After all the snow, rain and freezing cold nights, today we finally got a break in the weather. Today’s high was 66 degrees (Fahrenheit) so I decided to take the lids off of my larger plastic bins that have been sitting outside since late January and have a peek inside.
When I did, all I could say was WOW!! It is so exciting to see so many seedlings coming up! They’re alive!!
Some were just tiny green dots on the surface of the soil, but other seedlings were standing up with several leaves. It’s the first time I have done Winter sowing, and I know I went overboard with my planting, but it is so gratifying to see these early results!
Some of the early plants that are “Springing” to life now are Bachelor Buttons (aka Cornflowers); California Poppies; Snapdragons, Hyssop; a Salvia variety called ‘Pink Sundae’; and an entire container of Cottage Pinks! There are dozens of other plants that should continue to grow and develop as the weather warms up.
The beginning of Spring does not arrive until March 19th, so incredibly, these seeds were planted in the Winter and sprouted in the Winter.
My plan is to start planting out Snapdragons and Bachelor Buttons soon, because they should be safe to put in the ground at least 3 weeks before the last frost, which is approximately April 9th this year. It’s funny, I have never been so aware of the daily weather forecasts until now, especially nighttime temperatures.
This Sunday might be a good day to try to plant some of the seedlings, since it will be cloudy that day and cloudy for the following 5 days – no rain in the forecast for now. And because I have an abundance of seedlings, I can experiment by putting a half dozen or more plants in the ground and see if they adjust and do well. If they do, I can wait and sow more seedlings as we get closer to April!
In my last post, I covered all the supplies needed to Winter Sow and in this post I’ll go through the “How To” so you can prepare your seeds for outdoor cold stratification and germination.
First, take your empty and washed water bottle, milk jug, or other container, and cut it around the center leaving a 2-3″ “hinge” in the back where the top part of the jug is still attached to the bottom. Drill four drainage holes in the bottom of the container, or use a small knife to cut some holes.
Take your dry seed starting mix, and put it in a washed (sterilized) container that you can use to mix the seed starter with water. Seed starter is very light and fluffy, you will need to slowly add water to the starter and mix the water in with your hand. You’ll mix just enough water so that the seed starter is consistently moist, but you don’t want it fully saturated and dripping wet. The mixture should almost be a crumbly consistency. Scoop some of this into your hand, and put it in the bottom of your jug. Fill the jug until you have about 3 and a half inches of soil starter.
From there, gently tamp down the mixture into the jug (do not press down hard or compact the mixture) so that the soil surface is even.
Now here comes the real fun! Select a packet of seed you want to plant, and open it up. Some seeds, like the blue poppy seeds shown in the image above, are extremely tiny – about the size of a speck of pepper. You can use a variety of techniques to place the seeds on the soil surface. If I am planting very tiny seeds, I put my fingertip against the bottom of the packet and ensure that I am “grabbing” four or five seeds. I put those seeds into the palm of my “non planting” hand, and then pick up each individual seed with my finger and place it on the soil. Another technique is to take a piece of paper and fold it in half, then gently tap the seed packet onto the paper, allowing only a few seeds to come out. Hold the folded part of the paper over the soil and allow the seeds to roll onto the soil surface. It’s important when you have tiny seeds that you don’t just dump the entire packet into one jug. You could easily put too many seeds on the soil which will waste the seed. Another technique some people use is to take a toothpick and dip it in water, and touch the tip of the moistened toothpick to the seed, which will pick up an individual seed, so it can be placed more accurately on the soil.
Once the seeds are all placed, mist them with a little water so that the seeds “settle” into the seed starting mixture. Mist means exactly that – do not run the soil under a faucet or use a watering can. You’re really just looking for a very fine spray of water.
Can you see the Orange California Poppy seeds sitting on the surface of the soil, in the little peat cells above? There are only 5 or so seeds per cell, which is generous. Most likely some of those seeds will need to be thinned out later so that each seedling does not have to compete for space and nutrients. Yes, later on it will be about survival of the fittest.
In each jug, or in each cell, please make sure that you label what you planted. Once a seed starts to germinate and it gets its “seedling leaves” (cotyledons) you will not be able to distinguish what the plant is since all cotyledons essentially look the same. I also like to indicate the date I planted the seed as well.
