The Hill is Swingin’
Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by Mia Narell in Arts on The Hill
Parlor Jazz— that Saturday night of music in a parlor on Vanderbilt Avenue —was a long time coming. Jim Morehand began working as an artist’s representative in the ‘90s, after graduating from Pratt, and it was after adding a jazz vocalist to his roster of artists that he started exploring the ways and means of hearing and performing jazz in the Big Apple. Jim and his partner, Dave Polazzo, quickly saw a need for an alternative venue to the overpriced, overcrowded Manhattan clubs. I asked Jim what he saw in his exploration of venues: “While attending most venues (clubs and restaurants) we experienced people talking over the musicians. Most of the crowd was not listening and we couldn’t hear the band. In my eyes, that is very rude and disrespectful. Live musicians really shouldn’t be hired to be atmosphere/background music/ambiance that are expected (and often times, literally told!) to play more quietly. These venue owners feel that this adds another dimension or level of sophistication to their establishment…bringing in more people. While this may be true, our feeling is that, once you’ve hired ‘live’ people to perform, they should get the respect of the audience’s focused attention.” The one venue they admired was Parlor Entertainment, a Sunday afternoon jazz concert hosted by Margery Eliot in the living room of her Harlem apartment. “Margery was our inspiration! Once we saw how she did it, we realized that we could as well.”
Vocalist Thos Shipley sings at Parlor Jazz. photos by Christopher Franko
Dave bought a house on Vanderbilt Avenue, renovating it to become a duplex on the bottom floors. As the name suggests, the music happens on the parlor floor, in the combined living and dining rooms. There are sofas and folding chairs to accommodate around 40 people comfortably, and a spread of snacks and beverages, which are free with admission. African masks and jazz posters cover the walls, a trumpet hangs over the mantle, and the beautiful baby grand piano gleams in a corner.
The evening I attended, I was surprised by the crowd: I expected a heavy neighborhood contingency, but many people were regulars who came from afar. The women next to me were from Queens, as were the group behind them. Behind me were two couples from New Jersey. In front of me sat Baylah Wolfe, who works at the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group in Fort Greene, but lives in Brooklyn Heights. She was meeting her son and daughter-in-law, who were driving in from New Jersey. Baylah told me she met Jim through work, and has become a friend and regular of Parlor Jazz. She described it as “very joyful and alive” and appreciates that it’s a place to build community – an issue at the heart of her work at the Social Therapy Group.
I should take a moment to acknowledge that this writer is the daughter of two professional musicians, and has spent many, many nights listening to people play jazz in their living rooms. And, as the music began, with Thos Shipley singing, accompanied just by his finger snaps, I was just listening to some jazz in a living room, but about a minute into the first tune, the band kicked in, and suddenly I was transported! I was in a nightclub. The Thos Shipley Quartet, just feet from the first row of guests, wowed us with an extraordinary level of musicianship. The drummer, Kim Plainfield, tucked into a corner next to the air conditioning unit, was swinging. Mark Soskin did such creative things on the piano that songs I never liked (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) were made new and interesting. And Thos Shipley, vocalist extraordinaire, worked the crowd masterfully. In a simple and ecstatic duet (voice and bass) version of “Unchained Melody,” Thos’ voice cried out, “I hunger for your love!” and we felt the hunger; we felt the love.
After an exhilarating set, we regrouped over glasses of wine and Dave’s homemade cake, and I asked other guests about their experience. A couple from Queens came “for the homey atmosphere.” An extended family came to the consensus that they came for “good, honest jazz.” But the words I heard most often throughout the house that night were voiced first by Thos Shipley’s manager, who said, “People come here to hear.” People kept telling me they came to really listen to music. They wanted a place to come where the attention was on the musicians, not the martinis or the décor or the pretty girls at the bar. They wanted good, honest jazz, and that was what they got that night. Thos Shipley, talked about the experience from the other side of the mic, described the musician’s work as that of becoming “willing to be heard.” His willingness, and our desire to listen, culminated in a tremendously intimate and exciting night of music.
Jim and Dave have dreams that extend beyond the walls of their living room. When I asked them to talk about their vision of the future, they told me they want to be “involved with a campaign to re-brand Jazz music as a means to elevate its stature once again in our country where the music form was developed.” For them, that means creating an annual neighborhood Jazz Festival, exposing children to jazz music, and continuing to host not only Parlor Jazz concerts, but also the CD release parties and fundraisers they’ve already begun. Thanks in large part to Jim and Dave, jazz is alive and thriving in the Hill, and I can’t wait to hear more of it.
