Harold Arlen’s “Out of This World” was sung by Bing Crosby, dubbing for actor Eddie Bracken, in the 1945 movie of the same name. The song “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”, was written in 1919 by Brooks Bowman, a Princeton University student, and performed by the Triangle Club, a student ensemble.
The latter bit of musical history was revealed by trumpeter Ted Chubb before his quintet played “East of the Sun” as the finale of its November 1st performance at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert in Madison, NJ. “Out of This World” is the only track on the quintet’s 2025 Circle 9 Records album, Live at the Statuary not composed by Chubb, who pointed out that Arlen is one of our Great American Songbook composers.
The audience, however, was treated to several of Chubb’s compositions from the album, starting off with “The SBB Bounce”, reflecting the excellent train service in Switzerland where Chubb lived a few years ago. “I was kind of bouncing from city to city there,” he said. “It was really an inspiring experience.”
“Little Flower Girl” was based on the “innocence” of a young woman Chubb saw selling flowers during a trip to India, and “1919” was a ballad dedicated to his grandparents, who believed in and supported him when he was growing up in Ohio with dreams of becoming a jazz musician.
The all-star musicians in the quintet were: alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, pianist Oscar Perez, bassist Tom DiCarlo, and drummer Carmen Intorre.
Chubb, a long-time jazz educator, who currently teaches at Princeton, gave a shout out to the student musicians in the Rising Stars opening act, a quintet led by Newark Academy tenor saxophonist Jay Thatte, a resident of Livingston. Thatte is a member of this year’s New Jersey High School All-State Jazz Ensemble and of the 2026 Monterey Jazz Festival Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. The young musicians energized the crowd with their performances of three jazz standards: Clifford Brown’s “Dahoud”, Steve Turre’s “Ray’s Collard Greens”, and Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology.”
In addition to Thatte, members of the opening act band were Newark Academy pianist Sayuj Sharma from Jersey City; drummer Ishaan Alur, Florham Park; bassist Enzo Lai, Morristown; and Ridgewood High School baritone saxophonist Eli Wunder, who is also a member of the All-State Jazz Ensemble.
(Photo above, Bruce Williams, left, and Ted Chubb; photo below, Jay Thatte, left, and Eli Wunder).
PHOTOS BY MARGUERITE LAFOUNTAINE
