Two years ago, Rochester-based jazzman Jon Seiger suffered a near fatal attack of diverticulitis. After surviving five surgeries over four months, the talented trumpeter, pianist and singer enthusiastically re-embraced music for its healing powers as well as for its harmonic powers.
He returns to Central New York fit as a fiddle when the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse presents Jon Seiger & The All-Stars from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, at McNamara’s Pub, 5600 Newport Road, in Camillus; 672-8872. Admission costs $12, or $10 for JASS members. For JASS information, call 652-0547.
It’s not surprising that Seiger bounced back so rapidly from his near-death experience. He has been fighting the odds for years as one of the few performing deaf musicians in America.
His band is made up of seasoned jazz musicians, all of whom “swing hard.” It features trombonist Floyd Hughes, clarinetist Ron Joseph, pianist Bobby DiBaudo, bassist Lynn Eberhardt and drummer Allan Ward.
Among the tunes Seiger is likely to sing at McNamara’s are “Up a Lazy River,” “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It,” “West End Blues” and “Minnie the Moocher.”
An evening with Jon Seiger and the All-Stars is something you won’t soon forget. Their authentic renditions of songs by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and other jazz greats will leave you feeling as if you were living jazz history.
Rochester music critic Jeff Spevak on The Democrat and Chronicle has often praised Seiger’s ability to channel Satchmo.
“Seiger’s ton-of-gravel vocals are as close to Louis Armstrong as we’re ever likely to hear on any stage,” Spevak wrote. “And he doesn’t just sound a little like Louis Armstrong. He sounds exactly like Louis Armstrong!”
Seiger’s All-Stars have performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Canada’s Oakville Jazz Fest, the Festival de Jazz en Abril in Argentina, Syracuse’s Jazz in the Square Festival, the Dublin Music and Art Festival, the Suncoast Dixieland Jazz Classic, and has opened for Jimmy Smith and Curtis Fuller at the Ocho Rios Jamaica Jazz Festival. The group also performs for several swing dance groups and appears at schools, colleges and universities.
The All-Stars will present a well-rounded jazz show liberally sprinkled with material by Louis Armstrong, which is Seiger’s specialty. In between songs the musicians relate anecdotes and recollections of Pops and other jazz greats so the concerts are educational as well as entertaining.
Jon Seiger is a unique performer in many ways.
He studied with trumpet great Roy Eldridge, graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and is one of few performing deaf musicians. Jon has played with such notables as Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, Jimmy McPartland and Ken Peplowski. In 1988 he performed at Carnegie Hall with the Hi-Tops, and for three years Jon was the house bandleader at The King Cole Room at The St. Regis Hotel in New York City.
“My band and I love what we do,” Seiger said, “and we love preserving the legacy of Louis.”
