A very special event took place in a historic, very beautiful and very spacious 1930 Georgian Revival-style mansion with an adjoining auditorium known now as The Woodland. It was completed in 1930 as an elegant home for the Maplewood Woman’s Club and has served as a hub for Maplewood Township's cultural and civic life for over eight decades.
The Great Hall at The Woodland
The Woodland was designated a local historic landmark in 2014 and this architectural jewel houses two unique spaces — The Parlor and The Great Hall. These venues are used frequently for public events. Tonight, the Woodland was beautifully decked out for this very important live music performance.
The Bernie Williams-Gil Parris Quartet Come To Town
On October 22, a unique and powerful set of live music performances added to The Woodland’s wonderful historical legacy. Four-time World Series Champion and five-time All Star New York Yankee Baseball legend Bernie Williams was coming to Maplewood-South Orange, NJ.
The excitement was in the air as Bernie Williams, the former Yankee Baseball player, now a guitar virtuoso/Latin Grammy Nominee, was coming to perform in the Great Hall at the Woodland. Teamed up with long-time friend and fellow musician, guitarist, Grammy Nominee and bandleader Gil Parris, the expectations were high and you could feel the music in the air.
Smooth Jazz Productions
Rich Engel is a New Jersey resident who has for decades been involved with Smooth Jazz in NY and “Smooth Cruises.'' For us local folks, Rich was the Owner of Live At Nite Sound, Producer of Smooth Cruise N.Y.C., created the Angela Bofill Experience stage show, and produced this event. He produced and released Angela Bofill "Live From Manila" CD on the independent Black Angel label. Also, he produced the German release Saundra Records "Bigfoot " featuring our local musicians Bassist John Lee and Drummer Jerry Brown along with Danny Toan. The night’s programming became my favorite theme of jazz across the generations with a fabulous opening act by local up and coming jazz group The Baker Street Trio.
Opening Act - The Baker Street Trio
This was a genius move, as the Baker Street Trio consists of 3 young teenagers ages 14, 15 and 16. They began playing together through Montclair's Jazz House Kids.
“The trio was formed in the Fall of 2020 out of these young musicians' love for jazz and the need to be able to play together -- safely, outdoors. They played a standing gig through the Fall and Winter of 2020 on a street corner on Baker Street in Maplewood Village, and in doing so during these tough times entertained and brought the joy of jazz to countless appreciative audiences.” - Lisa Mainardi
Quick Background - The Baker Street Trio
The Baker Street Trio with Bassist Ben Ruebens filling in at Jazz On Sloan, South Orange, NJ
I encountered the group during various events this year like the Maplewood Porchfest, the 24 Hours Of Music Jamboree, and the Baker Street Trio has also performed for me in South Orange. See Baker Street Trio Debuts in Summer Saturdays at Jazz On Sloan St.
My comments upon hearing them: “Baker Street Trio—3 teenagers (14, 15, and 17) will be making a serious mark on Jazz for a long time. These young cats were killing it... After listening to them perform a number of tunes — if you closed your eyes, you would've thought they had way more experience than their actual ages combined. These young folks were swinging hard. I highly recommend all jazz fans should check them out whenever, wherever you can."
Hence, I for one was very happy to see these young dedicated jazz musicians opening for the Bernie Williams-Gil Parris Quartet.
The Baker Street Trio with Ace Williams
Introduced by the guest MC, Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee, The Baker Street Trio, Ben Collins-Siegal, Ben Schwartz and Ryoma Takenaga, came out strong and performed a thunderous tune “The End of a Love Affair” by Edward Redding. It was fast moving and grabbed the audience by the ears as it was a perfect engaging opening song that said there is nothing timid or young about us, we are here to play!
For a jazz lover, their next two tunes were a tribute to multiple Grammy winner Roy Hargrove and it was a perfect tribute. Roy was born Oct 16, 1969 and passed Nov 18, 2018 and will be loved and remembered by the Jazz community forever. Joining in this tribute was the very talented teenage trumpeter Ace Williams, son of a Maplewood resident, the award winning performer/composer Jazz tenor Saxophonist Willie Williams. They performed Roy’s tunes “Top of My Head” and “Strasbourg/St. Denis.” The tunes were played to perfection and the audience expressed their approval with long, loud cheering and clapping.
