Mike Barris, second from right, shown performing at Middletown Arts Center in November 2008 with Tom Bender, left, Jennifer Jordan and Vincent Corrao. (Photo by Bonnie Marvel)

A salute to Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Bessie Smith and other giants of pre-war jazz and blues is on tap in Red Bank on Friday, Oct. 30 at a Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation-sponsored concert with Mike Barris & Friends.

The latest instalment of the monthly "Reckless Steamy Nights" concert series at the Woman's Club of Red Bank features the soul-stirring vocals of Jennifer Jordan, the exuberant trumpet of Tom Bender, the exciting lead guitar of Flip Peters, and the relentlessly driving rhythm guitar of music writer and show host Mike Barris.

Music goes from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at the historic Sen. Anthony Reckless Estate, 164 Broad St., Red Bank, NJ 07701. A donation of $10 is suggested, in support of scholarship programs sponsored by the Woman's Club of Red Bank and the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation. Snacks will be provided.
It's the group's sixth such tribute to early jazz and blues stars at the Woman's Club. Each show has been a fun, dynamic evening of great solos, driving rhythm, passionate singing and fascinating musical trivia.

"This music is the very soul of jazz," declares Barris, who writes on jazz, blues and musicianship for Acoustic Guitar, Jazz Journal International and The Asbury Park Press. "Not only are we highlighting the achievements of D jango, Satchmo and Bessie. We're also spotlighting the composers like George Gershwin and Hoagy Carmichael who wrote many of the classic tunes on which jazz artists base their improvisations. So there will be a mix of great musical moments and interesting facts about the people who created this music."
Barris, a veteran of the New York-New Jersey club and festival scene, also has regular bylines in The Wall Street Journal and authors the "Barris Beat" jazz-and-blues events column for the Asbury Park Press. The Elberon resident also has taught a long-running Frank Sinatra music-appreciation class at Brookdale Community College.

Red Bank's Jennifer Jordan, best known as the vocal powerhouse behind Terraplane Blues and the Jennifer Jordan Band and an oft-featured artist at the Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival, puts her own stamp on such Bessie Smith chestnuts as "After You've Gone" and "I Need A Little Sugar in My Bowl." Jordan has shared stages with such legends as Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor and has been nominated multiple times for the Asbury Music Awards as top female vocalist.

Trumpeter Tom Bender, who has been with the group since its debut at "Reckless Steamy Nights" in 2006, has shared the stage with Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Cecil Payne and Lou Donaldson and has worked with Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Orlando in a career that has taken him from Romania to Lake Tahoe to New Y ork. Blessed with a big, thrilling sound reminiscent of his idol, Bunny Berigan, the Middletown resident has also performed with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra and The Jazz Lobsters.

Guitarist and banjo ace Flip Peters has been a mainstay of the New York society-band scene for the past three decades. Peters has worked The Rainbow Room, The Plaza Hotel and The Waldorf Astoria and played with such diverse artists as original "Tonight Show" bandleader Skitch Henderson, shock-rocker Screamin' Jay Hawkins and comic-actor and television personality Soupy Sales. A singer with a special fondness for fine old musical chestnuts, the North Jersey resident also has entertained such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Donald Trump, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Yogi Berra, to name just a few.

For more information, contact mike@mikebarris.com

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