Jazz

Poet Charles Carey and pianist Art Page were on hand for a jazz and poetry session at Contemporary School of the Arts and Gallery. The next session will be Sunday at the gallery. The event is held the second Sunday of every month from 2 to 4 p.m. The gallery is at  4 W. Franklin St. in Hagerstown. For more information, call 301-791-6191, send an email to ronlytle3@netzero.net or go to csagi.org .

The musicians performing in Renfrew Institute's 21st annual Jazz Festival might have been hitting the right notes, but the weather wasn't. Storm clouds rolled in before the free event's 2 p.m. start time Sunday, so organizers moved everything from Renfrew Park to Waynesboro Area Middle School. The school's auditorium quickly filled with people. “It's always a little less (turnout) than when we have it in the park,” said Melodie Anderson-Smith, executive director of Renfrew Institute.

The dancers from Ballet and All That Jazz in Hagerstown have had a busy season. Seniors from the ballet studio's Class of 2012 performed together for the last time at The Maryland Theatre on May 19. The dancers included Sandra Solberg, Rachel Redmond, Mara Dennis, Ally Bowers, Carolyn Weaver, Jordan McNairn, Emma Conlon, Emily Seifarth, Casie Burk, Breanna Bailey, Brianna Roberts, Hannah Nichols and Tori Robinson. In June, dancers joined instructor Bonnie Slawson and learned contemporary, jazz and hip-hop routines.

Jazz singer Rene Marie said she wants her music to be "like a verb. " During a telephone interview from her Virginia home, Rene Marie, 56, said her music has changed extensively since she began performing professionally in the late 1990s. Her music, she said, "is more aggressive now than it used to be. As I get bolder, I get bolder," she said. And this new style of music is what attendees will see on Sunday, Aug. 26, at Renfrew Institute's Jazz Festival. The 21st annual event is from 2 to 4 p.m. on the lawn behind the Renfrew Museum near Waynesboro.

Louis Armstrong once said, “Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them.” Jazz legends and old friends Ben Tucker and Lou Donaldson still have the music in them. That's why the octogenarians are still touring and playing the music they love. On Saturday, both Tucker and Donaldson will perform at the Don Redman Heritage Award and Concert at the Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. They will also each receive the Don Redman Heritage Award for their contributions “in jazz education and music as well as the individual musicianship, humanity and dignity that illuminate the spirit of Don Redman.” The award was named after jazz arranger Don Redman, a West Virginia native, who studied at the historically black Storer College in Harpers Ferry.

Dancers from the Ballet and All That Jazz dance studio in Hagerstown will participate in the annual recital Saturday. The 2 p.m. show features those ages 3 to 10 and the 7 p.m. show features the intermediate and advanced dancers.  The types of dance include modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop and classical ballet. The school is highlighting 13 graduating seniors each with their own dance solo.   Under the direction of Ranelle W. Flurie, the school was established in 1989 and will offer summer classes and dance camps in June.  Tickets for each show cost $5 and may be purchased by calling The Maryland Theatre box office at 301-797-2000.

“I feel so famous with all these adoring parents,” Carly Whiteman said before launching into “Moonglow” at the Peter Buys Band Shell at City Park in Hagerstown. The senior at the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts performed her strong vocal backed by the school's contemporary music ensemble under the direction of Mark Cook. The ensemble was one of 11 music groups from around Washington County to perform Saturday at the 14th annual Swingin' in the Park Jazz Festival. “Carly is Hagerstown's answer to Aretha Franklin,” Cook told the audience.

Washington County Public Schools will present the Swingin' in the Park Jazz Festival at the band shell in Hagerstown City Park on Saturday.  The event will be in conjunction with the Scout's Founders Day Camporee.  Local school jazz bands will perform music for the public in a celebration of jazz. The annual event is coordinated by Gary Rupert of Smithsburg High School and is free to the public. The event started in 1998 to showcase the county's middle and high school jazz bands.

Members of Ballet and All That Jazz Tap Dancers performed in the National Cherry Blossom Parade on April 14 in Washington, D.C. There were a total of 650 tap dancers from all over the United States. Ballet and All That Jazz's spring recital is on Saturday, May 19, at the Maryland Theatre in downtown Hagerstown.        

A schools superintendent, a retired teacher, an NAACP officer and a gold medal-winning Olympian were honored Saturday by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's Eastern Panhandle Alumnae Chapter. Four high school seniors from both counties also were awarded scholarships at the chapter's fifth annual Jazz Brunch and Silent Auction. It was attended by more than 230 people, said Dr. Angela Oglesby, president of the 22-member Eastern Panhandle Alumnae Chapter of the 99-year-old international organization of professional and college-education black women.