Mardi Gras may be over, but we can still celebrate the good-time music of old New Orleans.
Second Line Syracuse, an eight-piece brass band led by slide trombonist Melissa Gardiner, won the 2017 Syracuse Area Music Award for “Best Jazz” recording for its self-titled CD released last October. Melissa is an alumna of Liverpool High School where she studied under band director Jim Spadafore, who is now retired.
Slide trombonist
“The whole premise behind the brass band is to play music outside for the community, for all,” Melissa said. “We don’t want to make music an exclusive thing. We want to bring music to people where they’re at.”
She started the octet a couple years ago, after visiting New Orleans and witnessing the excitement of second line parades following brass bands playing in the street.
The Sammy Awards were announced March 3, at the Palace Theater in Eastwood. Gardiner graciously accepted the Best Jazz trophy and praised the other four nominees in her category — the Carol Bryant Trio, Bob Holz, Edgar Pagan and Peter Mack.
Melissa also lent her trombone talents to two other Sammy-winning albums, Jess Novak’s Best Pop winner “Inches from the Sun” and the Best Jam Band, Root Shock.
Community commitment
Over the past few years Melissa, who left Liverpool to study at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and The Juilliard School in NYC, has emerged as one of the busiest and best musicians in Central New York. She leads several jazz combos, is a member of the CNY Jazz Orchestra, teaches at Syracuse and Cornell universities, and hosts a weekly youth-oriented jam session every Sunday afternoon at Funk’N Waffles downtown.
Melissa’s community commitment knows no bounds. On Feb.18, she debuted the new Unity Street Band, an open, multi-level community band that plays for good causes. She works tirelessly to reconnect jazz music to the community and create an environment of mentorship in which students and professionals can make music together.
New Orleans rhythms
Since 2015, Melissa has dedicated much of her time to Second Line Syracuse.
That year, the band opened for (and jammed with) the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Westcott Theater, gained grant funding for community events, and won the Syracuse New Times “Best Of” award for Best Jazz Band.
Last summer, Second Line Syracuse graced the main stage at the 2016 Syracuse Jazz Festival, presented by Frank Malfitano, who lives in Baldwinsville.
‘Ditty Bop’
Last fall, the band released a CD with nine tracks, five of which were written by Melissa. Her tunes, some of which she also vocalizes, include “Ditty Bop,” “Bump” and “Second Solstice.” The band also covers Sonny Stitt’s “The Eternal Triangle” and the Rolling Stones’ “It’s All Over Now.”
Besides Melissa, the band features trombonist Nick Abelgore, drummer Byron Cage, saxophonist Kiel Clark, percussionist Josh Dekaney, trumpeters Gabriel DiMartino and Nick Fields, keyboardist Will Gorman and Sousaphonist Matt Rossi. Two guest artists added their talents to the recording — the terrific trumpeter Jeff Stockham plays on all tracks, and percussionist Jon Kane pumps up Melissa’s song, “Ode to Fela.”
You can buy the CD for $15 at squareup.com/store/secondlinesyracuse, or visit Melissa at melissamaymusic.com.
At Johnson Park in July
Second Line Syracuse will return to Johnson Park on July 31, as part of the 2017 Liverpool is The Place Summer Concert Series. Concert sponsors are currently being sought; contact LITP Chairperson Colleen Gunnip at [email protected].
Jazz Horns here Sunday
Meanwhile, Melissa Gardiner’s favorite guest trumpeter, Jeff Stockham, will lead his Jazz Horn Legacy Sextet when the Liverpool Public Library Origins of Jazz Series continues at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19. The free concert, which will feature Stockham playing French horn, will be staged at the Carman Community Room at Liverpool Public Library; lpl.org; (315) 457-0320.
Winter’s last laugh
As the deep freeze lingers, and our faces scrunch up in response to the bitter chill, consider this seasonal observation on our cold countenances from the Bordeaux-based poet and novelist Victor Hugo:
“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”
Contact the columnist at [email protected].
