Discover and Celebrate the Bliss of Asheville and Western North Carolina Area Jazz Scene
Jazz Composers Forum
"... The Jazz Composers Forum is a non-profit organization, dedicated to the presentation and documentation of original instrumental jazz music. ... the forum has strived to construct an environment where participating artists can express their ideals of creating and risking through the development and exploration of new music, while providing an opportunity for the general public to attend inexpensive concerts. Through our concert series, which features regional and nationally acclaimed jazz composers, we have connected with a large audience within the Western North Carolina area.... It has come to include a wide range of listeners, a significant portion of which have rarely heard modern jazz. The rest of the listeners are an even mix of jazz enthusiasts, musicians, students, and the curious. All concerts to date have been presented in numerous places including, Zambras' Wine and Tappas Bar, The Left Bank Restaraunt, Asheville Community Theatre, The Blowing Rock Jazz Society, Appalachian University, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Asheville's Concert on the Quad Series, Claxton Elementary School and The Cafe on the Square...."
Western North Carolina Jazz Society
"... With its first concert presented in September 2003, WNC Jazz Society has since presented 22 performances in Asheville including pianist Bill Charlap, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and “Maestro” Ellis Marsalis with repeat engagements by guitarist Larry Coryell. WNC Jazz Society has nearly tripled its original membership from 125 up to over 320 in 2005...."
Duda Lucena Quartet at Diana Wortham Theatre in 2007, sponsored by the WNC Jazz Society... just one example of the excellence in jazz concerts in Asheville.
Patrick Boland
"... Providing music for receptions, parties, and wedding ceremonies by some of the finest musicians in Asheville, NC and the WNC region.
Patrick and his musician friends specialize in jazz, but also perform blues and rhythm & blues. Instrumental or with vocalist, background or for dancing - we do it...."
Frank Southecorvo "... Frank's jazz sound was cultivated in Boston in the '70s where he studied with saxophonists Dave Faucher and Jerry Bergonzi. Since 1989, the Asheville area has become familiar with Frank's saxophone playing in his own jazz bands, as well as with the horn sections of various rhythm & blues and jazz big bands. Frank has played festivals and concerts throughout the area including: the "Jazz Composers Forum" and the "Western North Carolina Jazz Society" ..."
Click on each of the dozens of categories to the left to uncover what makes the Asheville area so vital, so intriguing and so, well, UTTERLY BLISSFUL!
Explore the Bliss of Asheville ...
Via Eric Weiner's new book
The Geography of Bliss
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World: ".... Asheville, North Carolina, with its idyllic mountain setting and proliferation of good restaurants and New Age healing spas, is enjoying a vogue as a happy place to live. As one newly arrived resident puts it, "A lot of people spin the globe and their finger stops on Asheville."
"....the author is correct, nice weather, affordable housing, lovely scenery, and a slower pace of life, yet an active cultural scene..."
I've never been one of those uptight literary types who thinks that you have to have actually read a book in order to recommend it to others. So I feel no trepidation in suggesting Eric Weiner's new travelogue-slash-memoir The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World The premise of the book is simple but intriguing-- here is Amazon's description:
Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author's case, moments of "un-unhappiness." The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Singapore benefit psychologically by having their options limited by the government? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions.
In the imaginary Netflix queue of books-that-I'm-planning-to-read, this one has just jumped to the top. By the way, why has no one started a Netflix for books? This question, and many more, I'll leave for another day.
Jazz Venues
Cafe on the Square
"... Cafe on the Square is one of the venues for the "Jazz Composers Forum" as well as its grand piano..... MONDAY join us for Jazz, Bubbles and Apps with live miusic from Sharon
Lamotte and Bill Gerhardt from 7 to 9pm. Champagne is $6 per glass and
enjoy a complimentary sampling of Chef Wilson Hawe's appetizers.
TUESDAY join us for Jazz, Martinis and Apps with live music from Curt Heiny and Chris Morgan at 7pm. Martini specials are $9 each and Chef Hawes offers complementary appetizer samples to all patrons...."
New French Bar Courtyard Cafe
"... features the best in casual dining, live entertainment, casual catering and local artwork... tapas-style entrees, hearty sandwiches and hand-crafted desserts.... an awesome selection of wines, beers and liquors from around the world. Our kitchen is open late every night with everything on the menu -- and we do mean everything..... the place to catch live entertainment like none other. Electronica, punk, jazz, bluegrass, metal, noise, chant... "ground zero" for lots of local music talent such as Kings of Prussia, The If You Wannas, