2015/2016
Jazz is Alive in Montgomery County!
Can you feel it? There’s a new steady beat and a swingin’
rhythm in Montgomery County. In a region with too many suburban jazz deserts,
some folks in Norristown decided to make a change for the better. Crying Sam
Entertainment has just entered its fourth season of Crying Sam Second Saturday Jazz at August Moon Restaurant.
Hands down, there is no doubt that Philadelphia always has
and continues to boast many of the world’s greatest leaders and innovators in
and of jazz music. The list of jazz legends is so long that it is impossible to
name them all for fear of unfairly leaving someone out; but the tradition is
deep and wide. Philadelphia is even home
to one of the world’s best jazz radio stations: Temple University’s WRTI 90.1.
Traditionally, suburban dwellers in search of the
hard-driving force and improvisational styles of Bebop and straight-ahead jazz;
the timeless seduction of classic Hart, Porter and Gershwin-type standards, and
the sultry setting of the crowd-hypnotizing, traditional jazz club have had to
tie up loose ends at home, call the babysitter, and get in their SUV’s for the
unpredictable journey east on Route 76 to their choice among several of
Philadelphia’s unique clubs offering jazz in the city. In 2012, Rich Rogers, of
Crying Sam Entertainment, and Mrs. Myong Ja Ryu, of August Moon Restaurant, decided
to do something about it!
“I always wanted
to be able to do something with jazz in town,” said Rogers, a Norristown native
who grew up in Blue Bell and graduated from Wissahickon High. As the president
of Norristown Arts Council, he was used to working with others to create events
of destination for Norristown. When Rogers got his first look at the intimate
new room across from the August Moon bar, he knew he could stop daydreaming and
finally get to work on his longtime goal of reviving a missed jazzy vibe here
in Norristown. “With Arts Council we had already brought some jazz to the Arts
Hill Festival, but I wanted to try to start a more legitimate and steady
club-style offering,” Rogers said. “Ideally, you want people to be able to
drink and eat while they listen. I happened to be at August Moon restaurant for
a meeting and asked the owner, Mrs. Myong Ja Ryu (Mrs. Kim), about the room
opposite the bar that she had renovated. I knew I had found the perfect,
pre-existing jazz space in Norristown. And there was even a baby grand piano
sitting in there!”
For Rogers, the
room recalled one of Philadelphia’s most popular and sorely missed jazz venues,
Zanzibar Blue, on 11th Street.
“The room brought
me back to that place in the ’90s where I used to go a lot when I was living in
the city,” said Rogers, who now lives in Norristown. “Zanzibar Blue was the
quintessential traditional jazz club.”
Stepping into
action in sync with his vision, Rogers planned with August Moon owner, Mrs.
Kim, and her daughter (manager) Jee Han to embark on a monthly Second Saturday
Jazz series at the restaurant. Rogers called on a childhood/musician pal and lodge
brother, vibraphonist George Weldon to get things moving in as soon as 2
months. From there things took off, as
Rogers and Weldon formed various ensembles with heavy hitting jazz giants and
vocalist from the current Philadelphia scene to wow local suburban audiences
with the exact same jazz folks were privy to in Center City. The vibe caught on
and has provided an incredible ride for the past 3 years to what is now the
fourth season of Crying Sam Second Saturday Jazz at August Moon. The Jazz Room
at August Moon has been graced, in its 3 short years by such groups as:
The George Weldon
Quintet
The Barbara
Walker Story
The Tony Williams
Quartet
Miss Justine and
Friends
The Nimrod Speaks
Quartet
The Jim Holton
Quartet
The Harry “Butch”
Reed Group
The Dylan Taylor
Quartet
Drew Nugent and
the Midnight Society
The Luke Carlos
O’Reilly Quartet
The Kevin
Valentine Quartet
The Lynn Riley
Quintet
FVC (aka Fortune,
Vinson and Cruse)
Patrons have
become regulars and new face arrive at every show with only positive things to
say:
“I have never
been to a live jazz because I don’t go to the city. I’ll be back next month for
sure!”
