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A Jazz Era Picnic in the Park!

August 17, 2018 by The Inside Press

New Castle Historical Society in Chappaqua to Host a Jazz-Era Picnic in the Park:
Featuring NYC’s “Jazz-Age Lawn Party” Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra

The New Castle Historical Society has announced a Jazz-Era Picnic in the Park fundraiser at the Chappaqua Station lawn and circle on Sunday, September 16th, 2018. Slip on your dancing shoes and join the New Castle Historical Society for an evening of music and fun celebrating the Roaring 1920’s! The Chappaqua Station lawn will open to guests at 4 pm, and attendees are encouraged, but not required, to dress in their finest 1920s-inspired outfits, dresses, and sun hats.

The event will feature Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra, the world’s premiere Jazz-Age dance orchestra, under the canopy of trees in front of Chappaqua Station. Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra, well-known for their infectious and electrifying performances at the “Jazz Age Lawn Party” on NYC’s Governors Island, are sure to have guests dancing the night away and trying their hand at the Charleston or the Lindy Hop. As stated on the band’s website, “The Dreamland Orchestra’s mission is to mine the forgotten yet vital beauty of the past and bring it into the light of today — to be danced and romanced to by a new generation of flappers and sheiks.”

“I have had the good fortune to work with Michael Arenella over the past decade.  I am excited to welcome Michael and his orchestra and all of the magic that surrounds it, to what we hope, will be the first of many collaborative years in support of the New Castle Historical Society,” said Event Chair Peter Chase. NCHS Executive Director Cassie Ward continued, “Guests will find this new event invigorating and memorable–it will truly be a special evening for our local and surrounding communities.” She continued, “Proceeds from this event, and others that we host throughout the year, help us to maintain the preservation of the Horace Greeley House museum, as well as to fund many of our educational and historical programs.”

Guests are invited to bring their own picnics, though some light fare and refreshments will be available for purchase (first come basis). Guests may also choose to pre-purchase picnic baskets from the Chappaqua Station Café and Store: www.chappaquastation.com.

Tickets for the Jazz-Era Picnic in the Park are required, and are $30 for NCHS members, $35 for not-yet-members, and $50 for event supporters. Table Sponsorships ($1,500-$5,000) are also available and they include: family-style gourmet picnics by Crabtree’s Kittle House, wine, commemorative Jazz-Era Picnic in the Park tote bags, and premium orchestra views. All ticket information is available on the historical society’s website at www.newcastlehs.org or on www.eventbrite.com.

For more information, please visit www.newcastlehs.org, call 914-238-4666, or email Cassie Ward at director@newcastlehs.org.

 

Event information provided by the Inside Press via a release from the New Castle Historical Society.

Filed Under: New Castle Releases Tagged With: Chappaqua, Event, Jazz, Jazz event, New Castle Historical Society, Park

White Plains Jazz Fest: A Fun-Filled Festival for Jazz Aficionados and Music Lovers of All Ages

August 25, 2017 by The Inside Press

(L-R):: Wayne Bass, White Plains Commissioner of Recreation and Parks; Janet Langsam, CEO, ArtsWestchester; Kevin Nunn, Executive Director of the White Plains Business Improvement District; Kenny Lee (trumpet/flugelhorn) of Kenny Lee All Stars; Deputy Westchester County Executive Kevin Plunkett; Tom van Buren, Artistic Program Director, ArtsWestchester; and Tom Roach, Mayor of the City of White Plains

By Amanda Kraus

There’s good news for Westchester-based jazz lovers who may not be able to trek to New Orleans for Jazz Fest this year. This September, Westchester residents can simply take a quick trip to White Plains for the city’s sixth annual Jazz Fest in the downtown area, in collaboration with ArtsWestchester, The City of White Plains, and the White Plains Business Improvement District. “Every year gets better and better,” said Wayne Bass, White Plains Commissioner of Recreation and Parks and a key organizer of the event. The once single-day event now spans the five days of September 13-17 and will feature various world-renowned jazz musicians such as 14-time Grammy Winner Paquito D’Rivera, a clarinet and saxophone virtuoso and New Orleans-based saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr., as well as talented emerging local artists.

Janet Langsam, the CEO of ArtsWestchester and an Armonk resident, envisions a county in which every resident has the availability and affordability to participate in the arts with Jazz Fest being one of those opportunities. Most of the Jazz Fest events are free and others have a nominal fee.

Jazz Fest was created to enrich the lives of not only downtown White Plains residents but also the wider Westchester community. “By bringing live music into downtown White Plains, people who might not be familiar with jazz can be exposed to a new genre of music. If you want to know what it’s about, you can just walk in to Jazz Fest and be a part of it. It’s all about opening up our minds and trying to create community –music is something that brings people of all races, nationalities, and backgrounds together. It has that common denominator,” notes Bass.

The festival kicks off with a jazz stroll, in which numerous local restaurants will have musicians playing in either their dining rooms or in surrounding outdoor areas. People can walk down the street and catch as many performances as they’d like. There will be performances in the ArtsWestchester building, in addition to Sunday’s culminating event, which takes place on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, where there will be tents plus food vendors. The festival features a wide range of jazz music, from Afro-Caribbean to blues.

