It has been an incredibly long time since I last wrote and much has happened since last November!
I have returned to my original north eastern home turf in a way. Having been raised in Buffalo N.Y. I'm back to where it all started...feeling familiar but new.
Our move from L.A. to the Berkshires was a leap of faith and it seems that we made a good call.
We purchased a 125 year old Victorian house that has tons of character and great vibes...and it's a good thing we love her as much as we do because she needs a ton of work! We are slowly chipping away at what needs to be taken care of with a dream of intimate house concerts at the center of our visualizations.
The Berkshires hosts a lot more jazz than we realized. The summers open up here and become an active bustling hub for the performing and visual arts. We chose this area because of that fact but we didn't realize to what extent the arts come alive here once the snow goes away!
Not only do we have John Williams, James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, The BSO at Tanglewood (which is just a walk away from our house), but there's Jacobs Pillow Dance, Shakespeare and Co., Berkshire Film Fest., MOCA and the Clark Art Museums, music at The Mount, Music Mountain Summer Festival with artists like Helen Sung and Sara Caswell; But the great news for two jazz musicians moving to the mountains is that there are a plethora of venues in Lenox and surrounding towns that have top notch weekly jazz ensembles featured and many outdoor summer jazz festivals supported by The Berkshire Jazz society who have graciously invited me to perform.
So one of my L.A. buddies asked me last night on a zoom call...
"On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being moving east was a bad idea and 10 being the best idea greatest move ever...how would you rate your move?"
I think I'd give this move a solid 81/2 and that's only because my children live on different coasts so I miss them terribly and the winters are seriously cold and a bit too long....but no place on earth is perfect right?
Life has a nice balance here and we're finding a new rhythm. George loves being professor Oldziey at Berklee driving into Boston two days a week, I love performing with a band again...Covid and a two year shutdown had me forgetting that this is what I love doing with every fiber of my being. We love taking the train to NYC now and then and we adore having people come visit from all reaches of the world...making music with us, eating good food, drinking wine and chillin' on the front porch.
So on that note, please come share some music with us! Come chill on the front porch!
We will be hosting our first house concert in our old Victorian on Thursday August 25th and if you're in the area or know someone who is, circle the date!
We will be featuring...
Jazz pianist Peggy Stern (all the way from Austin)
and
Bassist MaryAnn McSweeney (from N.Y.C. and the Berkshires)
Thursday August 25th
7:00 P.M.
Seating is limited
Call for details: reservations, address and parking info. (512) 924-5821
$25 suggested donation
B.Y.O.B we will provide some snacks!
AND...
some more Jazz in the Berkshires
The Suzi Stern Group
at
Gateways on August 18th
with
George Oldziey piano
&
MaryAnn McSweeney Bass
6:00 to 9:00
51 Walker Street , Lenox MA for reservations and more info: (413) 637-2532
AND...
Friday, August 19th
The Suzi Stern Quartet
with
Paul Ostermayer sax
Will Carroll drums
George Oldziey piano
MaryAnn McSweeney bass
AT
The Red Lion
Stockbridge MA
30 Main Street
(413) 298-5545 for more info.
Stay healthy, happy and thank you for keeping music in your lives!
