Shore Jazz, featuring Holly Lane
When I hosted weekly Mainstay Monday shows (at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD, from 2016-2020), I would typically invite a single guest artist to share the stage. On occasion, I could have 2 guests, which was the case in this video, taken and edited by a friend of Holly. The addition of Mike McShane on drums allowed us to also present the instrumental nucleus of Shore Jazz. Let's begin there.
Shore Jazz has been a lower Delaware based, DelMarVa institution since the 1960s, founded by pianist Lenny Grazier. Read more about Lenny and the history of Shore Jazz here. After Lenny's passing, Bob Diener took the piano/keyboard seat. Later, in the mid 2000s, I was given the opportunity to fill the chair, continuing the Shore Jazz tradition and mission. In this 2018 video, I am playing, along with Mike, on the Mainstay's wonderful grand piano. Typically, though, Mike and I will form a two man rhythm section using a keyboard with a left hand bass split (which can be made and played so as to have people looking for the bass player when they hear the music. I'll always smile when that happens). Most of the time, there is another musician with us: the primary chair-holder being saxophonist John Ewart. Other regional jazz players will join us from time to time as well, including Cody Leavel (sax/clarinet), Dave Schiff (sax/flute) and Paul Midiri (vibes). The video above has been edited more to showcase Holly, but also portrays well some of the styles and grooves Mike and I play behind her.
Holly Lane has been the primary Shore Jazz vocalist since the very early 2000s, when she returned to the US, settling in Rehoboth Beach, DE, after 15 years of performing in performing in Paris Jazz clubs, French musical comedies, Club Med, Euro Disney, and on cruise ships. As you can see in the video above, Holly is at home on the stage.
If you visit my shows page, you will almost always find gigs with Mike McShane in the mix (though you may have to click on a show link to find him, such as when we are backing vocalist Libby York, or playing a jazz festival event in Rehoboth); whether we are backing other instrumentalists or vocalists, performing as Shore Jazz, or presenting a Holly Lane French themed show. Come and see us if you're in the area. Contact Mike if you're interested in booking the band