FEATURING

A Desire for Art (4/26-5/3)

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Week in Review Week in Review

As a writer with an artist’s bent, I know what it is to have a desire for art. For me, it brings together the sum total of my being. Sometimes it’s about skewing ordinary reality into another vision; sometimes it’s about capturing a great moment in time; as a writer it’s about sculpting an idea into a completed form, with all of the pieces working together to resonate with truth.

Not only does art satisfy my desire for self-expression, it fulfills my need to bring order upon experience. Art allows me to take that leap of the imagination and arrive at some place in an unpredictable universe, knowing that regardless, I will be safe.

For each of us who create art, the process is a very personal one, triggered by any number of impulses. The more artists that you talk to, the more you realize there is no right or wrong way to do it. What is the reference point from which your world view begins to expand and becomes a work of art in the making?

This weekend I went to the Greenwood Lake Library’s Art Extravaganza, which brought together eight artists, whose work had been on display previously as solo exhibits at the library. Pat Foxx, who has exhibited and taught for many years in the area, was the first artist I spoke to.  She shared with me her current work: a series of acrylics that depict dreamy landscapes that are on display at the Seligmann Center for the Arts with a reception on Sunday, 5/5, from 2 - 5 p.m. Pat’s also a seasoned art instructor, watercolorist, and works at Fine Architectural Metalsmiths.  I enjoyed viewing her portfolio of earlier work, when she was a professional fabric artist for 17 years. For Pat she says, "Looking within has become more important than representing the outside world. My work has become more abstract over time. But my love for nature prevails."

Arthur Patrick Gilmore is a fine watercolorist who has refined his art over many years. Traces of his earlier education, with an emphasis on abstract expressionism, can be found in his current art, an exhibition focused on the street life of NYC. His paintings center around people mingling and moving, capturing NYC’s unique energy. Gilmore says that “Creating art is about staying in the here and now; it’s not about arriving at some destination in the future.”

{besps}weekinreview/desireforart{/besps}

Leila Noueihed’s work I found interesting in terms of blending her sense of expressionism with realism.  An experimental artist (is not all art experimental) focused on creating landscapes, Leila is also a Renaissance woman, with a rich linguistic background, a medical degree and a love for music. Despite not having any training as an artist, her natural abilities have taken her far and speak to the idea that if you have something you want to express, express it, even if it is raw and untamed.

Gerry Zanetti’s fine photography stands alone in terms of his unique focus: Close-up shots of food. Very commercially viable, Gerry spent a career shooting food for a long list of clients. As someone who appreciates good close-ups, I marveled at Gerry’s photos and their attention to detail, use of lighting and the way in which he captured the essence of a wide variety of food. Looking at an entire body of work from his website, I am convinced that Gerry has mastered his art form.

Other artists whose work I viewed included , Mustafa Al-Rahaman, Melissa Reichert, and Danielle Barbour. With a couple of these artists it was interesting to note how travel inspires art, as in the paintings of Levistsky and the photography of Reichert. Barbour produces a wide range of art, following her many passions including writing, sculpting, painting, inventing and model building. Mustafa is autistic and his work seems to capture a very colorful interior world.

Art is a great way to give meaning to our lives. I know. After I complete my week in review, I feel refreshed, knowing that I took the time to process an experience and create a small work of art.

Art for its own sake fulfills a need in me that seems to calm a restless energy. Once that desire is satiated, I feel more complete.

Letter 4: You don’t win a long shot without making a bet

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Letters from My Father: Lessons I've Learned Letters from My Father: Lessons I've Learned

I’m not exactly sure what emboldened me to become an actor. Or at least make an attempt at it. Maybe it was that gambler’s streak on my father’s side of the family. As I said, my Uncle Frank, who was actually my father’s uncle, was a bookie for many years and a professional card player.  Several of Uncle Frank’s brother’s were gamblers as well. Over the years we got to hear some of those stories such as Uncle Pete’s Ha, Ha club in NYC, during the 50’s, where Burt Lancaster came and many bets were placed on ball games, or Uncle Bennie who owned Top of the Mast down the Jersey shore, or Uncle Jimmy, who was always borrowing money from Uncle Frank to cover his losses. These were my father’s uncles. His Dad, also named John, was a straight laced businessman who would have nothing to do with gambling.