Bernie Williams-Gil Parris Quartet
Next up were the event headlinders, the Bernie Williams-Gil Parris Quartet, a true super group with the legendary “World’s Most Dangerous Bassist” Will Lee and the multitalented drummer and vocalist Josh Dion.
Bernie Williams - Guitar
Bernie Williams is a classically trained guitarist who plays and composes music with influences that include jazz, classical, pop, Brazilian, and Latin sounds. Bernie stated that he “became this musician in great part due training and mentorship of Gil Parris who let [him] sit in on jams all over town for the past 17 years.”
Gil Parris - Lead Guitar
Gil is an American Grammy-nominated rock, blues, jazz and pop guitarist. After briefly attending the Berklee School of Music because, as his Mother said in this New York Times article, “Mrs. Parris conceded she was '‘a little worried'‘ when her son returned home with photocopies of lecture notes and said he would ‘sit in his room’ and teach himself the school's jazz guitar curriculum.''
Parris then left to tour Europe as part of a musical troupe performing Jesus Christ Superstar before becoming a recording artist. Parris has released six solo albums and played collaboratively with over 20 other groups/artists. He has recorded and toured both as a solo artist and as a sideman with major artists including Dr. John, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Diane Schuur, David Mann, Billy Vera, Bobby Caldwell, Toni Braxton, Sonny Fortune and Kenny Barron, to name a few.
Will Lee - Bass
I was going to say “who’s Will Lee”, then my research showed that I heard Lee many times before. Trumpeter Randy Brecker called Lee out of a class one day and invited him to audition for Dreams. In New York, Lee's career as a session musician flourished, and he toured with many artists. In 1982, Lee became one of the original members of The World's Most Dangerous Band, the house band on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman. He holds the distinction of playing with Paul Shaffer, on both Late Night and The Late Show, longer than any other member of the CBS Orchestra. Highlights also include getting a lifetime achievement award from Bass Player magazine, playing with many luminaries such as all The Beatles -- George Harrison at Royal Albert Hall, Paul McCartney at The Concert For NYC, D’Angelo, Chaka Khan, Phoebe Snow, James Brown and more.
Josh Dion - Drums and Vocals
Josh Dion was born at the tail end of the disco funk era, when popular radio bore the sounds of Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, and “four on the floor” drum beats! Raised in Storrs, CT, Josh started playing his father's drums before he even started kindergarten. Dion is a singing drummer who made his first impression in New York in February 2004 at Blue Note. Josh was noticed by jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb, who offered him an opportunity to be seen and heard by a whole new level of the music audience. From that platform, he has gone on to work with some of the major brand names of the music world: Candy Dulfer, Spyro Gyra, Will Lee, Pat Martino, Jeff Kashiwa, Jason Miles, Anthony Jackson, Edgar Winter, Randy Brecker, Bob James, Eric Marienthal, Til Bronner, Jim Beard, saxophonist Kim Waters and on and on.
This night, as was noted by a few attendees, was not just a smooth jazz concert, as the band played a mix of blues, funk, jazz, rock and even some New Orleans type jazz. They performed a mix of classic songs with creative arrangements that brought back many memories. One of my favorites was Rick James’s “Give It To Me Baby” that was innovative but right on point. They also performed some original material that was very entertaining and were instant hits with the very attentive and involved crowd.
The night in review was outstanding, Bernie was smooth and mellow, Gil Parris unbelievable on guitar, Will Lee was an absolute beast on bass and Josh Dion singing and drumming was simply off the chain. The singing and drumming was amazing. It was a fabulous performance. At the end of the night, the audience wanted more and they were called back for an encore tune that did not disappoint, and we clapped and enjoyed tremendously. Truly, it was a wonderful performance and a night to remember.
Mayor Frank McGehee
Closing the night, Mayor Frank McGehee thanked folks for coming out and reminded them they were just steps away from the most diverse choices in eating right here in Maplewood, so please enjoy the town on your way home.
Gregory Burrus with The Baker Street Trio and Ace Williams
Gregory Burrus is a local live music producer, promoter, event planner and community partner that curates, manages and promotes live music programs around Essex County.