The
Saugerties Sunday Jazz Session
By Peter Aaron
...as
well as an eclectic and very affordable menu (most selections are
under $10) of pub style food. And judging by the healthy turnouts
on that and subsequent Sunday nights, patrons who had been starving
for good eats and good music are happy for the return.
When
it comes to the music in particular, no wonder. As stated earlier,
these are some tough times for live music all over. But the scene
in the Catskills has recently taken some serious hits. Among other
venue losses in the last year, we count that of Woodstock’s
Joyous Lake (once again), and West Saugerties’s long-reliable
New World Home Cooking, which has put its regular music schedule
on indefinite hold. Jazz
spots in particular? Even harsher. The Red Onion, in Saugerties,
has stopped its Sunday-night jazz sets; Backstage Studio Productions
in Kingston ended its weekly jazz jam after only a few months; and
Kingston’s long-running New Vanguard Series shut down due
to lack of funding. While non-jam session jazz nights are still
on the cards at a handful of other local establishments, the choices
are far slimmer than
before.
Guitarist
Steve Raleigh, a regular participant in the Saugerties sessions,
knows firsthand about the difficult economics and logistics of running
a regular jam. For five months, he oversaw a weekly session in his
hometown of Newburgh until it, too, went under. “Keeping a
session going is tough,” says Raleigh. “Jazz fans usually
aren’t really the biggest drinkers, like rock or blues fans
can be. So for it all to work it really helps if the bar owner believes
in the music, too. And it definitely feels like that’s the
case at the Pig.”
“And
Pamela runs such a cool scene,” Raleigh continues. “She
always calls great tunes, not the same old ones you hear all the
time, and she’s a terrific host... CONTINUE...
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