Category: Jazz

Jazz in the Ocean State has seen a myriad of tough times, including, COVID aftershocks, digital streaming, stubborn inflation, and changing demographics. But, just like the changing tides of Narragansett Bay, local jazz is here to stay. Live music venues and great jazz musicians have come and gone, but jazz lovers should not despair. 

While iconic landmarks, such as the Celebrity Club, Bovi’s, and the sizzling Hi-Hat Lounge have drifted into jazz heaven, a new crop of venues carries on the American jazz tradition.

Several nights a week, clubs including The Red Door, Knickerbockers, The Parlour, and Askew feature some of Rhode Island veteran jazz players such as trumpeter John Almark, bassist Joe Potenza, well-known drummer Vinnie Pagano, and guitar wizard Gino Rosato.

Some may say that jazz is dominated by men, however many women have made a significant contribution to the venerable art form throughout the years, starting with jazz great and pioneer Carol Sloane. Sloane began her career in the 1950s, signed to Columbia Records, and showcased at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1961, which opened the door for the current lineup of amazing female jazz vocalists, including  Kim Trusty, Shawnn Monteiro, Tish Adams, and Dyan Kane.

With a career that has spanned decades in a variety of entertainment fields, including movies and acting on TV, Dyan Kane recently brought her breezy, well-honed jazz stylings to one of my favorite jazz spots, The Red Door in downtown Providence. Kane, whose style is steeped in the classic jazz divas, including Sara Vaughn, Billie Holiday, and Nancy Wilson, showcased her considerable talents in the cozy upstairs venue backed by a stellar band that was anchored by guitar wizard Gino Rosato. 

From the opening number you could hear in Kane’s phrasing years spent listening and cultivating a captivating voice. As a young woman, Kane joined a Harlem gospel choir and soaked in the soulful sounds of the legendary Ray Charles and Baptist music. Her jazz stylings are influenced heavily by its ancestor, the American blues.

Following a stint in Los Angles doing movies and TV, Kane left L.A. for the Big Apple. While working at the Blue Note, a legendary jazz spot in Greenwich Village, Kane’s airy and powerful style reflected the vocal stylings of  jazz greats such as Carmen McCrae, Al Jarreau, master jazz vocalist, and Better Carter, one of the most important jazz singers of the 20th century.

She floated effortlessly as she mixed Brazilian influenced stylings with American jazz standards and wove in updated pop songs that showcased her vocal diversity on numbers such as the Bee Gees’ mega hit “To Love Somebody”, which she performed with a bluesy lament, as well as “Use Me” a Bill Withers mainstay, which she molded into a funky Brazilian jazz groove. 

(Note: For the avid listener, I recommend the Bill Withers 1973 live album  Live at Carnegie Hall. On it, Withers awes listeners with an eight minute version of the soulful “Use Me”.)

While listener’s might want more, Kanes’ latest release, Soul of the Water, recorded with a veteran L.A. sidemen, is available on Interplay Records and features a healthy dose of Kane’s main influences from “Summertime”, a gem from the great American Songbook along with “Moonglow” and “Caravan”, a Duke Ellington masterpiece.

For Rhode Island jazz lovers looking for more jazz, I highly recommend The Red Door, which was literally created by a mainstay in the Rhode Island music scene, Phil Martelly, who, following graduation from Berkeley School of Music, dabbled in the music business and played with a variety of bands before investing in a chain of music schools for young musicians called the School of Rock. 

During the height of COVID, Martelly invested in The Red Door, offering free jazz every Monday night. He understands the music business and said, “I want to keep it free’ adding “People will come.” 

The Blue Room in Pawtuxet Village also offers sizzling jazz nightly, while Sardella‘s, a delicious Italian restaurant in Newport, offers Wednesday night jazz. Talk about a night out, feasting on shrimp scampi while listening to some of the best jazz in Newport! 

