What One Man Can Do
Mike LeDonne rises to the occasion in helping all of us connect with music – and more
Mike LeDonne (photo courtesy Mike LeDonne)
From his earliest days, Mike LeDonne was a top-flight musician. The Bridgeport, CT native’s parents ran a music store, and Mike was gigging by the age of 10. His resume is a stellar compendium of A-list accomplishments and colleagues including the Bennys – Goodman and Golson – Sonny Rollins, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins...you get the idea.
But along the way, Mike has also stepped up in ways big and small in areas one might think are not particularly connected to his music, though he insists it is all of a piece. In 2015, he organized the first Disability Pride parade, as a way to celebrate, not pity, those with disabilities, including his daughter Mary, who lives with Prader-Willi Syndrome (though Mike has stepped down as Disability Pride’s president, the annual parades have continued).
More recently, he has been a voice of reasoned political advocacy on his Facebook feed for a sense of community in the callous age of the Donald Trump redux. In fact, in some ways, his Facebook posts have become a reminder of the great streetwise chroniclers of New York like Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. Quite an interesting turn for a guy who made his rep in the Big Apple behind the keyboard of a piano and a Hammond B-3, not a typewriter.
“Mike, while I don’t always agree 100% with what you post, I have chosen you to be my eyes, ears and conscience of what’s going on in politics in NY and beyond in some cases,” one of his Facebook followers said. “I appreciate your candor and thoughtfulness even when it may not be how I think.”
And Mike says he plans to carry on his observations. In an age where saying the “wrong thing” on social media can lead to losing one’s job or even being threatened physically, Mike says it’s vital to keep the dialogue flowing.
“You know what? No, I’m not afraid at all,” Mike told 8495Jazz. “I don’t care – I’m almost 70 now. Whoever likes me will like me and whoever dislikes me already dislikes me. I don’t care if a few people say ‘I don’t like what he says.’ It makes no difference to me. It’s more important to me to get the connection.”
Whether those who connect with him agree or disagree, he tries to take something from the interaction.
“I get all kinds of points of view and I can go do my own research and maybe learn something myself. And maybe I was wrong about something, and I’ll admit that in minutes. But there are also a lot of like-minded people out there and they seem to come to my posts now, they are interested in what I have to say – which is something to me, because I never thought of myself as any kind of political person. And I didn’t think of myself as a writer. I just thought of myself as a jazz musician who plays piano and organ.”
Fans here in the 8495 are lucky indeed that he makes the short trip from New York to play organ and piano for us on the regular – the Jazz Forum Arts Club in Tarrytown, NY and the Side Door in Old Lyme, CT are frequent stops. In fact, the latest record Mike cut with his longtime colleagues in the Groover Quartet was recorded live and titled Turn It Up! Live At The Sidedoor.
The record has been hot on the JazzWeek radio charts, going from #29 two weeks ago to #12 this week. And, to illustrate the quality of the band (Eric Alexander on tenor sax, Peter Bernstein on guitar, and Joe Farnsworth on drums), Turn It Up! was just one of four records in the Top 20 for one member of the band or another.
The record is actually a double dipper, recorded by the same musicians 20 years apart. The first sessions were done in 2004 at The Cellar, a Vancouver, BC club celebrating an anniversary. And, as the Groovers were under contract elsewhere, they recorded as the Anniversary Quartet. Once the quartet’s record label boss found out about it, though, he used what Mike called “old-timey record company stuff” tactics to keep the Cellar recordings off the shelves.
But now they are out, along with the sides recorded last year at The Side Door; at first, Mike said he just wanted to get some recording down in Old Lyme because the other members of the quartet are also leaders in their own right and it’s rare to be able to get them all on the same stage at once. Side Door owner Ken Kitchings was all in on the idea.
“So Ken did it and sent it to me and I really liked it,” Mike said. “You never know when you’re playing a gig. You always feel good and people seem to like it but you’re in there playing, so you’re a step removed from just listening for enjoyment. But when I put it on I loved it.
“So I called Ken and told him I wanted to put it out and he said ‘Do me a favor, mention the Side Door, that’s all I need.’ He was thinking liner notes, but I wanted to prominently feature it.”
Mike and Ken’s friendship exemplifies the sense of community those in the jazz world have: Mike said Ken was an early and generous donor to the Disability Pride parade. And when Mike – reluctantly – called on some of the masters he had worked with over the years to ask them to donate their time and talent to raise the money for the first parade 10 years ago with a benefit concert, they unanimously said yes.