My gamble was a different kind of gamble. I believed I was investing in myself and thus when I determined to become an actor, I wanted to be prepared as much as possible, taking an acting class at Michigan and getting in my first play, going to summer school at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, doing an internship at the American Stage Company in Teaneck, NJ, where I was also studying scene study, and finally getting a summer internship in summer stock theatre. By any measure, these were just the starting points for pursuing a career in acting. But when you are young, you expect that the world will open its doors to you and that you will step through into the room of success, immediately. Like most actors, I was waiting for that big break, expecting that it could come at anytime.

It was during that summer at the Hampton Playhouse in Hampton, New Hampshire, that I received another batch of Dad’s letters. About one a week over an 8 week period. That season he was occupied with horseracing, as he had never been before, because a couple of his doctor friends persuaded him to become a part owner in a horse that would turn-out to do phenomenally well on the horse trotting circuit. They were winning races and thus taking home the winning purses. And they were spending a pretty penny to keep up an extravagant horse racing lifestyle.

In one of those letters Dad touched on it:

Few horses ever win let alone get to the great races. It’s been a thrill due to pure luck. He has won over $200,000. We paid $77,000. We have been paid back $70,000 and if he wins another race or two we should make a few dollars. Vet bills, training and entrance fees ate up the rest. Few in horse racing make a lot of money and as soon as we make a profit Uncle Sam will get 38%. But has it been fun! Most horse owners are rich to begin with but few can buy their way into the “Hambo.” (Dad was referring to the Hambletonian, the Kentucky Derby of the Trotta Racing World).

When we were growing up, Dad enjoyed the horse races on a much smaller scale, taking our family to Belmont where we’d sit in one of the par chairs and enjoy an afternoon watching horses run, placing small bets and having a nice lunch. To me, it seemed very civilized. Because Dad was a doctor, he had some special privileges and entitlements, which I always admired, realizing not only is there a price to be paid for becoming a doctor, but that there are “perks” as well. Once I became a successful actor, I too would be afforded similar opportunities, I thought to myself. The sky was the limit when you made it as an actor.

I really enjoyed those trips to the horse races, as the idea of placing a two dollar bet on a horse and winning really appealed to my sense of adventure. It also exercised my mind as I would pour over the horse racing notes, studying each horse’s profile before I placed my bet. There was more to betting than just throwing your dime down like you might on a lottery ticket. Horse racing was a game of strategy. My Uncle Frank was a poker player and that too was a game of strategy in which he fared well because he knew the game better than most. Gambler’s could be winners if they knew what they were doing. Aspiring actor’s could make it to the top of their game if they properly calculated a path to success. Smart strategy was the name of the game and my strategy was to get experience and pay my dues on my way to the top.

My summer at Hampton was an internship, mostly in which I had opportunities to act in some children’s theatre like the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, playing the role of Judge Thatcher, or doing some background work in one of the main stage musicals, like 42^nd Street and My One and Only, where I had a bit part as a photographer. I was not a musical theatre guy, not having training or confidence in singing and dancing, and so most of the roles in the theatre productions did not avail themselves to me.  Like most interns, I worked on props management, set building, working the spotlight during show time and parking cars prior to the curtain’s opening. Hampton Playhouse was about a mile or so down the road from the beach, where I would routinely go to workout, jog and bring my journal and write. Frequent parties amongst the cast and interns also made summer stock a most enjoyable and memorable experience. I even met a girl who lived there for the summer and we had a romance for a couple of weeks.

Another letter from my father came around this time, expressing concern about my future.

Dear George.

It was good to get your letter and I’m glad the summer has turned out well for you. I’m concerned about your future. I won’t discourage you. I believe you are obligated to determine your own fate, just as you should be the one to reap its rewards or take the honest blame should it fail….Unfortunately, the career you have chosen is not only uncertain, it is painfully associated with chronic financial discomfort. But such is the lot of every true artist. Most of the time there is great alienation from family as few parents bestow their blessings toward such an uncertain endeavor. You have my blessing but I worry.

I’m sure you agonize daily, weigh all the minutiae over your progress, ability and commitment. I have no advice to give and no one has more faith in you than me. I want you to be happy but certainly cannot be a cause of it for very long.

Somehow, like all of us, you are as much a product of your times as your genetic make-up. Some unknown force propels you to the most difficult of tasks. I guess you will be up for it when the time comes, but like the rest of us you too may not be another “Amadeus.” George, when you are close to being broke (I’ve been there like most), you begin to panic or think less clearly. You deserve a chance to get to your goal. Enclosed is a check which should take some of the pressure off. It’s not a legacy; it’s what I can afford.

