The Side Door Jazz Club will host the progressive European jazz piano trio Phronesis Friday, Sept. 27. (Handout / November 14, 2012)
By OWEN MCNALLY, Special To The Courant
The Hartford Courant
September 26, 2013
Since the legendary George Wein and his Newport All-Stars launched the gala opening of the Old Lyme Inn's The Side Door Jazz Club last May before a festive crowd, the momentum has been building for the newest shoreline jazz spa with its swinging mix of intimacy, cool ambience, fine, even musician-pleasing acoustics and a parade of top name players.
Besides being the founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, the Newport Folk Festival and The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Wein, still a fireball at 86, loves to jam on piano with his handpicked all-star players. And for the champagne and ribbon-cutting ceremony for owner Ken Kitchings' dream jazz club located just off I-95, the world-famous maestro featured two fine frontline players, the great Israeli clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen and the terrific tenor saxophonist, Lew Tabackin.
Off to a skyrocketing start thanks to Wein and his winners, Kitchings, an avid jazz fan, who owns the Inn with his wife, Christine, has kept his new jazz haven's tempo soaring by presenting such piano luminaries as Bill Charlap, Fred Hersch, Kevin Hays and singer Dominique Eade, among many other jazz notables. Since buying the Inn in 2011, the Kitchings have extensively renovated the once sorely neglected but venerable landmark, including the creation of The Side Door as part of their ambitious revitalizing project.
An old-hand at organizing musical events at the Garde Arts Center in New London, Kitchings has already launched his promising fall/winter series at The Side Door, which continues Friday, Sept. 27, with the progressive European jazz piano trio, Phronesis.
Read more: http://www.courant.com/entertainment/music/hc-riffs-0926-20130926,0,4020667.story?track=rss
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