Upstate Jazz

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Upstate Jazz:

The upstate Jazz scene is much different from NYC. Most of the players also have full time jobs which support their music activities. Floyd Acklies (spelling?) one of the most talented alto players I have ever heard was a foreman at the Watervliet Arsenal cannon manufacturing plant. Renee Crane for example was a research chemist for Sterling Winthrop and a very fine pianist ala Bill Evens. Sammy Mancuso was the head accountant for a Utica firm. The examples are endless and lets remember Mingus was a mailman.

This is a page devoted to the Upstate Jazz scene (still under development). This website is a vanity page largely containing my recollections which might not be accurate. Be that as it may anyone taking exception or wanting to append their thoughts is welcome to do so. Text submissions would be great and any one in possession of pictures please submit them by email to: electricfarm@gmail.com

About Music In Upstate NY:

Upstate NY has always been a fervent Jazz scene and from the Gaiety days of the 1950's until today there has always been a group of loyal Jazz followers. You must understand that the continuation of the Art requires not only Musicians but also Audience without which the art disappears.

In the late 1950’s I worked for Bern’s camera store in Albany and we were open until 9 pm on Thursdays.The camera repairman for the store was an avid Jazz fan and we would go to a club called the Gaiety on Green Street in Albany.The Gaiety was in one of the worst areas of the city and with out a doubt there was drug and prostitution activities in that neighborhood.The Gaiety provided a stage for musicians many of whom in later years became famous. It was at the Gaiety that I came to know Nick Brignola, Chuck Mangione, Bob James, and many others.The seeds were planted and I became a regular at all the areas Jazz clubs.

Albany was sort of a stopping off place for musicians traveling from NY to Montreal and they would often schedule a couple of nights on their trip through. Remember before the Northway, NY to Montreal, was at least a two day trip.

I became involved with the upstate Jazz scene doing bookings, transporting equipment, and such from Kingston to Rochester.This supplied me with the opportunity to meet and personally know many musicians that are legends in the genre. I have collected Jazz records and disks through the years and I have a collection numbering in the thousands. Starting in 1999 I started converting the collections of mine and my friends to music files and this collection now is over 60,000 files. I continue to attend local live performances frequently and often do video of the performances..

Jazz in Albany

Incomplete list:

Al Williams - The first local player to have electric guitar. Played the Gaiety frequently. I understand that in later years he played with Erskin Hawkins as did George Leary also but many years later.

Billy Grimes - Bass

Rob Quinn - Drums

Rob was a drummer who also worked for various record stores in the Albany area. He also appeared several times with Mose Allison at Roth's in Schenectady.

Dave Pierce - Avid collector - Record Store Employee

Don Friedman

Did several extended engagements at the Gaiety some times I was the only audience.

Don York - Piano

I attended High School with Don who upon graduation he went on to Julliard.

Worked with: Nick Brignola, Twyla Tharp Dance Co., Bet Middler

Comment by John Esposito - A noted piano player from the Woodstock area.

What got you started with Jazz?

I think it was a combination. I was in Albany, NY. There weren’t that many people around. I eventually had a few lessons with a piano player named Don York who’s no longer a jazz musician. He’s a new music composer working with dance. He was a Juilliard educated child prodigy with two right hands. He worked with a saxophonist named Nick Brignola who was the local heavy player. That was the first live jazz that I was able to hear. It was Nick Brignola, Don York, a young prodigy drummer named George Leary, and a series of bass players---( Eddie Annanias originally - GS ) Dave Holland, Glenn Moore, and Frank Tusa were the three that I saw with that band.

Eddie Ananias - Bass Guitar

Eddie I have not seen since the 1970's. George Leary is in touch with him.

Mike Flanagan - Bass

Rene Crane - Piano

Recently Died 2022

Floyd Achlies - alto sax

Wendell Byrd - Hammond b3

Johnny Bashinsky - Piano

John was one of Albany's best piano players who played frequently at the Gaiety in the early 1960's. Through the years I heard him play often with Nick but also with various others.

The last time I saw John he was running a drill rig in E. Durham for ENCON testing for pollutants from the Becker Speaker factory. This was in the early 1990's he said he hadn't been playing much.

