COMING ATTRACTION: ROSEMOTHER’S JAM JAZZ CONCERT, MARLBORO-MORGANVILLE N J SUNDAY OCTOBER 18TH bY Calvin Schwartz

I met Rosemary Conte nearly four years ago at an Easter Sunday benefit concert to raise awareness and funds for homelessness in Ocean County; she organized the concert. It was through her social consciousness that helped to change my view of the world and launched my own journalistic efforts for homelessness awareness. Along the road these few years, I’ve also had pleasurable opportunities to hear Rosemary Conte, the jazz singer perform her evocative, emotional, soulful music.

At NJ Discover, we’re committed to the causes of homelessness, hunger, social awareness and music which is what Rosemary ( aptly nicknamed ‘Rosemother’)  is all about.  Her efforts are now focused on rekindling and inspiring the local jazz scene.  Some of the energy for this began in her house with old fashioned jazz jam sessions. Now it has evolved to a group called ‘Reality Jazz’ performing at the Monmouth Academy of Music Arts in Morganville. Actually this show is part of a broader project called ‘Rosemother’s Jam – 100% Jazz’.

bY Calvin Schwartz  10-10-15

SHOW INFORMATION:

Rosemother’s Jam Jazz Concert ~ Music you’ll love in an intimate setting. Reality Jazz ~ Sunday, Oct. 18, 3-5pm

Rosemary Conte, Vocals ~ Brad Mandigo, Piano

Bob Boyd, drums ~ Tony Cimorosi, bass

Monmouth Academy, Recital Room

1230 Campus Dr., Morganville-Marlboro, NJ ~ 732-617-1124

$15 Admission ~ $5 for students & Senior Citizens

PRESENTED BY: 

EXCERPTS FROM ROSEMARY’S PRESS RELEASE:

“Decades ago, there were jazz listening clubs all over NJ and especially the Shore, where I and other jazz artists played. You could hear a pin drop in a live jazz scene. Today, you rarely hear live jazz played by local jazz artists in a listening context. Jazz died at the Jersey Shore as another music was being born to run. Ironically, in the 70s, a young Clarence Clemons who lived across the street on Ocean Avenue, would come to the old Blue Water Inn in Sea Bright and ask to sit in with my band. We let him.”

“Rosemother’s Jam – 100% Jazz’ is my answer to the lack of opportunity for accomplished local jazz musicians to play live, the kind of music they’ve studied and loved all their lives, and for multi-generations of people to learn about jazz. I’ve opened my home to monthly jazz jam sessions. I invite them three to five players at a time, to play their own compositions and classic and newer jazz repertoire, unencumbered by the roles they serve playing local bars and restaurants, and in pop oriented event bands.”

“We’ve been jamming together for six months, and music fans have asked if they can come over when we play. This tells me that despite what I hear from Shore venues, there is an interest in jazz and people just might support it if they could find it. I want to do my part to develop a greater audience for jazz and to introduce it to the younger generations.”

“My living room is too small for an audience of any size, so I’ve rented a recital room at a music school. The October 18 concert will be the first Rosemother’s Public Jam”

“Jazz education and preservation is important to me, and there’s an education component to my jazz jam project that can’t be simulated in a classroom. Under the Rosemother’s Jam umbrella, I’ve created the Fly On Wall Program.”

“I’m inviting music students interested in jazz, a couple at a time, to be ‘flies on the wall’ during jams at my house … to observe the pros discussing a piece of music, its form, improvising, and masterfully playing ensemble. I’m reaching out to local colleges and universities to connect their music students to this opportunity. There is no fee for this.”