LaDeroute Hosts Jazz Jamming at BRJS

Jazz Jamming
BRJS Hosts June Jam Sunday

By Jeff Eason

The word “jazz” means different things to different musicians. For some, it is a purely instrumental experience with odd rhythms and tonalities. For others, it is the art of taking a familiar song and stretching its boundaries with a talented singer. Some like the intimacy of jazz performed by a solo pianist while others like the dynamics of a big band acting as a jazz version of the symphony orchestra.

The best thing about jazz is that no matter what preferences a musicians might have, a good player is always able to adapt to his or her surroundings. The players become a band—if only for one night—and a distinctive jazz voice is created.

Members of the Blowing Rock Jazz Society live for those moments when a new combo is created and a singular voice emerges. That is the goal with their occasional jam session concerts.

The Blowing Rock Jazz Society will host its June Jam on Sunday, June 13, at 7 p.m. at the Meadowbrook Inn in Blowing Rock. The event is a summertime version of the BRJS’s popular January Jam, an annual jazz blowout featuring some of the top musicians in the area.

Admission is $12 for non-members and free for BRJS members in good standing. Audience members are encouraged to come early for good seating.

Musicians Ken and Amy LaDeroute of the popular band Laditude will host the evening’s entertainment. Joining the LaDeroutes will be a number of fine High Country musicians including pianist Steve Davidowski, drummer Wes Powers, cornet player Tom Shirah, and harmonica player Marty Howe.

The LaDeroutes are well known in the High Country, especially for their diverse contributions to the local music scene. At any given show you might hear them belting out some rocking blues or creating some Latin-tinged jazz. Their original music tends to mix all of their interests.

“I’m working on a new CD project called The Healing Cycle that will encompass world music rhythms and affirmations that seek to re-program negative internal dialogue within the mind,” said Ken LaDeroute. “Grammy-nominated artist and producer Kit Walker has agreed to produce it.”

Ken LaDeroute will perform on guitar and Amy LaDeroute will sing during Sunday’s jam.

Like the LaDeroutes, Steve Davidowski has long ties to the High Country area and a diverse musical resume. He first burst on the scene as the keyboardist for the popular southern jazz-rock band The Dixie Dregs in the 1970s after attending the Eastman School of Music and Florida State University. After parting ways with guitar guru Steve Morse and the rest of the Dixie Dregs in the late 70s, Davidowski traveled to Nashville and toured and recorded with the bands of Vassar Clements, Jerry Reed and David Allen Coe. It was at this time that he flourished as a composer with musicians such as Bela Fleck and John Hartford recording his compositions. Since his return to the North Carolina mountains, Davidowski has explored the roots of Blue Ridge music and has incorporated into his own jazz compositions.

Drummer Wes Powers is currently the newest member of the High Country jazz band Triage. A Morganton native, Powers’ high school band, Copperhead, opened up for national acts such as Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, and Nantucket. He earned a degree in music at East Carolina University where he studied jazz. These days he has returned to the Morganton area and regularly performs with pianist Nathan Hefner, singer-songwriter Sarah Evans, and the Grandfather Mountain Highlanders Pipe Band, among others.

Writer, keyboardist and trumpet player Tom Shirah is an experienced musician who toured Europe and North America with a concert band and choir in the 1960s. He played the trumpet chair in two of North Texas State University’s jazz combos before hitting the road as a touring musician. He is now the keyboardist and trumpet player for Laditude.

Sunday’s show will feature a mix of old and new jazz tunes including Miles Davis’s “Footprints,” George Benson’s “Breezin’,” Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish,” and many others.

For more information, call the Blowing Rock Jazz Society at (828) 265-3242.