The Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD presents guitarist Steve Giordano with his organ trio in an evening of modern, groove-influenced jazz for Jazz Appreciation Month on Friday April 21, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Information and advance ticket sales are available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org. Reservations to pay at the door can be made by calling 410-639-9133.
Steve Giordano is a world class jazz guitarist, educator and composer based in Philadelphia. The Steve Giordano Trio, is a traditional instrumental combination – guitar, organ, and drums – but with a more modern sound and instead of lugging a Hammond B3 (the heavyweight of the keyboard world) around, the organ is accurately represented by a synthesizer keyboard.
Giordano’s organ trio music has its base in the bluesy groove-oriented sounds of Groove Holmes, Jimmy Smith and Don Patterson – with whom Giordano has recorded and played, but the music of the current organ trio is more modern and impressionistic. They play a combination of Giordano’s original compositions and pieces from progressive artists such as Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Gary Peacock, Herbie Hancock. Giordano will be joined by Chris Simonini on keyboards and Gavin McCauley on drums.
Guitarist Steve Giordano’s career has spanned the most evolutionary age of creative music in America. His early teachers were by way of radio and then 45 and LP records from the 1950s. He learned screaming guitar solos from Elvis Presley’s guitarist Scotty Moore and then was lured to jazz by Dave Brubeck, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and John Coltrane. When new technology emerged, he tried it all: synthesizers, string synthesizers, multi-track tape machines, and samplers. Digital replaced analog and then computers expanded possibilities beyond the conventional. Entire jazz orchestras were synthesized in his studio. Jazz went from blues, swing, be-bop, straight-ahead, hard-bop, post-bop, fusion, progressive, modern and avant garde. He played rock in clubs in his teens, subverting jazz into the repertoire in his early 20’s and then entered the jazz world playing with drummer Chico Hamilton and the organ circuit with Richard “Groove” Holmes and Willis Jackson, here and in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain.
Giordano has been a fixture on the Philadelphia jazz scene for many years, playing, composing, teaching and recording. He is also noted as a teacher, with university level musicians at the University of the Arts and Temple University, as far away as his ancestral home in Sicily at the Accademia di Chitarra Moderna and with residencies through the Pennsylvania and Delaware Councils on the Arts areas and online.
Pianist/Organist Chris Simonini started playing guitar as a teen but he soon became fascinated by jazz organ and began to study the Hammond B3. He plays clubs and festivals in the Philadelphia- New Jersey area and his debut recording project will be released this spring.
Gavin McCauley is an in-demand drummer and percussionist based in Philadelphia, PA. He maintains a busy schedule performing regionally with notable jazz musicians such as Larry McKenna, Grant Stewart, John Swana, Steve Giordano, Denis Diblasio, George Rabbai, and Behn Gillece. He is on the faculty at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia and teaches a multitude of private students.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region. It is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar.
The Mainstay is supported by ticket sales, fundraising including donations from friends and audience members and an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
The Mainstay sells advance tickets online through Instant Seats. Information and advance ticket sales are available on the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org. Follow the Buy Tickets link to buy tickets at the advance price. If you would rather pay at the door, you can make a reservation by calling 410-639-9133 and paying by cash or check at the door.
Upcoming Mainstay performances include:
April 24 – Mainstay Monday: Joe Holt welcomes Dick Durham on piano
April 29 – Cesar Orozco and Kamerata Jazz
May 1 – Mainstay Monday: Joe Holt welcomes Fredy Granillo
May 6 – The Eastport Oyster Boys
May 8 – Mainstay Monday: Joe Holt welcomes Barbara Ferris & Bob Colligan
May 13- Le Vent du Nord
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