With every letter that Dad sent that summer, there was a check in the envelope to help me get through that summer. Dad’s checks always took the financial burden off. But I wonder if it would have made me hungrier for earning my own success if those checks never arrived and I had to earn it on my own?

Biloxi Blues was the last play of the season and it was my great hope that I would be cast in it. After seeing it on Broadway starring Mathew Broderick I decided at that point I was going to become an actor. To get cast in the play, one of the few straight plays in Hampton’s repertoire, would mean a lot to me. Unfortunately after trying out, I was not cast and recall being very discouraged, as I had not made the cut while a couple of my intern buddies made it into the show. I took it personally, as if the executive directors at the Playhouse simply overlooked my talent.

I must have expressed to my father my desire to continue studying acting after this setback. My father responded, who was now exuberant over Crown’s Best, who had just won a big race in Saratoga, breaking a track record and was headed to the Hambletonian.

He wrote:

Only a handful of horses have ever run this fast, making him much more valuable and a possibility to be selected for a stud at the end of this year. We seem to have a horse! It is exciting to win a long shot, and George you are part of a similar horse race. It is a gamble whether you will come out on top and the process of becoming is long and the stakes in both cases very high and higher in your case because it becomes an all or nothing, your whole career at stake. You don’t win a long shot without making a bet.

We learned some things with the horse. He needed a good trainer. Who trains you? You seem to be getting exposure, then you mention “connections.” I guess you need to make them, but how? Graduate School? Dad is down on schools but Dad has been wrong too often. Just seems like such a waste for “connections.”

At this point I was intent on studying acting further, desiring a secure place where I could safely pursue acting without the fear of failing. More time, either in graduate school, or acting school might be that secure haven and so I was committed on embarking on a more formal education to get me to my goal. That strategy seemed to work for my father, when he embarked on a road to medical school. That same road could work for me too. I would get training and become skilled as an actor.

Looking back, my father seemed to be right. Should I have listened? But then again, I was responsible for my own destiny. In one of the letters that summer my father included a newspaper clipping about one of my best friends in elementary school, whose marriage to his high school sweetheart was announced in the local paper, with a mention of their distinguished honors in college, graduates of such and such school, with bright prospects for their future together, as they would reside in NYC and were certainly headed toward having children and living the American Dream.

I would take another road. It became painful, as the years passed, and I did not taste victory from the cup of my own pursuits, that I had possibly missed out on a rite of passage that belonged to my friends, who chose steadier and more certain paths. That I did not lean on my honors or credentials and seek the more conventional path of career and children would be a source of ambivalence and later self-doubt, as my plans did not go as expected.

Had I really chosen my destiny or would I have to wait longer to find out? I would guess your destiny is never really known until the fat lady sings and the show is over.

Crown’s Best never did win the Hambletonian. He was beaten by Mack Lobell, who turned out to be a superb horse. In the Chicago Tribune it was written:

The most dominant athlete in sport is not Orel Hershiser or Jose Canseco. Not Mike Tyson or Michael Jordan. Not even Steffi Graf. No, the closest thing we have to a mortal lock these days is named Mack Lobell, and when he is really cranked up, all four legs are off the ground simultaneously and there is this distinct impression that he really is running on air. He holds track records at nine tracks. No trotter in history has ever raced a mile faster than he-over a half-mile track, a...

There was disappointment of course. But there were never any illusions that Crown’s Best would prevail. “It was pure luck,” Dad said, “that he had come this far.”

Soon after Crown’s Best, my father bought another horse named 'Morning Glory.' There was one letter that made mention of him. But I never heard anything further, assuming the horse did not make the grade and was soon sold off.

You don’t win a long shot without making a bet. I suppose learning when to fold em’ is another lesson to heed. I was still running with no signs of slowing down. I didn't even know what the field ahead looked like. I was a very stubborn horse, wearing blinders.

The World is Wide Open (4/19-4/26) (2)

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Travel Travel

Last Sunday afternoon at the Breezy Point Inn, I had the pleasure of going to a Fashion Show that featured some of the clothing of the Depot and The Style Counsel (See our photo album on FB). I had gotten a last minute email by Mark Levy, owner of the Depot, reminding me of the event, which I failed to put on our events calendar.