It includes both solo performers and bands including a small orchestra led by versatile Colombian pianist and composer Pablo Mayor to an ensemble led by local Peekskill-based jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz educator Ray Blue. The last day of the festival provides a grand finale of jazz sounds originating from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Dixieland and more.

With so much to do and see, it’s hard to find a reason not to go to Jazz Fest. Whether you’re a long-time jazz enthusiast or new to the genre, you’re guaranteed to have a good time no matter what day you choose to attend. For more information and a performance schedule visit www.artswestchester.org.

Amanda Kraus is an intern at the Inside Press this summer.

Filed Under: Armonk Cover Stories Tagged With: ArtsWestchester, Janet Lagsom, Jazz, music, Westchester JazzFest, white plains

Chappaqua Station Bringing Jazz to Your Doorstep

December 1, 2016 by Marianne Campolongo

jazz-145Looking for a cozy bistro with small romantic tables, farm fresh food and inventive cocktails where you can hear jazz on a Saturday night? Then head down to Chappaqua Station, opened by restaurateurs and jazz aficionados Erin and Peter Chase last year.

Like me, you may be surprised to learn that the place many see as the newest breakfast and coffee spot in town takes on a totally different persona at night, drawing on prime local talent as well as top musicians from Harlem and other parts of the city.

Wander in nearly any Saturday night at 7 p.m. when the lights go down low, replaced by the warm glow of candles and tiny twinkle lights on the ceiling, and hear the sultry tones of the latest jazz ensemble. Whether you are a jazz lover or simply a romantic, it’s the perfect date night venue.

The Chases transformed the timeworn 1902 Chappaqua train station into a beautiful eatery, restoring the old scarred interior so that the wooden walls, benches, and ceiling gleam much as they must have at the turn of the last century. The benches around the perimeter still serve as some seating and the former ticket office has become a full-service bar, with light from the train platform streaming in behind, adding to the atmosphere.

jazz-118And that beauty is more than skin deep. “We built out the space with music in mind,” says Erin Chase, installing a mixing board and speakers “perfectly equalized for jazz.”

Hiroshi Yamazaki, whose Hiroshi Yamazaki Trio performed the night my husband and I discovered this charming jazz venue, confirmed that their efforts have paid off, citing the excellent acoustics as one of the reasons he enjoys playing there. Yamazaki, a classically trained pianist who studied jazz in New York as well as his native Japan, has performed all over the world, as have his bandmates bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Tony Jefferson.

There’s a $10 per person cover charge for tables (no cover at the bar, which is first come first served), with tickets available via www.eventbrite.com or at the door. Reservations are suggested.

Upcoming talent in December includes the Daniel Lauter Jazz Quartet who will play at a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity “Homes for the Holidays” on Dec. 3, 7-10 p.m. to raise money for four homes being built in New Castle. Tickets are priced between $50-500. Dec. 10, Latin percussionists Emedin Rivera and Ken Kresge Quartet. On Dec. 17, Erik Lawrence and Mala Waldron Quartet. See www.chappaquastation.com for additional events.

Marianne A. Campolongo is a professional photographer, freelance writer and jazz lover who lives in Chappaqua. Early on in their life together, she and her husband Rob used to haunt The Blue Note, The Village Gate, and other notable jazz venues, and they are both thrilled to live so close to this little gem.

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: Chappaqua Station, club, Jazz, live music, music scene

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)*

April 20, 2014 by The Inside Press

jazz-playerIn the 1930’s, Armonk was one hip hamlet. Though America was 
in the midst of the Great Depression, Armonk’s merchants were busy. Crowds of tourists drove in their Studebakers, Fords and Cadillacs from New York City and beyond to eat, drink and dance their worries away in this remote corner of the county.

Over a dozen restaurants, bars and dance halls flourished back then. The Armonk police were called at all hours of the night by reveling couples who, on the spur of the moment, decided they wanted to wed and needed the appropriate official to do so. Now the epitome of “family-oriented,” Armonk had, back then, earned the moniker “Sin City.”

Small, but never small-time, Armonk’s largest draw was The Log Cabin. Live bands featuring musicians like Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and Doris Day regularly performed for up to 1500 patrons at a time. The floors of the Log Cabin creaked and moaned as music poured across neighboring farmland and orchards. Five cents for a hot dog, or ten cents for a hamburger, was all it took to enjoy an entire night of listening and dancing to the best live Big Band music the world had to offer.

With its illustrious past and handsome new infrastructure, Armonk is ripe for an old-fashioned revival. Downtown’s appealing new landscape provides ample gathering places and spaces for people to socialize. The stage is set.

“Swing” may be just the symbol or guiding image we need to pay respect to Armonk’s roots while ushering in a new era. With its driving intensity and abandon, Swing represented freedom and pleasure amidst the financial hardships of the 30’s. It also served
to ease the social tension of the era; men, women, young, old, black, white all danced the Swing. Everyone, figuratively and literally, was on the 
same footing!