If you are using a jug, get a few pieces of duct tape to close up the cut you made around the center of the container. Make sure that you REMOVE the CAP from the top of the bottle or jug, so that rain or snow CAN get in the top. This jug will act like a little greenhouse, and you drilled drainage holes in the bottom of the container so that the soil mixture doesn’t get soggy, but the seeds will need to stay moist in order to germinate.
I might have gotten a little bit carried away with this Winter sowing project, because in addition to the water jugs, I also have large plastic bins with holes drilled in the top and the bottom. Inside the bins, I have peat cells filled with seed starter, and lots of different types of seeds that I believe will germinate inside these containers … once it gets a little warmer.
In several more weeks, probably well into March or even early April, I should start to see some results, with seedlings starting to sprout up. All in all, I planted over 200 “seed cells” or jugs outside with a large variety of plants including both perennials and annuals. Everything from Cream Wild Indigo to Prairie Smoke to Himalayan Blue Poppies and Cosmos. I am not expecting everything to germinate, but it will be fascinating to see what happens.
For now, I am waiting, like every other gardener, for Spring to arrive.
In my last post, I talked about giving a glimpse ahead of the 2024 planting season. This year, for the first time, I am going to jump headfirst into the world of “Winter Seed Sowing” outdoors.
Well actually, that’s not quite true because last Winter I cleared ground outside (or at least I thought I had cleared it of weeds) and then I generously spread various types of perennial seeds like Columbine, Penstemon and others, then tamped them down with my feet and waited. Nothing happened. At all. No seedlings came up, and I think it is because we did not have any snow last year with average temperatures staying above the freezing mark, even at night. My guess is the seed I put down rotted and never had a chance, because they did not cold stratify. Or, it’s possible that some of those seeds are still there and might even germinate this year due to our colder temperatures and snow.
This year, I will still attempt to cold stratify my seeds, but this time I am going to use a somewhat more controlled environment for my plants to have a better chance at a head start in containers … outdoors. This idea of planting seeds outside in the Winter does feel a little strange, because when you buy plants at the garden center, you’re instructed not to plant them until temperatures have warmed up so the plants don’t die from exposure. But Mother Nature has been growing plants a lot longer than the garden centers, so the Winter Sowing process is intended to mimic what seeds would naturally go through.
A helpful explanation of what happens to perennial seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery, an excellent supplier of native North American seed, bare roots and plants. I have already gotten great results from planting bare roots from this supplier.
Namely, a perennial plant in the ground will generate seeds that, once pollinated, will ripen. Those ripe seeds will fall to the ground and lay on the surface of the soil. If the seeds aren’t eaten by birds, they can get rained on, frozen, snowed on, and go through Winter so the coating of the seed gets broken down. As the temperatures start to warm up, and the seed coating has sufficiently broken down, the seed will germinate. When that little baby seed germinates, it will send up two cotyledons, aka the “seed leaves” which essentially provide the little seed embryo with what it needs nutritionally until it can send up its “true leaves” which is when the plant really starts to grow.
But in order to mimic Winter Sowing an environment needs to be provided that will give the seed the best chance to survive. And that’s where various supplies are needed to make the magic happen. It’s not as inexpensive as taking a packet of seeds and putting them directly on the ground outside, but it’s still much less expensive than buying plants at the garden center. This is not to say it’s not worth it to buy certain plants from the garden center, because let’s face it, they have done all the work for you. You just go in and pick up a lovely healthy plant for a reasonable sum which, once planted, might stay in your garden for years. BUT if you want to have a ginormous selection of specific plants in your garden, and I mean both annuals and perennials, chances are you will want to grow those plants from seed because the garden center will not carry those plants.
There are many sources of seed on the internet and I have now purchased from many of them, but I don’t have any results yet to be able to say which companies have provided fresh seed which will give me good germination rates.
Supplies Needed for Winter Sowing:
Seeds – preferably organic.
Sterile Seed Starting Medium – preferably organic. Also, this is not potting soil.
Containers – this could be as simple as a milk jug, or as elaborate a pre-formed potting trays.
Mycorrizae Powder – optional. This might be a controversial ingredient for some people as a part of seed starter, but I am going to try to test the inclusion of mycorrizae with my seed starter for SOME pots and then plant other pots with the exact same seed without it and see if I notice any difference.