I felt bad about that. But it’s hard to get it all on our calendar. Living down the road from the Breezy, I thought I would make it up to Mark by stopping in and taking some pictures. Mark was glad to see me and kindly offered me a glass of wine. He said “I’m glad you came.” Then he said, “You know, I’ve been reading the magazine online but I’m not sure what your focus is.” I have gotten to know Mark and truly enjoy him for his candor and unique sense of humor. It goes beyond just building a relationship with an advertiser.

He got me thinking. Yes, when one goes to Warwick Valley Living’s website, one discovers a variety of subject matter and that might lead one to wonder what our central theme is. Just look at our menu tabs and you see that we traverse a broad spectrum. When I started the publication, I may have been a little more ambitious than reality would allow. With only 24 hours in a day and not many writers to push out content, I discovered I couldn’t get to everything myself. That made me even more in awe of the NY Times. And very envious that we did not have a writing staff.

Two weeks ago if you had read our publication you would have discovered a memoir, a TV review on a national television program, an announcement regarding a documentary film showing at the Tribeca film festival in NYC, and a featured event with the Gabriele Tranchina quartet, which is this Saturday night at Silvio’s Italian Villa in Warwick (Read more). We also produce an extensive events calendar and occasionally promote an event or two. If I’ve been consistent about anything, it is our weekly calendar that our publication seems to be noted for.

In response to Mark I said, “We do have a great events calendar. Maybe I should just focus our publication around events. What do you think?” He didn’t say anything. “Actually Mark I really didn’t mean that,” correcting myself. “There is something about writing stories that interests me. And I’m a liberal arts man. I’m into the macro. I can’t be bothered with specialized subject matter. That would eliminate much of our audience.”

Mark remained silent . Then I said, “Our publication is centered around culture, education and art. Our aim is to be the PBS of the Warwick Valley.” When I said it, it sounded a bit hollow and untrue, maybe even a little high falutin. With all of our advertisers, I also provide coverage of business. We are a for profit business, unlike PBS, making it on a very thin margin. So what are we really focused on? What is our niche? The Warwick Valley?

A young girl wearing a well fitted outfit from the Depot flashed her bright smile as I was sipping on the wine. I grabbed my camera and snapped a picture. Another girl, a little older, paraded out in another Depot outfit, equally as beautiful and I snapped her picture. Then a few adults came out, each wearing more clothing from this outfitter.

I said, “Mark, Warwick Valley Living is about the talented people that live in our neighborhood, like these models.” It was a revelation for me. Perhaps I am a source for producing and showcasing talents through our publication. Though we aim to promote businesses, as a publisher what I am most focused on is promoting  people working together, through their talents, to create a more positive and creative environment. 

After the event, I enjoyed a drive through Greenwood Lake going towards Warwick traveling over the majestic Mt. Peter pass, where I stopped at Bellvale Creamery and looked out at a view of the Warwick Valley. Then I made my way to the Seligmann Center for the Arts, where I enjoyed a great fundraising concert courtesy of the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival (Read more). Taking pictures, I was focused on the talent of musicians playing their hearts and souls out and vowed too that was worthy of writing about.

Discovering the Warwick Valley, that’s what we are about. But don’t hold me to it. The world is wide open and anything is possible.

A Desire for Art (4/26-5/3) (2)

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Art and Photography Art and Photography

As a writer with an artist’s bent, I know what it is to have a desire for art. For me, it brings together the sum total of my being. Sometimes it’s about skewing ordinary reality into another vision; sometimes it’s about capturing a great moment in time; as a writer it’s about sculpting an idea into a completed form, with all of the pieces working together to resonate with truth.

Not only does art satisfy my desire for self-expression, it fulfills my need to bring order upon experience. Art allows me to take that leap of the imagination and arrive at some place in an unpredictable universe, knowing that regardless, I will be safe.

For each of us who create art, the process is a very personal one, triggered by any number of impulses. The more artists that you talk to, the more you realize there is no right or wrong way to do it. What is the reference point from which your world view begins to expand and becomes a work of art in the making?

This weekend I went to the Greenwood Lake Library’s Art Extravaganza, which brought together eight artists, whose work had been on display previously as solo exhibits at the library. Pat Foxx, who has exhibited and taught for many years in the area, was the first artist I spoke to.  She shared with me her current work: a series of acrylics that depict dreamy landscapes that are on display at the Seligmann Center for the Arts with a reception on Sunday, 5/5, from 2 - 5 p.m. Pat’s also a seasoned art instructor, watercolorist, and works at Fine Architectural Metalsmiths.  I enjoyed viewing her portfolio of earlier work, when she was a professional fabric artist for 17 years. For Pat she says, "Looking within has become more important than representing the outside world. My work has become more abstract over time. But my love for nature prevails."