Swing brought tolerance, mutual respect, and cooperation. It was grown by individuals who were able to suspend judgment and incorporate new sounds from diverse musical lineages. While the Great Depression was devastating, it also forced people to turn to what economists and others now call “social capital”.

Social capital, as distinguished from money or material goods, is an under-recognized but vital component of a healthy community. It is goodwill, fellowship, empathy and concern for others. It bonds people together. Data have found that communities high in social capital have children with fewer emotional disturbances and an adult population with a lower incidence of heart disease and a greater life expectancy than matched communities rated low on social capital.

In his books, articles and TED talks, contemporary writer and philosopher Alain De Botton reports that one of the losses modern society feels most keenly is the loss of a sense of community: “We imagine that where there once was neighborliness, there is now a ruthless anonymity, characterized by pursuit of contact with others for purely individualistic gains.” As we’ve become increasingly secular, many have switched worship of God to worship of professional success. “What do you do?” is our way of introduction in new social groups; the answer can determine acceptance or marginalization by the community.

It is no surprise, then, that we throw ourselves with a vengeance into our careers. Focusing on work
to the exclusion of almost everything else feels necessary–not only for 
financial security, but to thrive psychologically.

Demonstrating kindness, acceptance, acknowledgement, and appreciation in small ways to those we encounter in our community (and noticing when others do so to us) is what creates social capital. The feeling that one “belongs” in a group, is a valued member in his or her community, fills an essential human need. Small increases in social capital may help us to work a little less feverishly while becoming healthier, more productive and happier…not a bad equation.

Armonk’s revival has begun. The stage is set. A small swing in investment toward social capital and this town will be rocking.

*Music by Duke Ellington, lyrics by Irving Mills

Dr. Rachel Levy-Lombara, an Armonk resident, mom, and licensed Clinical 
Psychologist, uses evidence-based approaches along with a focus on identifying and nurturing a client’s strengths and genius to help people “swing’”from surviving to thriving. She practices in Chappaqua and can be contacted at DrLevyLombara@aol.com.

Filed Under: Et Cetera Tagged With: Inside Armonk, Jazz, Swing

FREE DANCE CLASSES, 1/7-1/12 at Steffi Nossen

December 18, 2012 by The Inside Press

The Steffi Nossen School of Dance (SNSD) invites the Westchester community to participate in all dance classes free of charge during its Week of Dance series taking place from January 7 – January 12, 2013.

With two dance studio locations in central Westchester County; one in White Plains (at the Music Conservatory of Westchester across from County Center) and the other in Chappaqua, SNSD offers classes that appeal to the diverse interests of dance students of all levels. . The school’s Core Curriculum of modern dance classes are designed for children, preschool through third grade. Accompanied by live music, these classes are designed to encourage participation and enthusiasm among students. These classes are followed by a fourth and fifth grade Modern/Jazz and sixth grade and up Jazz classes which introduce and explore the rhythm, styles and music of the Jazz idiom. SNSD technique programs include Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and a Young Children’s Ballet program beginning with Classical Story Ballet at age 3.

The Steffi Nossen curriculum develops both technique and creativity while emphasizing movement and dance vocabulary.  “Our program emphasizes the development of a child’s emotions, mind, and creativity as well as physical ability,” said Kathy Fitzgerald, School Director, SNSD. “Our faculty collaborates on the design of a sequential, developmental and age-appropriate curriculum that exposing students to a variety of dance styles and provides the students with many performance opportunities. Our faculty members are highly skilled performing professionals and graduates of prestigious college dance programs whose own dance experiences direct and inform their teaching methods.

All classes offered during the Week of Dance series are available on a trial-basis to the public at no charge. For more information please visit www.steffinossen.org or call 914-328-1900.

Steffi Nossen School of Dance is located at Central Studios at the Music Conservatory of Westchester, 216 Central Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601. Chappaqua classes are held at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin on S. Greeley Avenue between Bell School and the Library. To learn more about Steffi Nossen School of Dance, please visit www.steffinossen.org.

About Steffi Nossen School of Dance:

Founded in 1937 by dance legend Steffi Nossen, the Steffi Nossen School of Dance offers a strong community-minded and leadership-focused educational model with developmentally appropriate dance instruction and performance opportunities for all ages and abilities. With locations in White Plains, NY and Chappaqua, NY, Steffi Nossen encompasses a range of dance forms including modern, ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, and world dance forms with special offerings in yoga, pilates and composition. Live musical accompaniment for a majority of classes is offered. The school is owned and operated by the Steffi Nossen Dance Foundation, formerly the Dance in Education Fund, a not-for-profit dance advocacy and community outreach organization, which seeks to foster the arts in Westchester County. Through the support of the Foundation, the school enables all students, including those with special needs, the opportunity to participate in their extensive programs and classes in a non-competitive environment. A generous financial aid and scholarship program supports those with significant economic challenges. With a sterling reputation in the industry and a rich 75-year history, Steffi Nossen is a leader among dance schools, focusing on the growth of students’ mind, body, spirit, and character.

Filed Under: Sponsor News! Tagged With: ballet, Dance, Hip hop, Jazz

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