Pump Sprayer – optional. Again, people have different methods they prefer for watering. Some people swear by a bottom method of watering where the water is placed in the tray underneath the seed pots so it can be absorbed through the roots. Others apply water from the top. I’m going to try to gently spray water on the top of the seed trays only if they need extra moisture. I am choosing this method because I don’t want to risk having the roots of the new plants rot in standing water.
Fertilizer – optional. Preferably organic. Once the plant has established its true leaves and the plant is on its way to growing sufficiently to be planted out in the garden, a dilute solution of a gentle fertilizer is part of my plan this year. I use a de-stink-i-fied fish based fertilizer which is a powder and can be mixed with water. That’s going to go into my sprayer, at a 25% dilution rate. Plants will likely only get fertilized once or twice before they get planted out, but it is supposed to help prevent transplant shock.
What are the benefits of Winter Sowing?
The pleasure of seeing the fruits of your efforts, and seeing the plants grow from seed (miraculous!)
Less expensive than buying from the garden center
More varieties of plants available to the home gardener based on extensive seed selections available online
Easier to find space outside than growing the plants inside (with heat mats, grow lights and other equipment expenses)
More controlled environment than putting the seed directly on the ground, which may help with germination rates
No need to “harden off” plants, which is the process of exposing plants grown inside to more sun and cooler temperatures to prevent transplant shock
Now that we’ve talked about “why” Winter Sowing can be a good option, and we’ve covered some of the supplies needed to get started, in my next blog post, I will outline the process of getting the pots and trays ready to go outside and talk about some of the annuals and perennials I will try and grow this season!
Thanks for reading my gardening blog posts. I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!
I am approaching the second season in my new garden, after a very hectic first year.
In the first year, we had to remove a lot of invasive species, including: Knotweed, running Bamboo, Pachysandra, lesser celandine (aka ficaria, fig buttercup), Japanese barberry, Burning Bush, English Ivy, Chinese wisteria, Vinca vine, along with many other plants. We wanted to remove these invasive non-natives because they are aggressive and crowd out native plants, and because non-native plants do not support native insects, bees, and birds. This loss of habitat has led to significant declines in native butterflies and birds.
Lesser celandine is a terrible invasive, introduced to this country around 1867. It emerges very early in the Spring and crowds out native plants. It spreads rapidly, and can take over large areas.
We are still not done removing all of the invasives; we have whole patches of bamboo and pachysandra to eliminate. The running bamboo has been so painful to try and remove, and while the above ground poles (culms) are mostly gone (cut with a chainsaw, then chopped down further into 6 foot lengths, then burned in a firepit) we still have underground runners which are extremely difficult to dig up but it must be done.
I should also add that everything we are doing on the property, we are doing with our own hands. That’s two adults, no outside help. It’s amazing to me that we were able to get as far as we did.
In addition to the removal of all these non-natives, we carefully selected native shrubs and plants to add to our landscape in places where we were able to successfully clear the land sufficiently enough to enable new plant material to thrive. That included three new Mountain Laurel, new Rhododendron including two Chionoides and a Rhododendron Maximum (aka Bay Laurel), along with ten different varieties of native and native cultivar deciduous azaleas too, like Pinxter, Swamp Azalea and many more. Beyond those shrubs, we also added Virginia Sweetspire, Button Bush, Chokeberry, New Jersey Tea, and male and female Winterberry bushes.
Beautiful white blossoms on the Chionoides Rhododendron
That probably seems like a lot, which it was, but we went well beyond those plantings in year one. We added herbaceous perennials, and native grasses and bulbs, including a patch of Virginial Bluebells, Astilbe, native Violets, Coneflowers (Echninacea), Geranium Maculatum, Shasta Daisies, Culver Root, Milkweed, Joe Pye Weed, creeping Phlox, crested Dwarf Iris, Blue eyed Grass, Pennsylvania Sedge, Red Ozier Dogwood, Obedient Plant, many varieties of Penstemon, Wild Bergamot (Jacob Cline), New York Ironweed, Asters, Yarrow, Columbine, Coral Bells, Foam Flower, and lots and lots of ferns (Lady Fern, Maidenhair Fern). We also planted some white and purple allium bulbs.
We decided to also add some non-native plants, as long as they were not aggressive or invasive. So we planted Daffodil bulbs, Crocus, Delphinium, Trout Lilies and three white Lilac bushes, including the majestic Madame Lemoine, still known as the best known “double white” lilac in cultivation.
Madame Lemoine Double White Lilac, created by French horticulturalist Victor Lemoine in the 1870’s and named for his wife.
