It is no surprise to anyone that the Grand Rapids jazz market is something truly remarkable. It is hard not to get caught up in the joy of this growing scene if you visit, as I have, any number of the local restaurants or bars that have programmed in this style of music to their venue’s offerings.
And while a bar or restaurant is a wonderful place to enjoy live music, nothing can come close to touching the joys of seeing a favorite act live in an acoustically sound venue.
The New Vintage Jazz Concert series was launched at the American Seating complex on Grand Rapids’ Westside in October 2015. Rapid Growth took a tour of the facility earlier this year and can attest that New Vintage Place is one of the most exciting of the new special events venues popping up in the city. What makes this one really special is that it's modeled after the music listening rooms one would most commonly discover in our neighboring city of Chicago.
The five prior concerts have all featured a diverse listening experience of not only local acts in this polished and state-of-the-art listening room, but has aimed to represent three distinct styles of jazz: instrumental and modern vocal jazz within the standards style, the instrumentally-rich smooth jazz format, and the conceptual like that pioneered by late 1960s recordings of Mile Davis and John Coltrane.
The last concert of the season is one not to be missed as this fledgling music series welcomes to the stage Grupo Aye - a large 10-member band performing a Latin-infused jazz style known as Afro-Caribbean Salsa.
This band formed after its members discovered that there was a real lack of Latino music acts who were committed to performing original music as well as many of the great standards of Latin American culture.
Even if you do not know the song’s meaning, the beat of this percussion-rich and horns-at-the -ready act will have you and your guests on your feet and dancing within seconds.
If you haven't heard of New Vintage Place, I can assure you that, in a city craving for unique experiences all the time, this is going to be on your radar more and more. It is too wonderful of an event to miss, especially when considering it was created for events like this new jazz series produced in conjunction with the West Michigan Jazz Society.
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