John McClean - Piano

John also as a regular at the Gaiety circa 1960. I again saw John play at a Jam session held at Alberta Lodge in Greenville about 1980. Friend Dick Mitchell played guitar, Pam and Bob Danz, and John Esposito on piano. I recorded this on one of the first portable video machines (VHS) but the quality is very poor

George Mastrangelo - Saxes

lived upstairs from Justin's on Lark St. performed there and the Lark Tavern Frequently.

Peg and Bill Delaney - Piano & Bass

I first met Peg at the Limelight Inn in Gayhead, NY. She was performing with the Greg Speck band playing flute at that time circa 1980;

https://sites.google.com/view/electricfarm-music/peggy-and-bill-delaney

Wendel Byrd - Hammond B3 - see Utica

Jazz in Schenectady

After the closing of the Gaiety in Albany many of the players migrated to Roth's Restaurant on Union St. in Schenectady. Mike Roth I can assure you was not a music enthusiast but he seized the economic opportunity with enthusiasm booking such luminaries as Ahmad Jamal, Mose Allison, Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie, and more..... There was an upstairs cocktail a bar room and a Downstairs Banquet room the upstairs stage was populated with a Yamaha grand piano and the downstairs had a Steinway.

Ile never forget the day Ahmad Jamal arrived early and was noodling around on the Steinway when Mike came in and told him he would be playing upstairs in the cocktail lounge as the main act downstairs was Dizzy Gillespie w/Lalo. You talk about crest fallen. When he played that night he pounded that Yamaha with a vengeance that I will never forget. Dizzy played with , James Moody, and Mike Longo substituted for Lalo it was very good but I kept returning to the Ahmad Jamal performance upstairs which was spectacular .

Mose Allison played Roth's on several occasions he would stay with Rob Quinn who would also play drums for the gig. I was invited to have dinner with them but as the day progressed my recollection of the event becomes blurry. I do recollect however a very good pork roast cooked in beer.

One New Years Eve my girlfriend Jean and I decided to go to Roth's to see the new year in. Roy Hanes was the feature act with Gildo Mahonas, Larry Ridley, and Booker Ervin. After the performance we all returned to Jean's parents house as her parents were away. We .......

Sonny Clark played Roth's on several occasions.

Jazz in Utica

During 1961-62 I lived in Utica and was involved with the Utica Jazz scene. As I was from Albany I came to know many Utica Musicians as they often played in Albany. Sal Amico (trumpet) was living in a basement apartment on State St. in Albany. Sammy And Delores Mancuso (Vocal.guitar) were appearing at Kittle's on S. Swan St. J.R. Monterose played extended periods at the Gaiety on Green St. Wendel Byrd frequently played the Eljore in Schenectady and the Towpath in Albany. As I was a regular in these various Jazz Clubs I came to know these Utica Musicians. In 1961 I moved to Utica and in the first days there while still staying in a motel I made my first visit to “Dickie” Franks Birdland, Utica's main Jazz Spot. I met "Dickie" and while discussing my need for a place to live he offered to rent me a room in a house he owned.

One of the senior residents of the house was Jimmy Wormworth Sr. (piano) who is the father of the Jimmy Wormworth Jr. that was the drummer for the Hank Mobley band at that time. During my stay in Utica I came to know Butch Strong (organ). Teddy Grimes who I believe was a cousin to a good friend of mine Billy Grimes (bass) of Albany. Billy had been a frequent player with Nick Brignola in Albany.

I had acquired a Cadillac hearse and started my career in the music business transporting musicians from one venue to another. I came to know many club owners in the upstate area and later started doing bookings. It was while pursuing this activity I came to know many well known Musicians.

"JR" Monterose - Tenor Sax

Tony "Whitey" Alesia - Trombone

I lived in the same house on Kendall St. in Utica with Whitey until his death in a car accident. It occurred while he was returning from Gig in Binghampton.

Teddy Grimes - Conga and percussion

Butch Strong - A Hammond B3 player of note

Wendel Byrd - Hammond b3

• This is the only known recording of Wendell

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nrVeVbOmc