At the end of this past season, in preparation for this coming Spring we also planted a dozen bearded iris bulbs, and three Fritillaria. I can’t wait to see those come up, which will be very exciting!
Frittilaria Imperialis
You are probably getting the right idea if you believe this is a LOT of activity in one year. We were out in the garden every weekend, and many weekdays to make all of this happen. When the garden was in bloom in the Spring and Summer, people who walked past our house walking their dogs, or just out for a stroll with their kids would stop and admire, or ask questions, or make their own notes of what to bring back to their own gardens.
We were so happy that our many neighbors were enjoying our garden changes, especially those people who have lived in the community for decades. The property had fallen into disrepair from a landscaping perspective, and many parts of the property were an impassable bramble. All of that has changed for the better.
You would think, with all of the plants I have mentioned (and many more I did not mention) that we should be able to sit back and just enjoy whatever plants and shrubs come up this season… but NO.
Now we have a daunting task ahead to top what we achieved in year one. In year two we will be growing hundreds of annuals and some new perennials from seed and planting them amongst our existing plants.
In my next post, I will discuss the elaborate plans for Winter sowing of seeds and the dozens of varieties of plants that have been selected for the Spring / Summer 2024 garden.
A blue jay perches on my main mixed seed feeder with multiple feeding ports.
As we head into Winter, the birds in our backyards need good sources of higher protein foods as well as fresh water to drink. The insects that were so readily available in Spring and Summer have dwindled, and the cold takes a toll on birds who are not migrating to warmer climates.
There are so many birds that flock to my feeders at this time of year: blue jays, tufted titmice, black cap chickadees, doves, woodpeckers, cardinals, finches, Carolina wren, dark eyed junco, sparrows, grackles, and more. Each bird has their own preferred type of food, for example woodpeckers prefer peanuts and suet while the finches like the mixed seed in the main feeder along with the specialized “Niger seed” (thistle) that’s in a special finch feeder.
Two finches and a black capped chickadee share the feeder.
Also, remember that some birds are too big to land on a feeder, or the bird does not have the habit from eating from a feeder up in the air, and those birds (like doves, robins and others) may be hunting around underneath your feeder trying to pick up the crumbs of what other birds have dropped. I have not yet put out a tray feeder or ground feeder, because I am concerned all I will really be doing is feeding squirrels (nothing against the squirrels, but they look like they are doing fine fending for themselves…) so I have not yet figured out how to attract more of the ground feeding birds. If you have experience with ground feeders, please leave a comment!
Two Dark Eyed Juncos picking up peanut and suet crumbs on the ground.
TIP: Birds really need energy in the morning, when the sun is just up, and the birds are waking up and getting warmth from the sun and shaking off their torpor. So that means the best time to refill your feeders is just after the sun goes down the evening before, after all the birds have finished eating for the day – OR – before the sun comes up (I’m not awake then, but for you really early morning folks this is a great time too).
TIP: Fresh water is absolutely critical for birds to maintain their metabolism and fresh water can be in short supply when the temperature drops below freezing. Believe it or not, water is more important to the birds than food.
For those who have an outdoor electric supply, you can buy a bird bath heater to keep your bath water liquid so the birds can get a drink. Alternatively, since the birds are only drinking water during the day (and not bathing when its too cold), you can keep a smaller watering area for them in the Winter than you might in the Summer. I use shallow plant saucers. Empty the ice by pouring a little bit of warm water on it, dump the ice out, then pour the remaining warm water into the container. Don’t make the water too hot, but if it is lukewarm (65-75 degrees F) it will also take longer for the container to refreeze and the birds will not injure themselves with water at that temperature.
For those ambitious people who like projects, here are directions for making a do-it-yourself solar bird bath station: https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/BirdBath/SolarBirdBath.htm. I have also heard that putting ping pong balls in a water bath will help prevent the water from freezing as the ping pong balls circulate, but I have never tried that.
What are your experiences with feeding birds in your Winter garden? Please feel free to share photos!
There’s been a big blank spot for this blog since June 2017, and it’s time for some new 2024 activity centered around an important passion of mine: GARDENING!
Chipmunk lunch break
In 2024, I will be taking a Master Gardening course through my local university co-op extension, and I can’t wait to get started.
There will be a lot of topics that I am sure will be of interest and use to other gardeners, plus I am looking forward to hearing the opinions, advice and experiences of other gardeners.
