Upcoming Concert of the RSJO - Latin Time!

On Wednesday, July 27th, the Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra will be back performing live at the Zinc Bar in Manhattan, featuring the amazing chromatic harmonica player, Hendrik Meurkens, the wonderful Israeli vocalist Tammy Scheffer, along with jazz greats Duane Eubanks, Tim Armacost and Mike Eckroth, among many others. This one-set performance begins at 7pm and costs only $10.

The RSJO is:
Reeds: Justin Wood, Craig Yaremko, Tim Armacost, Dave Noland, Paul Nedzela
Trumpets: Colin Brigstocke, James Smith, Andy Gravish, Duane Eubanks
Trombones: Sara Jacovino, Nick Finzer, Matthew McDonald, Brandon Moodie
Rhythm:Mike Eckroth (piano); Yoshi Waki (bass); Scott Neuman (drums); Todd Isler (perc)
Featuring Special Guests Hendrik Meurkens on chromatic harmonica and vocalist Tammy Scheffer.
Russ Spiegel is the composer, arranger, and guitarist.

Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street (btw Thompson & Sullivan)
Greenwich Village New York NY 10012
tel. 212-477-ZINC (9462)
www.zincbar.com

-----------------

This and every Friday and Saturday evening 7:30-10:30pm I am playing dinner jazz duo with bassist Kevin Thomas at:
Il Porto Pizzeria Restaurant
37 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
(718) 624-2965
ilportobrooklyn.com/

-------------------

Also - as mentioned in my last post:

My short film, "Das Boots" was recently accepted into the Art of Brooklyn Festival and will be shown August 21st. More info coming. Here are some links:

www.dasbootsmovie.com
www.theartofbrooklyn.com

I was recently contracted to compose the music for Anand Kamalakar's documentary, "Building Bridges." The story follows students from Beacon High School in Manhattan as they raise money and then travel to India to perform a blend of classical Indian and Western dance. The 28 students and their minders experience "globalization firsthand" as they learn the vast differences and similarities between these two cultures. On June 30 I went into the studio to record the soundtrack with some very capable musicians. The film should be completed in the next few weeks. I will post when I hear about a screening.

Keep Swinging,
Russ

Update - July 1, 2011

Greetings All,

Been awhile since I added anything to this here blog. Here's the latest:

My short film, "Das Boots" was recently accepted into the Art of Brooklyn Festival and will be shown August 21st. More info coming. Here are some links:

www.dasbootsmovie.com
www.theartofbrooklyn.com

Also on the film front: I was recently contracted to compose the music for Anand Kamalakar's documentary, "Building Bridges." The story follows students from Beacon High School in Manhattan as they raise money and then travel to India to perform a blend of classical Indian and Western dance. The 28 students and their minders experience "globalization firsthand" as they learn the vast differences and similarities between these two cultures. On June 30 I went into the studio to record the soundtrack with some very capable musicians and am now in the process of mixing the music.

-------------------

Upcoming Gigs:

On Wednesday, July 27th, the Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra will be back performing live at the Zinc Bar in Manhattan, featuring the amazing chromatic harmonica player, Hendrik Meurkens. This one-set performance begins at 7pm and costs only $10.

The RSJO is:
Reeds: Justin Wood, Craig Yaremko, Tim Armacost, Dave Noland, Paul Nedzela
Trumpets: Colin Brigstocke, James Smith, Andy Gravish, Duane Eubanks
Trombones: Sara Jacovino, Alex Asher, Matthew McDonald, Brandon Moodie
Rhythm: Art Hirahara (piano); Yoshi Waki (bass); Scott Neuman (drums)
Featuring Special Guest Hendrik Meurkens on chromatic harmonica.
Russ Spiegel is the composer, arranger, and guitarist.

Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street (btw Thompson & Sullivan)
Greenwich Village New York NY 10012
tel. 212-477-ZINC (9462)
www.zincbar.com

Also - This and every Friday and Saturday evening 7:30-10:30pm I am playing dinner jazz duo with bassist Kevin Thomas at:
Il Porto Pizzeria Restaurant
37 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
(718) 624-2965
ilportobrooklyn.com/

Keep Swinging!
Russ

Latest Gigs

The next performance of the RSJO will be at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on Monday, October 11th. Show time is 9pm and we will be playing two sets, finishing around 11:30pm or so. I have to give a shout-out to JC Sanford, who curates the "Size Matters" Monday night big band hit at the Tea Lounge. Thanks to him, you can hear some of the top young big bands in the city for the price of a cup of coffee. Oh yeah, bring some cash to tip the band - $5 is suggested, but no one will complain if that tenner jumps out of your pocket.

The Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra
Russ Spiegel - comp, arr, guit
Reeds - Alejandro Aviles, Justin Wood, Dan Pratt, Dave Noland, Terry Goss
Trumpets - Colin Brigstocke, James Smith, Duane Eubanks, Jason Colby
Trombones - Scott Reeves, Sara Jacovino, Alex Asher, Barry Cooper
Rhythm - Art Hirahara (p), Yoshi Waki (b), Chris Benham (dr)

Tea Lounge
837 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215-1308
(718) 789-2762
www.tealoungeny.com/

I will be making a rare small band appearance this coming Sunday, Oct. 17th at the Brooklyn Lyceum. Featuring some of the top musicians around, there will be plenty of musical fireworks as we play through originals and arrangements from yours truly.

The Russ Spiegel Group
Dan Pratt - reeds
Russ Spiegel - guit, comp
Mike Eckroth - keys
Gary Wang - bass
Scott Neuman - drums

Tix are $10, sets at 9pm & 10:30pm

Brooklyn Lyceum
227 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 857-4816
www.brooklynlyceum.com/

Also up: This and every Friday evening 7-10pm I am playing dinner jazz at
Il Porto Pizzeria Restaurant
37 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
(718) 624-2965
ilportobrooklyn.com/

_____________

Also of note - my short film, "Das Boots" was accepted into the Big Apple Film Festival and will be showing at the Tribeca Cinemas Thursday evening, Nov. 4th as part of the program starting at 8:30pm. Come out & show your support (& wish us luck, too!).

Hope to see you!

RSJO Concert, Movie Completed, Other News

Hello Music Fans,

I am very pleased to announce that the Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra will be performing at one of New York's finest Jazz Venues. We will play at the Iridium Jazz Club on Tuesday, September 7th, with sets at 8 and 10pm. Make your reservations early.

The RSJO is:
Russ Spiegel: Composer, Arranger, Guitar
Reeds: Rob Wilkerson, Alejandro Aviles, Tim Armacost, Dan Pratt, Frank Basile

Trumpets: Colin Brigstocke, James Smith, Andy Gravish, David Smith
Trombones: Alex Jeun, Andy Hunter, Jack Davis, Brandon Moodie
Rhythm: Art Hirahara (p), Yoshi Waki (b), Chris Benham (dr)
Special Guest - Vocalist Dennis Jeter

Iridium Jazz Club
1650 Broadway
New York, 10020
(212) 582-2121
www.iridiumjazzclub.com/

------------------

On another front, I am pleased to announce that my short movie, "Das Boots" is finished and is already submitted to a number of festivals here in the US and around the globe. I have no idea how it will do but I am very pleased with how it came out and I am sending a huge "THANK YOU" to all those involved in the project. I am trying to arrange a screening now for cast, crew & supporters. DVDs will go out to all involved after the film's premiere, hopefully at one of the bigger festivals. In the meantime, you can find out a little bit about it at IMDb: Das Boots

---------------

For those of you who have been following this site, you are probably aware that I recently began writing a weekly column entitled, "Notes of a Jazz Survivor" for the website earbits.com. Well, I guess there's nothing like putting it out there to see what the world thinks of what you are doing. This past week I received an email from Dan Thompson, who is a professor of ethnomusicology over at Columbia University. Dan is also a writer and he is putting together an anthology of musicians writing about music and asked me to contribute an article to this work. Imagine my surprise and satisfaction of being asked to include my musings along with those of Grammy, Pulitzer and National Book Award winning writers and musicians! More on this later, but do check out earbits.com for all my writings.

Keep Groovin'
Russ