Imagine on any given night during the 1950s being able to hear the swinging sounds of Count Basie, the bluesy diva Billie Holiday, or Louis Armstrong, one of the greatest trumpet players of all time? No, I am not talking about  the thriving Times Squares jazz scene in the Big Apple, but the fabled Celebrity Club, located in what’s now the redeveloped Randall Square in Providence.

From 1949 until 1960, this celebrated club and its founder Paul Fliippi, brought the world’s greatest jazz acts to the storied venue. The first integrated club in Providence attracted such luminaries as Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis Jr, and Fats Domino.  All the great jazz acts stopped in Providence.

It was a list of jazz royalty that graced the stage. Seven nights a week catering to a diverse neighborhood that included African Americans, Italians, Jews, and a hip East Side crowd from  around the Square and nearby neighborhoods, including Lippitt Hill. In the beginning, Filippi bought a dilapidated business at 54 Randall Square, near what is now Charlesgate Apartments, which provided an ideal entertainment spot for African American servicemen to hangout following the end of WW2. Meanwhile, residents of the diverse neighborhood helped fill the club, thus creating PVDs’s first integrated club complete with dance floor, coat room, kitchen and tables, remembers Ed Coates, noted historian, musician, and former resident of Randall Square.

Coates said, acts such as singing groups including the Platters, Orioles, and Clovers played in the early days. “They brought in steady revenue,” said Coates. The Celebrity Club became a PVD hotspot, attracting a variety of well known politicians, business leaders, and even the feared yet respected Raymond Patriaca Sr, head of the New England Mafia.

Despite the fact that the Celebrity Club was integrated, the city still reeled from racism, which led to numerous police raids. Coates says, “Everyone at the club would be hauled off to the police station… many times the whites were released, while the blacks were arrested.”

But Filippi  made sure the club survived. Local residents remember Filippi had an outgoing and welcoming way that helped ensure club goers had a good time. Many times a bevy of local talented sidemen were used by the headliners. One well known figure was bassist extraordinaire Bob Petteruti. His story began as a young boy in his father’s now gone Pawtucket music store. Petteruti gigged a lot around town, and got a once in a lifetime opportunity — playing at the club with Duke Ellington.

Petteruti, who was opening a show with his small jazz group, was asked by Ellington to play a gig with the big band because the Duke’s bass player missed a train from NewYork City.  According to legend, Petteruti told Duke he couldn’t handle the gig, but Ellington insisted, saying just “do it man.”

That quote became the title of a well received documentary created by Norn Grant, former CCRI professor and expert videographer. “In the late 1950s, my father was in a house band at the Celebrity Club working four or five nights a week, many times for about $35 a gig,” said Tom Petteruti, Bob’s son. Petteruti, who plays drums with Brass Attack, has been a well known figure in the local music scene for the past 40 years.

Filippi recounted, “It wasn’t easy for my father in the beginning. On opening night [at the Celebrity Club] he had to borrow money for the club’s cash register, it was rough.”

But his father had a plan — a son of Italian immigrants that lived on Federal Hill, Filippi knew the value of hardwork. In the late 1940s, Filippi opened the bygone Garden Cafe in downtown Providence and used that money to help open the Celebrity Club as post-war America began its resurgence. He realized the need for a great local jazz venue, and felt Providence was a logical stop for jazz acts traveling from New York City to Boston.

As the club grew in popularity Filippi expanded to a second  listening room for jazz. “My father realized that a lot of African American music lovers needed a spot to hear live music,” said Blake Filippi, the founder’s son. “And they were tired of traveling all the way to Boston for dinner and music.”

Before the Celebrity Clubs’s opening in 1949, jazz lovers had to either make the trek to Boston to  a number of hot spots including Wally’s Hi Hat Lounge (now called Wally’s) or to fabled Storyville, operated by legendary George Wein, who created the Newport Jazz Fest. Filippi, who started his career at the defunct Crown Hotel as a bellhop, was a great businessman, said his son. “[My] father had the ability to see what people wanted in entertainment and was able to [satisfy] their needs.”

