New York City’s summer concert season just got very cool with the Hot Jazz/Cool Garden 2014. Three hot NYC jazz bands will play in Louis’s Garden this summer: Emily Asher’s Garden Party on Friday, July 4 – Louis Armstrong’s birthday, Bria Skonberg Quartet on Saturday, July 19 and Gordon Au & the Grand Street Stompers on Saturday, Aug. 16. In true party tradition, concerts include complimentary red beans n’ rice based on Louis’s favorite recipe & sweet tea. And, since Louis always celebrated his birthday on July 4 birthday cake will be served during the Fourth of July concert! Hot Jazz / Cool Garden, now in its eighth year, is a highlight to the Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Summer with Satchmo season.
Meet the Bands:
Emily Asher’s Garden Party –
Friday, July 4 at 2 p.m.
Led by Asher’s tenacious trombone and sweet vocals, this band of All-stars from New York’s vibrant early jazz scene draws on a diverse repertoire of American standards and originals. From Louis Armstrong’s Enchanting Hot Fives and Duke Ellington’s sophisticated melodies to the funky and soulful music of New Orleans brass bands. Garden Party plays regularly in New York, Boston, Pennsylvania, has three West Coast Tours under their belt and was a featured band at The 2013 Super Jazz Ashdod international Jazz Festival in Israel. The Wall Street Journal calls Garden Party “a deliberately prosaic name deviously calculated to describe a very exciting combo” and named their recent EP, “Carnival of Joy” a “superior album.” Louis Armstrong biographer, Ricky Riccardi raves that Garden Party is ”simply extraordinary hot jazz played by some of the finest young musicians devoted to keeping this music alive today.”
Bria Skonberg Quartet –
Saturday, July 19 at 2 p.m.
The Bria Skonberg Quartet is a powerhouse combination of emerging talent in the New York jazz scene. Leader Bria Skonberg is “poised to be one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” compliments the Wall Street Journal. This year she earned a Jazz Journalists’ Association nomination for “Up and Coming Jazz Artist of The Year”, is included in Downbeat Magazine’s Rising Star Critics‘ Poll, and was honored a NY Bistro Award for “Outstanding Jazz Artist”. Best known for her knowledge of classic jazz and instigative nature, she has created a style rooted in hot jazz, world percussion, soul and modern effects for her new album “Into Your Own” (Random Act Records 2014). Bria brings with her Bassist Sean Cronin, a free spirited musical mastermind, Pianist Dalton Ridenhour who has been a featured artist at ragtime festivals since his early teens and Darrian Douglas on drums who moved to New Orleans in 2008 where he took over the drum chair in the Ellis Marsalis’ Quartet for the next four years.
Gordon Au & the
Grand Street Stompers –
Saturday, Aug. 16 at 2 p.m.
With one foot stomping in vintage tradition and the other in modern style, the Stompers featuring Gordon Au, trumpet; Matt Koza, clarinet; Jake Handelman, trombone; Nick Russo, banjo/guitar and Rob Adkins, bass delight audiences with everything from Louis Armstrong hits and New Orleans favorites to exciting originals, covers of famous classical themes, and even their own joyous adaptations of Disney, TV, film, and pop music. Their appeal to both young and old – to both swing dancers and sit-down music lovers, has earned them a devoted and diverse following in their hometown of New York City. The Stompers have been featured at the famed Cafe Carlyle, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Jazz Festival, the DIY Bushwick Music Festival, the New York Hot Jazz Festival; The Salon, Wit’s End, Shanghai Mermaid, Bobo’s Halloween Masquerade Ball, New Jersey Swing, along with other swanky, cool venues.
Tickets for Hot Jazz/Cool Garden:
Advance tickets for Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Hot Jazz/Cool Garden include a complimentary Historic House Tour pass (good for 6 months). Advance single tickets are $18. A series subscription is available for $45 and includes reserved VIP seats. Tickets at the door are $20. Advance tickets can only be purchased online at LouisArmstrongHouse.org. Parking is available in the neighborhood and the museum is accessible by subway via the 7 train.
The Louis Armstrong House Museum is located at 34-56 107th St. in Corona. The museum is open Tuesday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Travel directions and more at LouisArmstrongHouse.org or (718) 478-8274. The Louis Armstrong House Museum is open six days per week, 52 weeks per year.