“This is the real
deal!”
“This is by far
as great as, if not better than any jazz I have seen I the city!”
“How do get these
great musicians to come here from the city?”
This season
continues with a fantastic line-up at August Moon. Shows take place every 2nd
Saturday of the month from 8PM to 11PM, October through May.
August Moon Restaurant
offers exquisite Japanese and Korean culinary delights, a full bar and table
service during all Second Saturday Jazz shows. Patrons take advantage of the
ability to enjoy a night out close to home, to enjoy a delicious dinner while
seeing/hearing live jazz from Philadelphia’s greats.
October 10
Drew Nugent and the
Midnight Society
Hot Jazz!
November 14
The Rhenda Fearington
Quartet
Straight Ahead Jazz and Standards
December 12
The George Weldon Quartet
Straight Ahead Jazz
January 9
Harry “Butch” Reed
Featuring SoulFuego
Latin Jazz
February 13
Spend Valentine’s Day
with the Kevin
Valentine Quartet
Classic Jazz Standards of Love
March 12
The Julie Charnet Quartet
Straight ahead Jazz and Vocal Standards
April 9 TBA
May 14 TBA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times Herald (http://www.timesherald.com)
April 9 TBA
May 14 TBA
*Dine in.
*Reservations are encouraged for parties over four at 610-955-2830
See full schedule
and info at www.cryingsam.com or facebook.com/cryingsam
Contact:
info@cryingsam.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times Herald (http://www.timesherald.com)
George Weldon Quartet to appear at August Moon, Norristown, for Jazz Night
Saturday, March 2, 2013
NORRISTOWN — Shaw ’Nuff, the man is on top of the bebop.
But it’s not the music of Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane that Richard Rogers Jr. is carrying the torch for in Norristown.
Rather, it’s the classic standards made famous by Nat King Cole, George Gershwin and Cole Porter that are now jazzing up Saturday nights at August Moon on East Main Street, a million miles and about 60 years away from anyone’s idea of a jazz scene.
While it’s not exactly the Birdland of the ’burbs just yet, a new jazz venue is echoing a time when Ella sprinkled “Stardust” on the great American songbook and Duke Ellington handed Rosemary Clooney a “Blue Rose.”
When Rogers got his first look at the intimate new room across from the August Moon bar, he knew he could stop daydreaming and finally get to work on his longtime goal of reviving a jazzy vibe here in Norristown.
“I always wanted to be able to do something with jazz in town,” said Rogers, a Norristown native who grew up in Blue Bell and graduated from Wissahickon High.
As the president of Norristown Arts Council, he knows a thing or two about stoking a little passion for the arts.
But earning a rep in this town for creating a prime hangout for fans of America’s great musical art form required a different sensibility.
Not since the live shows at Taylor’s at the Olde Mill a few years ago have folks with a hankering for the stuff had their appetites even remotely satisfied.
“With Arts Council we brought some jazz to the Arts Hill Festival, but I wanted to try and start a legitimate jazz club,” Rogers said. “Ideally, you want people to be able to drink and eat. I happened to be at August Moon restaurant over the summer and asked the owner, Mrs. Myong Ja Ryu, about the room opposite the bar that she had renovated. I knew I had found the perfect, pre-existing jazz space in Norristown. And there was even a baby grand piano sitting in there!”
For this aficionado of harmonic improvisation and technical virtuosity, the room recalled one of Philadelphia’s most popular and sorely missed jazz venues, Zanzibar Blue on 11th Street.
“The room brought me back to that place in the early ’90s where I used to go a lot when I was living in the city,” said Rogers, who now lives in Norristown. “Zanzibar Blue was the quintessential traditional jazz room.”
Like any visionary, Rogers ignored the skeptics and sprang into action, nailing down an agreement with Ryu and her daughter Jee Han and signing on a house band through his own Cryinsam Entertainment company.