“I called on the greats, the masters I have been privileged to play with; Ron Carter, George Coleman, Jimmy Cobb, Benny Golson, Louis Hayes, and I could go on and on. Even younger guys like Brad Mehldau, Bill Charlap, and Renee Rosnes.
“I was expecting them to say they were busy, but every single one of them said they would be there. Even Wynton Marsalis, whom I didn’t even really know, came. It was the jazz community coming together to support me. And I think they were proud of what I was doing.”
What he was doing was bringing the disabled community out in a celebration, not a protest, even though he had no clue how to organize a parade or run a non-profit organization. He wanted a party, a parade with clowns and marching bands and a culminating three-hour festival with performers from the diability community in Union Square.
“So the non-disabled people see this thing going on, and they come over and they start talking to the wheelchair users and there is no division. No more pity, just people, and that was my vision.”
A vision of connection, of “just people” realized, and one Mike continues to champion every day.
Mike LeDonne’s Groover Quartet’s Turn It Up! Live At The Sidedoor!, recorded at Old Lyme. CT’s venerable Side Door Jazz Club, is steadily climbing the JazzWeek radio charts, coming in this week at #12.
Out and About with 8495Jazz
These listings are a curated sampling of shows in the region. As an independent resource for jazz news, 8495Jazz does not receive any consideration, free tickets, or affiliate fees for these listings. Please confirm events are still happening directly with the venue.
We are slightly tweaking the gigs listings; we’ll now go out to the Sunday following publication. That will give you a full week instead of a couple hours to ponder whether you would like to go listen to some fine music.
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
Garde Arts Center, New London, CT
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (trombone, combo), Thursday, Nov. 13, 7:30 pm. GA $53 - $108 including service fee.
8495Jazz Spur of the Moment Gig TODAY
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
UConn Jazz Lab Band, 3 pm. GA $16.30 including service fee.
Other Shows This Week
Jazz Forum Arts, Tarrytown, NY
David Amram 95th birthday show, Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15. 7 and 9:30 pm. GA $37.75, students $32.50 including service fee.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Steve Sandberg (piano, combo), Thursday, Nov. 13, 7:30 and 8:35 pm. GA $10.76-$20.76, student/vets $15.76 for 7:30 show.
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA
Ekep Nkwelle (vocals, combo), Saturday, Nov. 15, 7:30 pm. GA $41.79, students $30.15 including service fee.
The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
Don Byron and Friends (sax, clarinet, combo), Sunday, Nov. 16, 7 pm. Suggested donation $30.
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Otherlands Trio (sax, drums, bass), Friday, Nov. 14, 8:30 and 10 pm. GA $20 for 8:30 show, $15 for 10 pm show.
The Side Door, Old Lyme, CT
Steve Nelson Quartet (vibes, combo), Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15, 8 pm. GA $49.16, students $22.68 including service fee.
The Parlour, Providence, RI
Clear Audience (combo), today, 5 pm. GA $10.
Pump House Music Works, South Kingstown, RI
The URI Jazz Professors (combo), Sunday, Nov. 16, 7 pm. $23.18 including service fee.
Elicit Brewing Co., Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Monday, Nov. 10, 7:30 pm. Free.
River Room, Willimantic, CT
Earl MacDonald’s Black Square Ensemble (jazz, opera, global sounds), Friday, Nov. 14, 7:30 pm. GA $33.85, students $17.85 including service fee.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Carmine’s, East Hartford, CT
Paisley’s All Star Memorial Jam, 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 pm. House band set followed by jam. Free.
Mahoney’s, Poughkeepsie, NY
Poughkeepsie Jazz Project, every Tuesday, 7 pm. Free.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other Thurs from 7-9pm.
8495Jazz takes its name from the two Interstate highways that cross our region, I-84 and I-95. Within short driving distances from either, you can find incredible entertainment, from local jams to world-famous festivals in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 8495Jazz: From Newburgh to Newport!
You can help make 8495Jazz better. Subscribe – it’s FREE! Share it with your music-loving friends. Like and follow us on Facebook and Bluesky. Share gig information and story suggestions to 8495jazz@gmail.com
It's so heartening to read about communities -- especially of talented musicians -- coming together to benefit others. Great piece. Hope this new record gets some airplay.