Introducing Jazz House Kids All-Stars

This article first appeared in Jersey Jazz Magazine.

Bassist Laura-Simone Martin of Lawrenceville, NJ, is heading back to Carnegie Hall's NYO Jazz Program for the second consecutive year. "Last year," she said, "gave me that first-hand experience of what it is like being on the road for so long and how much energy goes into it."

On Saturday night, June 3, Simone-Martin appeared as part of the Jazz House Kids All-Star sextet at Newark's Bethany Baptist Church Jazz Vespers, soloing on Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma." She was joined by alto saxophonist Alex Laurenzi, pianist Galo Inga, trumpeter Andrew Wagner, tenor saxophonist Jalin Shiver, and drummer Matt Lee.

Laurenzi, Music Director of the All-Stars band, grew up in Mountain Lakes, NJ. He performed at NJJS' last live event before the pandemic, on February 2020 at Shanghai Jazz in Madison. He is a 2020 graduate of Princeton University where he received the Isidore and Helen Sacks Memorial Prize from the Princeton Music Department for his contributions to the musical community. He has also won two DownBeat Student Soloist Awards and two Outstanding Soloist awards from the Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival. A member of the Jazz House Kids Big Band for three years, Laurenzi toured Peru in April 2016 with a select group from JHK on behalf of the U.S. Embassy.

In July and August, Laurenzi has several dates at Brooklyn's pinkFrog Café, leading a trio with bassist Solomon Gottfried and drummer Connor Parks. The performances, which begin at 7 p.m. are on July 8 and 22 and August 5 and 19.

Inga is currently studying for his Master's Degree at Montclair State with pianist Rachel Z. He's also JHK's Senior Program Manager in Schools and Evaluation, working with public school students in Newark and Paterson.

Wagner, originally from Mendham, NJ, is a William Paterson graduate and studied there with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, who described him to Jersey Jazz as, "the type of student that every teacher hopes and dreams about. It's not just that he was a good student while he studied with me at William Paterson; it's that he continues to do the work and strive for not only what he's been taught, but, more importantly, what he's observed. He restores my belief that there are still young adults that are thorough and serious about this art form." A 2017 recipient of JHK's James Moody Scholarship, Wagner is appearing July 30 at Birdland with baritone saxophonist Courtney Wright.

Shiver, a 2019 James Moody Scholarship awardee, is finishing up his jazz education at New Jersey City University. In December 2018, when he was a senior at Newark's Arts High School, Shiver was selected by the Thelonious Monk Institute to be part of the National Peer-to-Peer All Star Jazz performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Along with students from across the country, he performed with such jazz stars as pianist Herbie Hancock and saxophonists Wayne Shorter, and Melissa Aldana.

Lee, Laurenzi pointed out, "is the middle child of what we call the first family of jazz education. His father, (tenor saxophonist) Mike Lee was the original Director of Jazz Education at Jazz House Kids. His older brother (saxophonist) Julian Lee, was one of the first great stars we (JHK) had. Matt's a little younger than Julian, but he's been playing up a storm since he was eight years old." Matt and Julian's younger sister, violinist/vocalist Jacquie Lee was the Rising Star in the April 2023 issue of Jersey Jazz. (Photo above, from left: Melissa Walker, Matt Lee, Dorthaan Kirk, Alex Laurenzi, Laura Simone-Martin, Galo Inga, Andrew Wagner, Jalin Shiver).

In addition to "Con Alma," the JHK All-Stars played other jazz classics such as Wayne Shorter's "One By One" and Clifford Brown's "Daahoud" at the December 3rd Bethany Jazz Vespers concert. At the end, JHK Founder and President, vocalist Melissa Walker, joined in for a closing performance of the Harry Warren/Mack Gordon standard, "The More I See You." Then, she recalled that, "Twenty-two years ago, Dorthaan Kirk asked me to do a concert for kids in Newark. She said, 'I don't just want a concert; I want a program. It's going to be kids, 2-12, with their parents.' Then, Phil May, who was Director of Arts for Newark, said, 'That's a program we should bring to the schools.'"

The result, Walker added, is that, through Jazz House Kids, "50,000 young people have been provided access, learning, career development, and community building. Thank you, Dorthaan." Pointing to the All-Stars sextet, Walker said, "These fine young people stand alongside the greats of today and on the shoulders of the pioneers of yesterday."

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