Arthur Patrick Gilmore is a fine watercolorist who has refined his art over many years. Traces of his earlier education, with an emphasis on abstract expressionism, can be found in his current art, an exhibition focused on the street life of NYC. His paintings center around people mingling and moving, capturing NYC’s unique energy. Gilmore says that “Creating art is about staying in the here and now; it’s not about arriving at some destination in the future.”

{besps}weekinreview/desireforart{/besps}

Leila Noueihed’s work I found interesting in terms of blending her sense of expressionism with realism.  An experimental artist (is not all art experimental) focused on creating landscapes, Leila is also a Renaissance woman, with a rich linguistic background, a medical degree and a love for music. Despite not having any training as an artist, her natural abilities have taken her far and speak to the idea that if you have something you want to express, express it, even if it is raw and untamed.

Gerry Zanetti’s fine photography stands alone in terms of his unique focus: Close-up shots of food. Very commercially viable, Gerry spent a career shooting food for a long list of clients. As someone who appreciates good close-ups, I marveled at Gerry’s photos and their attention to detail, use of lighting and the way in which he captured the essence of a wide variety of food. Looking at an entire body of work from his website, I am convinced that Gerry has mastered his art form.

Other artists whose work I viewed included , Mustafa Al-Rahaman, Melissa Reichert, and Danielle Barbour. With a couple of these artists it was interesting to note how travel inspires art, as in the paintings of Levistsky and the photography of Reichert. Barbour produces a wide range of art, following her many passions including writing, sculpting, painting, inventing and model building. Mustafa is autistic and his work seems to capture a very colorful interior world.

Art is a great way to give meaning to our lives. I know. After I complete my week in review, I feel refreshed, knowing that I took the time to process an experience and create a small work of art.

Art for its own sake fulfills a need in me that seems to calm a restless energy. Once that desire is satiated, I feel more complete.

The World is Wide Open (4/19-4/26)

Details

Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Week in Review Week in Review

Last Sunday afternoon at the Breezy Point Inn, I had the pleasure of going to a Fashion Show that featured some of the clothing of the Depot and The Style Counsel (See our photo album on FB). I had gotten a last minute email by Mark Levy, owner of the Depot, reminding me of the event, which I failed to put on our events calendar.

I felt bad about that. But it’s hard to get it all on our calendar. Living down the road from the Breezy, I thought I would make it up to Mark by stopping in and taking some pictures. Mark was glad to see me and kindly offered me a glass of wine. He said “I’m glad you came.” Then he said, “You know, I’ve been reading the magazine online but I’m not sure what your focus is.” I have gotten to know Mark and truly enjoy him for his candor and unique sense of humor. It goes beyond just building a relationship with an advertiser.

He got me thinking. Yes, when one goes to Warwick Valley Living’s website, one discovers a variety of subject matter and that might lead one to wonder what our central theme is. Just look at our menu tabs and you see that we traverse a broad spectrum. When I started the publication, I may have been a little more ambitious than reality would allow. With only 24 hours in a day and not many writers to push out content, I discovered I couldn’t get to everything myself. That made me even more in awe of the NY Times. And very envious that we did not have a writing staff.

Two weeks ago if you had read our publication you would have discovered a memoir, a TV review on a national television program, an announcement regarding a documentary film showing at the Tribeca film festival in NYC, and a featured event with the Gabriele Tranchina quartet, which is this Saturday night at Silvio’s Italian Villa in Warwick (Read more). We also produce an extensive events calendar and occasionally promote an event or two. If I’ve been consistent about anything, it is our weekly calendar that our publication seems to be noted for.

In response to Mark I said, “We do have a great events calendar. Maybe I should just focus our publication around events. What do you think?” He didn’t say anything. “Actually Mark I really didn’t mean that,” correcting myself. “There is something about writing stories that interests me. And I’m a liberal arts man. I’m into the macro. I can’t be bothered with specialized subject matter. That would eliminate much of our audience.”