Since my blog has been inactive for so long, I realize it might take a little while for the news of my ‘new green thumb’ to get out into the blog-o-sphere, but please drop by and say hello and a word of encouragement about gardening if you like!
About six months ago, I found Gardener’s World for the first time. It’s a wonderful British television show completely dedicated to gardening. https://www.gardenersworld.com/ After binge watching the very convivial host, Monty Don and his expert crew for several back years of re-runs showing off amazing British gardens in many different styles (formal and informal), I found myself getting more and more inspired to do more gardening on my own property.
Fortunately, a plant buyer at a nearby garden nursery also tuned me in to Doug Tallamy and his work in the United States to encourage US based gardeners to plant native plants in order to help restore wildlife habitats that have been destroyed due to over development in many areas. Doug’s current – and most excellent – project is called https://homegrownnationalpark.org/ Homegrown National Park. As it says on the website, it is a “IS A GRASSROOTS CALL-TO-ACTION TO REGENERATE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION BY PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS AND CREATING NEW ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS.”
So, I’m gearing up for some big next steps in my own journey as a relatively new gardener in this coming year with plenty of inspiration from Monty Don, Doug Tallamy, Piet Oudolf, Margaret Roach and others.
If you have a favorite gardening tv show, book, website or other resource: Please Feel Free to Share It Here!
This year has been phenomenal so far, and Carol Deminski Productions has gotten off the ground! I’m now managing three different bands: Carol Deminski and the Little Jazz Birds; The Carol Deminski Dixieland Band and now… the Raise the Bar Band too!
The Raise the Bar Band came out of my desire to play a wider variety of music beyond jazz, and to keep my band members, and me, playing out on a regular basis.
I started by thinking about what kind of music I wanted to focus on, which wasn’t easy. There are so many bands out there doing cover material, and I didn’t want to be playing songs that — while I enjoyed them — were being over-played. In my opinion, we don’t need another band doing Allman Brothers and Jimmy Hendrix covers, although I love both of those artists / bands.
So with that as my guide, I set off on a journey to bring together songs I felt were cohesive as a group. Things I liked and would want to sing, and would nod to my roots as a singer coming out of a jazz and blues tradition. For example, Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke is a pop song with a terrific dance beat, but the lyrics talk about the great lineage of jazz heritage we have in the works and performances of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. So yes, that’s on the list.
Certain artists began to pop up on my radar as I spent many hours listening to songs I loved, and then meandering around on YouTube, serendipitously moving from one video to the next with “suggestions” that sometimes appealed, and many times didn’t. This process of coming up with a core repertoire took weeks. Songs moved back and forth between a primary and secondary list (which I still have) and then even within the primary list, became further prioritized based on what might make sense for a 3 hour show … the typical length of time a band plays.
I’m often told that I’m organized, and I don’t disagree. That said, the process of finding the initial band repertoire was a lot of FUN. I wound up with early rock and roll, mixed in with fun “classic oldies” that people will know and love – but haven’t heard in awhile – along with New Orleans flavored material too. ALL of it is highly danceable too.
While I was doing that, I was simultaneously pulling together a group of musicians who wanted to do this music. That was also challenging because it’s no great secret that music is not a high paying endeavor.
—->I could diverge at this point and do an entire diatribe on how musicians are vastly underpaid for their talents, but I won’t. <—-
So for a musician to agree to get involved with my project, it meant a bunch of things. The music I was choosing was something that appealed to them, and they would enjoy playing it. Maybe they knew a bunch of the songs already, and they were willing to learn the ones they didn’t. And very importantly, they would be willing to REHEARSE.
Rehearsals are a dirty word to some musicians. For those that don’t want to rehearse, they will flat out refuse to get involved in a band project because it takes too much time. I get it, even if I may not like it! There has to be a balance between how much time you spend learning new material, and working on your own practice, which good musicians ARE doing on their own.
So I was very lucky to find excellent quality musicians to play with who agreed to participate in rehearsals. It’s not like we’re rehearsing every week, but we have to be able to get together just enough to nail down song introductions and endings, and for everyone to know their parts.
…so far, so good. I had a list of songs I liked, and group of musicians who wanted to play those songs with me.
The next hill to climb was … who would give us a chance to play this material at their bar / nightclub / restaurant, etc?
