News

June 28. 2007

Making sounds together
Gem City Jazz Band offers a free concert for families at the Blasco
Library on Saturday.

by John Chacona
Chacona, an Erie writer, has joined the reviewing staff of the Jazz Institute of Chicago. His blog on music and culture, 'let's call this,' is at www.johnchacona.com.

When Shelley Readel came to Erie from Grove City College in the 1990s, she left behind friends and a way of life.

"I had always played in bands in high school and college. Then when I got married, I had no outlet for music," she told me on the phone. "When you're a musician, you'll always be a musician, and if you don't have an outlet, you crave that."

In a nutshell, Readel's craving was the animating principle behind the Gem City Jazz Band, which will present a free concert for families on Saturday evening at the Blasco Memorial Library.

The Greek word "symphony" literally means "making sounds together," and though the Gem City Jazz band and its companion Concert Band have no string sections, "making sounds together" is their reason for being.

The bands have their roots in the swing era in a concert band that played at the Siebenbuerger Singing Society. Over time, the band had several homes, most recently at the East Erie Turners, but financial problems in 2003 led the band to become an independent organization based at St. John's Lutheran Church on Peach Street.

That same year, a jazz band of about 20 members was created out of the concert band, which numbered twice that many players. It was the perfect way for Shelley Readel -- and like-minded musicians -- to satisfy her craving.

"It's something I always wanted to do. I played piano in high school jazz band, and though flute is my primary instrument, they needed a bass player," she said.

That's the role Readel will take for Saturday's concert, which like all performances by the Gem City bands, is free of charge. The first half-hour of the program is specifically aimed at children.

"We'll play the Dennis DeBlasio arrangement of 'Sesame Street,' a jazz arrangement of 'The Hokey Pokey,' and things like that," Readel said.

It's light music, but it has a purpose.

"We wanted to do a program for kids to get them interested in jazz and interested in the band, and sustain it."

The latter is a concern that Readel knows firsthand. When she joined the concert band in the late 1990s, she described it as " a sea of gray hair. I was easily the youngest member -- by 40 years."

These days, the band is gaining younger membership. As Readel proudly notes, "I'm not the youngest anymore."

By her own admission, Readel has also grown musically.

"[Band director] Betty McKinney has really made us grow in terms of membership and musicianship. We play harder pieces, and we're better as a group."

That growth will be on display in the program's second half, which will be drawn from the band's book of stock arrangements by Sammy Nestico and others. On the evidence of the streaming audio samples on the bands' Web site, the jazz band plays with a genuine verve and rhythmic lift that would be the envy of many professional groups.

Readel knows why.

"That's what happens when you're making music with people who want to be there, but are there for the friendships, people who want to play and enjoy themselves."

Gem City Jazz Band will perform a program entitled "Jazz, A Family Affair" on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Blasco Memorial Library, 160 E. Front St. The performance is free and open to the public.