For two decades Cold Spring Jazz Quartet has appeared regularly in nightclubs, restaurants and concert venues in the Baltimore-Washington area, winning a broad and loyal following. Favorite venues have included Ixia Restaurant, Meli, and Germano’s Piattini. Recent private engagements have included Stella Maris’s annual wine-tasting event, concerts at the Dam Jam, Fiore Winery and at Artscape. CSJQ can create a variety sounds and moods—from a swing-and-standards combo to a bebop group or blues band—depending upon the audience and venue.
On their fourth release, Next of Kin, CSJQ is pleased to welcome pianist Charlie Etzel to his first recording with the band. A legend on the Baltimore jazz scene, Etzel sparkles throughout, particularly shining on Horace Silver’s “Tokyo Blues” and on the Lerner/Loewe classic “On the Street Where You Live.” Mark Osteen’s saxophone dazzles on his own calypso tune, “Hmmmm?” and delights on the ballad, “Strawberry Moon.” His vocals also sweeten “Jelly Roll” and pay tribute to an iconic terpsichorean performer on “The St. Vitus Dance.” Drummer Greg Mack’s tasty work will have you tapping and clapping on “Shakshuka,” while Gary Kerner’s bass highlights “Because I Said So.”
Many of the compositions on Next of Kin were inspired by or are dedicated to loved ones. Along with the band members, each one of them has in some way contributed to the music on this recording. We love and salute you all! Beyond the immediate family, all living things on the planet are our kinfolk, the children of mother earth. The record calls us to treat them as such.
CSJQ’s third release, Warming Trend, shows the band taking off in new directions. Anthony Villa’s elegant, energetic piano solos lend grace and vivacity to the originals “Ver la Luz,” and “Hagerstown,” and to Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence.” Mark Osteen’s saxophone playing hits new heights with dashing tenor solos on “Samba de Orfeu,” and his own “On Second Thought.” Drummer Greg Mack is showcased on the Afro-Cuban burner “Los Bravos,” and Gary Kerner’s witty bass style is perfect for Mose Allison’s sardonic “I Don’t Worry about a Thing.”
Urban Pastoral, the band’s second release, was very well received. The Baltimore Jazz Alliance newsletter described the music as “honed to a high polish,” and the vocals as showing “pizzazz up the patoozy.”
The planet is warming up, and so is Cold Spring Jazz Quartet—but in a good way! Listen and feel the heat.
Contact Mark Osteen (410-339-7721) or e-mail mlcost33@comcast.net for further information or to book an engagement.