January 11 at 8:00 PM
Doors: 6:30 PM
Show: 7:00 PM
Opening set by the Sorellies celebrating their debut release BOSSY
Admission: $25
Join us for a celebration of 40 years of friendship and creative collaboration with Roy Nathanson and Bill Ware.
With Roy Nathanson on saxophone, Bill Ware on vibraphone, and John Menegon on bass. Featuring special guests, David Cale and Teri Roiger.
Roy Nathanson and Bill Ware’s deep friendship and active collaboration extends back decades to the founding of the Jazz Passengers in 1987. Roy and Bill also share several film score credits together, and have performed together in various offshoot projects, too many to count. During their years of collaborative songwriting, their pieces were recorded and performed by vocalists such as Mavis Staples, Jimmy Scott, Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry and Jeff Buckley.
Roy and Bill have also been friends and collaborators with David Cale dating back four decades. Roy was a member of the Lounge Lizards band when he first met David at a recording session in 1986. Their first collaboration was Smooch Music, David Cale’s full length solo performance piece, a collection of pop song-length monologues about romantic love which won a New York Bessie Performance Award. Bill and the Jazz Passengers rhythm section became the Smooch Music band.
Bill met Teri Roiger and John Menegon after he relocated to the Hudson Valley in 2019. The trio perform regularly at venues around the area like Lydia’s in Stone Ridge, Barnstock in Woodstock, and the Senate Garage in Kingston, as well as spots in NYC. They have also toured in Maine together two summers in a row.
Meet the Artists:
ROY NATHANSON is a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, poet, actor and teacher. He played in the Lounge Lizards in the 80’s and founded the Jazz Passengers in 1987 with trombonist Curtis Fowlkes. During the thirty years Nathanson has led and composed for the Jazz Passengers, the band has made ten recordings and toured extensively, featuring guest vocalists including Mavis Staples, Jimmy Scott, Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry and Jeff Buckley. From 2006-13, his band Sotto Voce made three albums featuring his unique synthesis of text and music. Nathanson’s most recent recordings are Small Things (NYXO Records) featuring Nick Hakim, 82 Days (Enja- Yellowbird Records) and the Jazz Passengers last album, Big Large, dedicated to Curtis Fowlkes’ passing. Nathanson’s radio play, You’re The Fool, was performed and commissioned on NPR and his meditation on time, The Rock Concert, was commissioned by the Science Museum of the University of Wisconsin. His first book of poetry Subway Moon is on Buddy’s Knife Editions and his poems have appeared in Natural Bridge, 5AM, the Brooklyn Rail and other publications. He has also collaborated in theatre and film with David Cale, Chantal Akerman, Peter Sollett, Bill Ware, and Ray Dobbins through composition, co-writing and acting.
Nathanson has written 2 books of poems: Conversations and Other Songs on Mad Hat Press (2020) and Subway Moon on Buddy’s Knife Editions of Hamburg (2008.) His newest chapbook, A Brief History of My Ears, co-written with Jeff Friedman, will be out in January 2025 on Ethel press. Nathanson has received two New York Foundation for the Arts composing awards, a Chamber Music America Award in composition, and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and NPR. He was a recipient of a New York Bessie Performance Award and a Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago. He has been featured in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Brooklyn Rail, The Guardian, The London Independent and various other international publications.
BILL WARE is a jazz vibraphonist, composer, producer, and bandleader known for his dynamic artistry and versatility. He joined the Jazz Passengers in 1987 and was an original member of Groove Collective, a cornerstone of New York City’s acid jazz scene in the 1990s. From 1993 to 1995, Ware toured with Steely Dan during their first live performances in decades, also recording the album Alive in America. His trio, Vibes, earned acclaim as the house band for the Knitting Factory’s Late-Night Hang, with All About Jazz praising his vibraphone technique as “a master of quiet spectacle.”
In the 1990s, Ware’s Club Bird All-Stars held a celebrated residency at Yokohama’s Club Bird and recorded the classic album Long & Skinny. In summer 2024, he returned to the legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studio to record new compositions with an ensemble featuring guitarist Rez Abbasi, pianist Matt King, bassist Jay Anderson, and drummer Taru Alexander.
