The joint was jumpin’! There’s no other way to describe it. Alto saxophonist Julius Tolentino (left in photo above), recipient of DownBeat Magazine’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award for Jazz Education, brought three of his former students — pianist Ben Collins-Siegel, bassist Ian Kenselaar (photo below), and his son, trumpeter Jacob Tolentino (right in photo above) — to NJJS’ January Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert at the Madison Community Arts Center. And, he added a special guest, the electrifying drummer Winard Harper.
The repertoire was a great mix of jazz classics such as Horace Silver’s “Split Kick” and Benny Golson’s “Whisper Not” with popular standards such as Vincent Youmans’ “Without a Song.” And the combination of veterans and rising stars not only energized and excited the audience but also provided assurance that the future of jazz is secure.
“This is a real Jersey Jazz band,” Julius Tolentino exclaimed. He and his son are from Roselle Park; Collins-Siegel and Kenselaar are from Maplewood. And, Harper conducts jam sessions on Friday and Sunday nights at Moore’s Lounge in Jersey City. The elder Tolentino is the Jazz Director at Newark Academy in Livingston, and NA’s Chameleon jazz band took first place in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition in 2024.
Collins-Siegel and Jacob Tolentino are Newark Academy graduates, and Kenselaar was mentored by Julius Tolentino at Jazz House Kids. The packed crowd was sprinkled with current Newark Academy students, many still in middle school but clearly looking forward to their time on the big stage.
No one wanted this afternoon of music to end, but it finished on a high note: the quintet’s performance of Dexter Gordon’s “Society Red” from his 1961 Blue Note album, Doin’ Allright.
Funding for Jersey Jazz Live! has been made possible, in part, by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of The National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has been provided by The Summit Foundation.
PHOTOS BY MARGUERITE LA FOUNTAINE