This is the part of being a bandleader that is pretty tough. Without existing relationships with club bookers where this kind of material was being performed, it meant I had to go to the phones and start from scratch. Until now I’ve been booking jazz gigs, so I’m in the process of expanding my reach to venues who want cover bands, and those types of venues are usually quite different.
I’ve spoken to some bandleaders and others about this part of the business, and they absolutely detest it. Some people dread making cold calls because of the rejection they have to face.
When I first started the process of making these calls, I didn’t like it either. It might take 15 calls with a NO answer to get to one YES (maybe more.) The amount of follow up to get the right person on the phone AND get a yes from them is time consuming. But now, after months of ploughing in and just doing it, I find I enjoy “the hunt” and “the close.” There’s a satisfaction when I book a new venue where I haven’t played before, and I’ve been able to establish enough of a rapport with the booker so that my band has a shot to come in, wow the crowd, and be invited back for that extremely important second gig.
Thankfully, given my time and energy, my band is now booked for a couple of gigs, and once I’m able to have my band on videotape playing this material, I’m 100% sure I will be able to book even more gigs.
If you have read this far, please be sure to visit the Raise the Bar band page here: http://CarolDeminskiProductions.com/raise-the-bar-band. There you’ll see a photo collage of artists that inspired me for the band’s song list, and photos of band members.
If you are also in New Jersey, and want to attend a Raise the Bar Band show, go to the Carol Deminski Productions website and check out the SHOWSÂ Â tab, for a complete calendar!
On the website you can find a Contact Page; music videos; a show calendar; photos and bios of some of the musicians who play in my bands; a produced events page, and more!
Take a look at the “Shows” calendar page for a list of events, beginning with the next available show. Right now, it shows my event for tomorrow night at the top!
Click on the graphic on the left side, for the event poster, so you see the whole thing… it looks like this!
On the “Shows” page I hope you’ll notice I’ve gotten into creating a poster for each gig I’m doing. Some of them are very colorful.
On March 5th, I’ll be playing a Sunday Brunch event at Ocean Place Resort & Spa, in Long Branch, NJ. That hotel is located on the beach, and the restaurant has a beautiful view of the ocean, so I chose a watery ocean themed poster style.
When you check out the site, if you want to reach me, feel free to use the Contact form!
If you know of someone who is looking for a high quality Jazz/Blues band, I’d appreciate any referrals too. It’s always tough, when getting started, to build an audience and I can use all of the friend-referrals I can get!
One of the popular events I host each month is Singer Celebration. I’ve written about it on this blog elsewhere, but I thought I’d mention that there is a big Holiday Edition of this event coming up this Saturday night.
Details: Singer Celebration, Sat, Dec 17th, DLV Lounge, 300 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ. 9pm to midnight. SINGERS are welcome to come and sing a favorite Jazz, Blues or Holiday tune with my swingin’ band! It’s a great opportunity to meet lots of other singers from the area.
And if you are interested in live music performances in New Jersey, please look at my Facebook page: @CarolDeminskiProductions. There you will find a list of events.
Another place you can find more information is Carol Deminski Productions. I have music videos, photos, along with other tasty goodies you will enjoy!
We will continue on with Singer Celebration in 2017 too….
For the January Show, we will have an amazing Featured Jazz Vocalist!
For the February Show, our Featured Vocalist will be a fabulous Blues singer!
Top Left – Right: John Bianchi (v); Michael Mittelsdorf (d); Jim Bogle & Erez Lirov (t) … Middle L – R: Joy Elaine Foster (v); Me & the band; Jackie Johnson (v) …………………… Bottom L-R: Amanda Benjamin (v); Michelle DiBlasi (v) and Patricia Walton (v)
I’m happy to report that the August 27th Singer Celebration was a success. We had 11 singers, including me and our featured singer, John Bianchi. John did a wonderful job playing clarinet and singing 3 tunes including his original composition “I’m Going Back to My Dreams” (which he started off by playing a ukulele introduction – so charming!)
I started us out with a Dixieland theme on I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll, followed by Exactly Like You. We continued the theme all night, with John singing ‘Deed I Do in the first set, his original tune in the second set, and I Have a Feeling I’m Falling in the third.
Our first guest singer, Cliff Walston, sang Dexter Gordon’s Cheesecake, with lyrics he wrote, based on Cliff’s experience of seeing Dexter play in Europe. Cliff always adds so much to these evenings by sharing his amazing life experiences with us.