Since restarting in November 2021, The First Sunday Jazz Jam at The Parlour (Providence) has been steadily growing a dedicated following of musicians and listeners who have helped transform the monthly series into a community-focused evening of musical dialogue and celebration of jazz. I’ve had the good fortune to watch it all blossom first-hand as the house band leader, and feel it’s important to shine a light on all the folks who make this night special. So I asked a couple of them about their experiences at the jam.

Pre-pandemic, there used to be multiple sessions that an up-and-comer might be able to sit-in on, but since everything has reopened, few of those nights came back and of the ones that did, few remain. However, due to the unwavering support of Parlour owner Gregory Rourke, the First Sunday Jazz Jam was allowed to get its feet under it and has begun to flourish because of the support of a loyal base of fans and musicians who have been consistently packing the room. 

That includes saxophonist and jam stalwart Bill Scavotto who summed up his experience by saying, “The jazz jam at The Parlour has been a major factor in my progress as a musician as well as helping me gain the confidence to play on stage in front of a live audience and become a better musician.” Though in the beginning we did have our share of stumbles, as is true with any music series, the mission has remained consistent: to foster deeper connections in the music community, forge new relationships, and help musicians develop themselves and their art.

One great example of this at work is Sydney Mecca, a local saxophonist who, before going away to college, was a constant fixture at the jam. When I asked what makes the jam so important to her, she said, “It has given me the opportunity and experience to play with those in my community. I have always felt welcomed by the Parlour, from being a younger, more inexperienced player, to now as I’m trying to pursue music professionally. Without the Parlour opening its doors to me, I don’t think I would be pursuing jazz the way that I am today or have the courage to jam at the New York City jazz clubs, like smalls. I owe the Parlour a huge thank you for encouraging me to follow my passion for jazz!”

Going between the stage and audience, I’ve been able to witness so many beautiful moments. I’ve seen musicians play astounding music together who otherwise may never have met, watched friendships form over discussions of Dexter Gordon albums, and cheered on as someone takes the best solo of their lives and heard the crowd erupt in applause when they finished. When talking about this article with Daniel Hill, who plays keyboard for the house band, he reflected on a similar moment he experienced: “One time at the jam the house band wanted to challenge all the jammers to try playing more simplistic ideas when improvising. To give the audience an example, we played a simple tune in the key of C and I remember when it was my turn I was excited because I already had an idea where I wanted to go in my solo. As I was playing, it had a strong reaction from the crowd. It feels good when the crowd loves what you’re playing, but it was so special because it was one of those rare times where I felt 100% happy with what I played.”

What makes this jam great is that we have a wide spectrum of people – from older folks learning their first instruments, to high schoolers who can play circles around seasoned musicians – who come to play and support each other, not to show-off or get a gig, but for the simple love of playing this music with other people. We are so thankful for all those people who come out to play and grateful to folks who just come by to listen and enjoy the spirit we all share. Because of their support we are able to keep this thing going and let everyone partake in this beautiful, life-giving music we all love.

We are at The Parlour on the first Sunday of every month and will always be all-ages and all-abilities. For more information visit The Parlour on Facebook, and of course, come by the jam to see for yourself and sit in!

Ben Shaw is a local composer, performer, and writer. Find him at benjaminshawmusic.com and on Instagram at @benjaminshawmusic.

Happening Around Town:

The Autocrats; 1st Thursday monthly @ Askew (Providence), 8-11pm

First Sunday Jazz Jam at The Parlour; 1st Sunday monthly @ The Parlour (Providence), 6-8pm

Evening Sky; 2nd Saturday monthly @ The Parlour, 5-8pm

Clear Audience; 2nd Sunday monthly @ The Parlour, 6-8pm

Leland Baker Trio; Sundays @ Courtland Club (Providence) 8pm