Is This Jazz? Hanging With Joe Potenza

Providence bassist Joe Potenza is a constant and defining presence in the local jazz scene. His lyrical playing, rock-solid time and gracious spirit have been on display at Rosmarin, the restaurant in the Hotel Providence, for what will soon be seven years. To celebrate this and learn a bit more about about how it all happened, I sat down with Joe to discuss his life and playing. This is an abridged version of the whole interview available as a podcast so you can hear his inspiring story.

First place seeing live jazz:

My wife and I were dating at the time and we used to drive by this place … that had no sign on it but looked interesting, so one night we decided to go in. It was a Saturday night and Mike Renzi’s trio with Bob Petteruti and Artie Cabral was playing in the corner of this room. [Editor’s note: Probably the legendary club the Kings and Queens, where this configuration of the Mike Renzi Trio was the house band from 1963 to 1970. See our profile of Renzi in this issue.] My father was always into jazz and my older brother was in Berklee at this point, but I maybe had Red Clay and a couple fusion albums, so this was a whole other deal. It was straight ahead stuff being played by local guys who could really hang and we’re sitting there while Mike is burning and it blew me away. From there developed a lifelong love for jazz.

Having a seven-year gig and being a Providence institution:

I hesitate to say “institution” because no one is more surprised than I am that I fell into this gig! My daughter was working at the hotel doing corporate events and they needed some background music for an event. I gave her a demo to pass along and later the GM asked to meet to discuss having live jazz outside the restaurant for the summer. When that ended they liked it so much that we brought it inside where it developed, and despite a bunch of weird circumstances and weathering a few changes – the GM changed six or seven times, corporate ownership changed twice, etc. – it stuck around and has become this thing that people recognize and come from all over to see. But as far as RI jazz institutions I think of Allmark’s thing, or Bovi’s before him, or when Allary was around, or all the local heavies I’ve seen over the years, so it’s hard for me to put myself up there, although I appreciate the sentiment.

On keeping it fresh:

At first i was thinking of having a house band and bringing guests in each week to mix it up, but I thought back to a couple years before when I had led a brunch gig and would put together a new band every week. Even if I got the best players for the house band, sooner or later it would become stale or routine and we wanted to avoid that. At first I was trying to keep it low key, but one night the quartet was really cranking and, when the owner approached me and said that he loved it, that gave me the opportunity to open it up and try to get away with a bit more! At the beginning he had said he wanted to feature the music so I had told him in that case we wouldn’t be background noise, that I’d bring in pros that know how to handle this kind of room, and that even though we wouldn’t blow the doors off we also wouldn’t dumb it down, and he responded well to that.

Thanks so much to Joe for his time, and be sure to visit joepotenzabass.com to learn more about his music and find out where he’ll be playing next. Of course, go see him play at Rosmarin, 311 Westminster St, PVD, every Friday night.

Listen to the entire interview at isthisjazz.tumblr.com or find The 3 Year Plan podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.

Jazz happening around town:

The John Allmark Jazz Orchestra – Mondays @ The Met (Pawtucket)

Is This Jazz? – 1st Friday, bimonthly @ AS220 (PVD) isthisjazz.tumblr.com

Joe Potenza – Fridays @ Rosmarin (PVD)

Allary at Arias – Sundays @ Arias Lounge (PVD)

Groove Merchants – Mondays @ Fifth Element (Newport)

Jazz Jam – Tuesdays @ Ten Rocks (Pawtucket)

Groove E Tuesday – Tuesdays @ Murphy’s Law (Pawtucket)

Wednesday Night Sessions – Wednesdays @ Arias Lounge (PVD)

Parlour Jazz Jam – 3rd Sunday, monthly @ The Parlour (PVD)

World Class Jazz Night – Thursdays @ Norey’s (Newport)

Jeff Platz Quartet’s Modern Sound Series – last Sunday, monthly @ Tea in Sahara (PVD)

To add your listing, e-mail isthisjazzri@gmail.com

Ben Shaw is a local composer, performer, writer, and podcaster. Dig into his works at ahueofshaw.tumblr.com or find him on Twitter @ahueofshaw.