Matt Niess
Jazz Alive, a Talbot County, Maryland-based foundation dedicated to the continuation and preservation of jazz, brings trombonist Matt Niess to its popular live YouTube show “Jazz Tales” on Wednesday, April 14, at 7 p.m.
A Washington, DC based cross-over trombonist who served in The U.S. Army Band (Pershing’s Own) for 30 years, Matt is a former high school band director and is currently the Director of Brass Studies and Professor of Trombone at The Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. He is the founder and director of The Capitol Bones, The National Jazz Workshop and has appeared as a soloist, clinician, and adjudicator at numerous venues throughout the United States.
“Jazz Tales” is an ongoing series of shows featuring leading jazz voices from the DelMarVa and Washington, D.C. region. The hour and fifteen-minute show features live performances and interviews in an intimate setting hosted by Jazz Alive founder and pianist Fred Hughes.
Information and live-stream passes are available online at Jazz-Alive.org and the program can be viewed at any time once it is published–along with an archive of past episodes that feature a range of jazz artists including vocalist Sara Jones, guitarist Steve Abshire, bassist Paul Langosch, trombonist Greg Boyer, and saxophonist Paul Carr.
Jazz Alive is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that works throughout the Eastern Shore with community groups and school music organizations to build appreciation for jazz, America’s indigenous art form.
The Avalon Foundation announces the 2021 official opening of its brand new outdoor music venue, The Avalon’s Stoltz Pavilion. Conceived and constructed in 2020 as a means to keep music going amidst pandemic restrictions, the organization is very excited to program the space over the course of an entire spring, summer and fall. “We are going to program predominantly for the outdoors until the world gets back closer to normal,” said Suzy Moore, Artistic Director at The Avalon.
The Stoltz Pavilion was built from the ground up to ensure that audiences, staff, volunteers, and performers can enjoy live music, while substantially mitigating health risks. But it was also a way to offer musicians a chance to play and make a living again. Putting the hard-hit professional musicians back to work gives audiences a reminder that normal life is on the horizon. While Covid safety measures will stay in place in the immediate future, the Avalon will roll with the changes as the situation continues to evolve. “Yes we must still be safe. And we will abide by that rule first,” said Jess Bellis CFO and COO at The Avalon. “Safety has been at the forefront of our minds ever since our industry vanished into thin air and we were left to reinvent ourselves in 2020. Safety was the reason we came up with putting up an outdoor venue when everything else was shutting down. Keith Stoltz and The Stoltz family made it happen.”
Statistics show that more people are going to head out to a concert this year than ever before. Gene Simmons of KISS offers this advice when doing so. “Rock is dead. Not because the talent isn’t there, but because the business model just doesn’t work. And so that leaves live performances. And I really hope once this vaccine takes hold that people go out to the local clubs and see all the new bands and support new bands. Like a baby that’s on the floor, go up there, pick that baby up and coddle it, give it love, because those new bands need your love. It’s not going to affect me. I make a living, but the new bands need the love and attention. Don’t just go see Metallica and Taylor Swift or KISS. On the weekends, go to a place that’s got live music. You need to support the new generation of talented people who are musicians and writers and so on. Don’t let the robots take away everything.’”
