.

A few gigs later we were up in the beautiful Traverse City area as a quintet, casting our original latin and jazz out across a picnic area at St. Ambrose Cellars. Jon Krosnick leads the group from behind the drums, and Jeff Dalton provides steady, melodic underpinning for the grooves, and virtuosic bass solos. 

A library in Hamburg seemed disconnected from any downtown, and yet serves as a vibrant community center for many in the vicinity. During one of our sets, a thunder storm blew through with high winds and pelting rain, adding a dramatic visual backdrop.

Our final stop was Rancho Tranquilico, a concert series hosted by farmer and open space preservationist Barry Lonik, with a late evening light show provided by the fireflies. 

 

Until I Find the Words at St. Mary Church

The quieter side of the Sustainable Jazz Duo, in a performance at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Church in South Amboy. The original tango-influenced composition, Until I Find the Words, is the title track of our CD. The tune actually has words, which begin with:

"Until I find the words, I'll sing this melody, this simple melody, to tell you of my love."

Performing at HIP's Spring Gathering

Our Sustainable Jazz Duo will perform this Sunday, May 4, at the Housing Initiatives of Princeton's Spring Gathering, a fundraiser for this great local organization. Their mission? 

To assist local individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity build toward a sustainable future via stable housing, better employment, and a network of support services.

Our mission is to live up to their organization's very cool acronym -- HIP! 

Frolic at St. Mary's

I had asked whether it was okay to dance inside the St. Mary, Star of the Sea Church where Phil Orr and I performed our original jazz and latin music. The answer was affirmative, so we played Frolic--a tune that gets people dancing even if they remain sitting down, as the girl on the front left frolicfully demonstrates. Thanks to Jody and St. Mary's for being such wonderful hosts.  

RSVP for Sustainable Jazz at Salon 33 this Saturday, April 12

Come this Saturday, April 12, to hear Phil and me perform at Salon 33 in West Windsor. 

This is a great venue for hearing our all-original melodic adventures in samba, swing, and tango.  There's an optional potluck at 7pm. Music runs from 8-10pm. 

To obtain more info and get the address, you have to RSVP at this link, and make sure to mark that you're going to the Saturday show.

Salon 33 is donation-based, with a suggested donation of $20. 

Performance March 23 in South Amboy

Our Sustainable Jazz duo with the totally orrsome Phil Orr on piano will be heading this Sunday to South Amboy to perform a sampling of our melodic adventures in samba, swing, and tango in the Music at St. Mary's series. The performance runs from 4-5pm, at 256 Augusta Street. All-original compositions in a church setting, with piano and sax/clarinet.