If you're in the mood for live tunes, check out a performance of both traditional and contemporary jazz Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Cranford Community Center, whipped up by a trio hailing from Mason Gross School of the Arts, one of New Jersey's top music schools.
The concert is sponsored by The Friends of the Cranford Public Library.
"We've been presenting more and more live music programs over the past few months, and the response has been very positive, both in terms of attendance and audience reaction," said Cranford Public Library Director John Malar. "As far as I can recall, we haven't had a straight-ahead jazz program in a long time, so I wanted to try it."
Find out what's happening in Cranfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Mason Gross trio consists of Doug Clarke on guitar, Julian Smith on bass and Gusten Rudolph on drums. Some of the repertoire includes famous jazz singles that charted back when the genre boomed, such as "Polkadots and Moonbeams," "Donna Lee," "September in the Rain" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street."
The players are culled from Rutgers' Mason Gross School of the Arts Concert Bureau, a program which functions almost as an agent for students, Director Kevin Viscariello said. The Bureau finds players gigs ranging from parties and weddings to concerts.
Find out what's happening in Cranfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"It gets them professional experience playing," he said. "It allows them to earn income to help pay for school, pay for rent, day-to day-bills."
The Rutgers Concert Bureau is no stranger to the Friends of Cranford Public Library. Last January, a classical string trio came to Cranford in a similar program after an October book sale helped to fund the event. "They were superb, and I'm sure the same will be true of the jazz trio," Malar added.