To cross the latter juncture, he called up his old buddy, vibraphonist extraordinaire George Weldon.
“I said to him, ‘Remember two years ago when I said I was looking for a jazz place? Well, I found it. Are you interested in being the house band?’”
Weldon, a regular performer at Bob and Barbara’s Lounge in the city, eagerly rubber-stamped the second-Saturday-of-every-month gig on his calendar, and Jazz Night at August Moon was born on Oct. 13.
With the George Weldon Quartet’s upcoming show on March 9, the room will have had half a dozen jazz and poetry shows to its credit.
“We have the staples in the crowd, but we also see new faces at every show. I understand why so many 20-somethings have never experienced live jazz. If they don’t live in a major city where there’s a lot of jazz, there’s nowhere for them to see it. For me it was always something common that I would look for,” added Rogers, whose late father, Richard Rogers Sr., was a renowned attorney based in Norristown, as well as a jazz buff.
Rogers said he was bitten by the jazz bug from through records his dad played while he was growing up.
“What I grew up listening to from my dad would be considered classic jazz,” Rogers remembered. “I like stuff from the bebop era, the ’40s and ’50s, by Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie. But when you think of the old Harlem jazz clubs, you think of that hard bop or classic jazz styles or even big band swing style. That’s what we’re doing at August Moon, the standards by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer. It works very well with the setting, and people are loving it.”
Follow Gary Puleo on Twitter @Mustangman48.
FYI
Second Saturday Jazz Night
Second Saturday Jazz Night
The George Weldon Quartet and Friends
Spoken Word by E the Poet-Emcee
Saturday, March 9
August Moon
August Moon
300 E. Main Street, Norristown
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; entertainment until 11 p.m.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; entertainment until 11 p.m.
Admission: $10 per person/$15 per couple
Information: 610-955-2830
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Live Jazz and Spoken at August Moon Every Second Saturday of the Month.
NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (Oct 10, 2012) Cryinsam Entertainment and Rich Rogers present live jazz at August Moon Restaurant featuring The George Weldon Quartet on the Second Saturday of each month from 8 - 11pm.
Cryinsam Entertainment and founder, Rich Rogers, are proud to showcase the talent of local jazz giant, George Weldon, and the George Weldon Quartet. In the same effort as other Arts organizations working toward the development of Norristown as a destination town, Mr. Rogers set his sights on a jazz revival on Main Street when he moved to Norristown in 1999. Work of groups like Norristown Arts Council, Centre Theatre, Iron Age Theatre and Theatre Horizon have helped to pave the way and make an evening of Jazz possible in Norristown. The catalyst for Jazz Night came through the renovation of the well-known main street restaurant, August Moon. “I was visiting August Moon for a meeting with owner, Myong Ja Ryu, and asked to see the newly renovated portions of the restaurant. When I saw the side room addition to the bar, I knew I had finally found the perfect, pre-existing jazz space in Norristown,” said Rogers. “The rest was a matter of presenting a plan to the owner and manager of August Moon and finding a house band.” With brainstorming and help from local restauranteur, Myong Ja Kim and her daughter Jee Han, the plan for Jazz Night at August Moon was developed. Rogers identified George Weldon, founder of The George Weldon Quartet, as the perfect musician to fill the order as the headliner.
Jazz Night at began on Saturday, October 13. Second Saturday Jazz Night at August Moon will take place on the second Saturday of every month featuring the George Weldon Quartet and special guests poets and vocalist. A vibrant spoken word artist will showcase his/her talent as featured guest every month. The night will exist of 3 sets of jazz, alternating with spoken word. The 3rd musical set invites musicians to sit in with the band for live jam sessions and collaboration. This show is a must for Jazz and spoken word lovers! Second Saturday Jazz and Spoken Word embraces those in the know and educates those who are new to the traditional and original American art of Jazz.
###
For additional information:
Media Contact: Richard W. Rogers, Jr.
CryinSam Entertainment
info@cryinsam.com
www.cryinsam.com
610.955.2830