As a composer, Ware bridges contemporary classical and jazz traditions, contributing to the Deborah Harry–Jazz Passengers songbook, three symphonies, concerti, and hybrid classical-jazz projects with cellist Sara Wollan. His film scoring credits, including collaborations with Roy Nathanson, span projects like Martin and Orloff, Raising Victor Vargas, and Undefeated. In recent years, Ware created acclaimed original scores for classic silent films, including The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and The Spanish Dancer (1923), the latter released on Blu-ray in 2023.
JOHN MENEGON is a jazz bassist, but is also a guitarist, arranger, and composer. He began his career as a musician in Montreal playing in groups with the great guitarist Nelson Symonds, as well as pianist Vic Vogel and guitarist Sonny Greenwich. After relocating to New York City, he played bass for over ten years with two legendary tenor saxophonists, Dewey Redman and Texas Tenor David “Fathead” Newman. This experience provided a solid foundation for Menegon to continue his explorations as a bandleader, composer and arranger, and he has been composing and arranging music throughout his career. Menegon has released six CDs as a bandleader featuring Dewey Redman, Frank Kimbrough, Joel Frahm, Matt Wilson, David “Fathead” Newman, Joe Lovano, Kenny Burrell, Jack DeJohnette, Teri Roiger, John Di Martino, John Gunther, and many others. He currently plays with jazz legend Joe Lovano’s “Classic Quartet” as well as numerous other stellar musicians. His latest ensemble “Sound Embrace” features pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, saxophonist Chet Doxas and drummer Jim Doxas playing John’s brilliant compositions. As an educator, he spent several years teaching in the Jazz Departments of SUNY New Paltz, Williams College, Bard and Bennington Colleges. “Although Sound Embrace showcases Menegon’s exceptional writing skills, let’s not forget the strong, lyrical and harmonically-advanced bass playing of Menegon as a soloist or intuitively interacting with the ensemble. There is something very special about Sound Embrace.” Abe Goldstein, Papatamus Redux
Photo credit: Albie Mitchell
DAVID CALE is an award-winning performance artist, playwright, songwriter and actor based in New York City and Lake Katrine, N.Y. His solo play Harry Clarke starring Billy Crudup recently completed a sold out nine-week run at The Ambassadors Theatre on London’s West End. David is the writer and performer of ten solo works, most recently his solo musical memoir, We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time at The Public Theater, NYC, for which he wrote the book, lyrics and co-composed the music with Matthew Dean Marsh (Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Show, Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance). Other recent writing credits include Sandra starring Marjan Neshat (Vineyard Theatre, NYC). He collaborated with composer Roy Nathanson on his solo shows, Smooch Music and Deep in a Dream of You (Bessie Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement), and has written lyrics for songs by Roy and Bill Ware for The Jazz Passengers. As an actor, David’s film credits include Mona Fastvold’s upcoming, The Woman Clothed by the Sun.
TERI ROIGER is an American jazz musician, vocalist, pianist, songwriter, lyricist, educator, and producer, Teri’s first recording was made with the legendary stride pianist Butch Thompson, and since then she has recorded with Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Burrell, John Menegon, Frank Kimbrough, Gil Goldstein, Steve Williams, Matt Wilson, Pete Levin, Joel Frahm, Jay Collins, Nanny Assis, and many others. Her five albums as a bandleader have all met with critical acclaim, as have her performances at festivals and top New York jazz spots. Her recordings show her uncommon knowledge, appreciation, and deep love for the artistry of Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, and Thelonious Monk. In 2013 her recording of Abbey Lincoln’s music was featured as one of the five best tribute releases in NYC Jazz Record. Teri & John’s first collaboration, MISTERIOSO, includes jazz legends Jack DeJohnette and Kenny Burrell, and Teri was given permission to publish her own lyrics to Monk’s iconic composition “Misterioso.” The recording was remixed and mastered in 2024 and is now available on vinyl only. “Teri is made for those who still understand the meaning of the term, the real thing.” — Stanley Crouch (Author & Cultural Critic)