The parade of singers continued all night, with me and John singing in every set, while 3 new guest singers came up and sang one song each, within each set. That worked out very conveniently to 11 singers!
Another observation from the evening was the incredible audience. Sometimes people tend to leave in the third set, as it gets later, but that was not the case this time. Not only did we maintain a full house all night, people continued to sit at the bar after the show ended! To me means they were enjoying themselves so much they didn’t want to go.
One person told me that they felt like they were in New Orleans during the show; another couple who dropped in for a drink and hadn’t been aware of the show, wound up staying all night, clapping for every singer, and taking photos and videos.
The band was truly amazing. They played enthusiastically all night! My house band is a group of 7, keyboard, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone and saxophone. With our featured vocalist sitting in with clarinet, brought us up to 8. Then, somewhere in the second set, a trumpet playing friend showed up and sat in for the rest of the night, bringing the house band up to 9 players … with an awesome 5 piece front line, and a solid 4 piece rhythm section.
With this kind of playing power, the guys were able to stretch out in each set on instrumentals: Jubilee; It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got that Swing; and Ain’t Misbehavin’ … because who doesn’t love Fats Waller?
To bring the evening to a close, I sang my favorite finale piece, St. Louis Blues, a W.C. Handy tune made famous by Bessie Smith.
Considering the appreciative audience, the support by the singer community, and my terrific band – without which none of this is possible – we are going to do another Singer Celebration on October 15th, at the same location, the DLV Lounge in Montclair, NJ, from 9pm to midnight.
The October 15th event will be an experiment for me, because I’m going to make it a Jazz & Blues mash-up. My Featured Vocalist (to be announced on the PUBLIC Facebook invite soon…) is a Blues singer, and between the two of us, we will provide the thematic foundation for this next event.
Carol Deminski, MC and Lead Singer with Michael Mittelsdorf, Drummer
SINGER CELEBRATION is this Saturday, August 27th, at the DLV Lounge, 300 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ. The action starts at 9pm; there is No Cover.
There will be a fantastic 8 piece band, including: piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, saxophone, trombone and clarinet! We also have a terrific Featured Vocalist, and numerous singers… hopefully, including you!
Come on out and join the fun! Sing a jazz song with us, and meet the other singers and musicians in this wonderful community.
The DLV is a cozy place which regularly hosts live music. I’m glad we are part of their line-up. I look forward to seeing old friends, and meeting new ones. See you there!
It’s getting to be that time again, for another Singer Celebration event at the DLV Lounge in Montclair, NJ. On Aug 27th, I’ll be hosting this end-of-Summer get together for jazz singers and musicians!
Saturday, August 27th, from 9pm-12M, DLV Lounge, 300 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ.
I’m happy to say that the band that’s been playing at these events (since March) has had a lot of the same players. This time, we’ll have most of the same guys back again, including Steve Johnson – trombone, JJ Bell – tenor sax, Jim Bogle – trumpet, Michael Mittelsdorf – drums, Jon Boudrot – guitar (and this time, also ukulele) and Billy Carrion Jr. – bass.
Ahh, but who will be on the keyboard? I’m glad you asked! We will be fortunate to have the talented Max Marshall, who you may also sometimes find playing keys at Cleopatra’s Needle in Manhattan.
But, if you know the Singer Celebration program, you also know there is usually a featured singer. And this coming show is no different. I’m proud to announce that John Bianchi will be not just our featured vocalist for the evening, he will also be on the bandstand playing clarinet for the night … bringing our amazing bandstand to a whopping 8 players.
Not only can John sing and play clarinet, he also plays saxophone, guitar and as you see in this photo, he rocks a mean ukulele too. As you might imagine for someone so talented, John also writes his own songs, and on show night he will perform “I’m Going Back to My Dreams” one of his original compositions. (I have heard him sing this piece, so trust me when I say you will not want to miss his charming performance!)
And what, if anything, is still missing for show night?
YOU, that’s what!
There are so many talented jazz singers that have come through to perform during these events, I’m very grateful to have all of you participate! I’m hoping to see some folks that have been supporters from the beginning (you know who you are!) as well as some new faces too!
Please join us, Saturday, August 27th, from 9pm-12 midnight … DLV Lounge, 300 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ.
The DLV doesn’t charge a cover, although our hard working band appreciates tips.
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