Mark remained silent . Then I said, “Our publication is centered around culture, education and art. Our aim is to be the PBS of the Warwick Valley.” When I said it, it sounded a bit hollow and untrue, maybe even a little high falutin. With all of our advertisers, I also provide coverage of business. We are a for profit business, unlike PBS, making it on a very thin margin. So what are we really focused on? What is our niche? The Warwick Valley?

A young girl wearing a well fitted outfit from the Depot flashed her bright smile as I was sipping on the wine. I grabbed my camera and snapped a picture. Another girl, a little older, paraded out in another Depot outfit, equally as beautiful and I snapped her picture. Then a few adults came out, each wearing more clothing from this outfitter.

I said, “Mark, Warwick Valley Living is about the talented people that live in our neighborhood, like these models.” It was a revelation for me. Perhaps I am a source for producing and showcasing talents through our publication. Though we aim to promote businesses, as a publisher what I am most focused on is promoting  people working together, through their talents, to create a more positive and creative environment. 

After the event, I enjoyed a drive through Greenwood Lake going towards Warwick traveling over the majestic Mt. Peter pass, where I stopped at Bellvale Creamery and looked out at a view of the Warwick Valley. Then I made my way to the Seligmann Center for the Arts, where I enjoyed a great fundraising concert courtesy of the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival (Read more). Taking pictures, I was focused on the talent of musicians playing their hearts and souls out and vowed too that was worthy of writing about.

Discovering the Warwick Valley, that’s what we are about. But don’t hold me to it. The world is wide open and anything is possible.

Jazzing it Up

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Music Music

There is a buzz in the air as momentum is building once again for another exciting Hudson Valley Jazz Festival to be held August 8^th – 11^th . Last weekend the organization held a fundraiser at the Seligmann Center for the Arts, hosted by The Orange County Arts Council with a large audience turning out to enjoy a performance featuring area jazz musicians.Steve Rubin, festival founder and producer said, "It's fantastic to not only hear these great players, but the great vibe is what makes this community.”

Now entering its ^4th season, the festival continues to improve and grow. Rubin works tirelessly throughout the year to galvanize musicians, build relationships with new and existing venues, promote jazz performers and make additions to the festival. Behind all of that is his fierce drive to market to a larger audience outside the area with an outcome of promoting tourism on the local scene.

At the heart of the festival are the participating players that reside in and around the area. Jeff Ciampa, Richard Kimball, Mike Jackson, Andrew Ezrin, Dave Smith, Rick Savage, Gabriele and Joe Tranchina, Chris Persad and Bob Rosen represent a small handful of musicians who perform regularly and who will be participating in this year’s event. "The goal remains to highlight local talent while expanding the local sphere, alongside some highly successful musicians in the context of a festival,” says Rubin.

In the past Rubin with the tremendous support of participating venues has had notable names like Arturo O’Farrill, Bill Evans, Todd Williams and Bobby Sanabria .This year’s festival will highlight two distinguished names from the wider Jazz Community: Dave Liebman and John Abercrombie. Liebman’s career has spanned over four decades, beginning in the early ‘70s, when he performed and recorded in the groups of drummer Elvin Jones and Miles Davis. Since then, the prolific Liebman has lead his own groups featuring many great musicians and has consistently been rated as one of the top Soprano Saxophone players in the world.

Guitarist John Abercrombie has a career spanning more than 40 years and nearly 50 albums, establishing himself as one the masters of jazz guitar. Favoring unusual sounds and nontraditional ensembles, Abercrombie is a restless experimenter, working firmly in the jazz tradition while pushing the boundaries of meter and harmony.

The HVJF is also offering a week of jazz education, which will be directed by veteran musician and music educator, Bob Rosen. "The model for this summer's workshop is a time-honored one that works," says Rosen. “It works for both the Western European classical tradition and for the historically more recent American jazz tradition.”

The program will offer a curriculum of instrumental instruction coupled with performance ensemble rehearsal with an emphasis on jazz improvisation. At the end of the week the students will integrate what they have learned in performance with professional jazz musicians participating at the venues.

The Hudson Valley Jazz Festival will honor pianist and composer Richard Kimball with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Kimball’s long tenure in the music business, his body of work and all that he has done in the community of Warwick for over 30+ years will be recognized.

Although we are only in the month of April, you can bet that there will be more developments in motion. Like any good improvisation within a structured format, what makes this festival special is its constantly evolving nature towards an electrifying conclusion.

Save the date, the festival is Aug 8 - 11.  Additional information, and developing schedule at hudsonvalleyjazzfest.org