Live, Love, Laugh & Be Happy
Gene's Jazz Hot

Live, Love, Laugh & Be Happy is always good advice. Although in this case, the living and the loving are sort of up to you, the "laugh and be happy part" will be provided by Gene's Jazz Hot’s new CD. Big time. The words are taken directly from track 12 – Red, Red Robin. It’s a bouncy sort of wake-upper, even if you don't happen to like mornings all that much. Of course, mornings don't seem to have slowed down the robins all that much. In this rendition, Seth Rosen and Peggi Cella treat you to the words and music, with a neat transition to a minor mode for one chorus.

The four musicians who make up Gene’s Jazz Hot are founder Gene Epstein who specializes on string bass and occasionally chips in with a vocal, as she does here on Side by Side. In the middle, vocalist Peggi Cella adds some neat harmony, and Gene ends with a great bass solo. Seth Rosen is the guitarist (and occasional banjo player, although not, I think on this CD) who also contributes vocals, as does clarinetist extraordinaire Bill Kenney.

These four are mature musicians who’ve been doing this for a long time, and it shows! They blend together seamlessly, whether it’s planned that way or impromptu mixing and matching. The rhythms are so infectious it’s beyond difficult to sit still while listening to the CD or the performers in person. The first song on the CD - S’Wonderful, is a great example of this, as Bill and Peggy volley words at each other much like Serena and Venus do, except, of course, they do it with tennis balls.

The seventeen songs here range from lazy blues such as Cry Me a River (Peggi) to Mama, I Wanna Make Rhythm, in which we find that Gene really started as a cellist! Bill Kenney has a sort of triple-play with Don’t Blame Me, which is very like Up a Lazy River in mood, and then segues into the On the Street Where You Live, and then on to an up-tempo What a Little Moonlight Can Do. Of course, he’s not all by himself, the other three are always present and accounted for, but they happily share the spotlight. Seth Rosen does wonders with If I Had You and I Can’t Believe You’re in Love With Me. The songs here are all standards from a few years ago, and while they were fabulous to begin with, they become even more so at the hands and vocal chords of these four marvelous artists. It’s all very laid back and casual – and pure enjoyment in the process.

But, you don’t have to take my word for it -- you can hear for yourself (and purchase a copy of the new CD) on Thu 10/8 at Loganberry Books, 13015 Larchmere Blvd, Shaker Heights, which is the official CD release party, from 7-9 pm. If you can’t attend, call and reserve a copy for yourself. (216-795-9800). You’ll be happy you did!

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz, who writes: My most recently published book is Ardenwycke Unveiled (e-book and trade paper). Cerridwen has another contemporary romance from me, But Not For Love, currently available only as an e-book, but perhaps will be in print next year. I hope to soon get around to completing some of the 30+ incomplete books in my computer!

By the way, Cerridwen has also accepted two of my short stories in their Scintillating Samples (complimentary reads) area: Song of the Swan and Unexpected Comfort. I love photography as well, as you can see here. Occasionally I teach writing workshops and sometimes do editing or ghostwriting on a free-lance basis. But over and above everything else, there's always been the writing. I can't imagine my life without it.

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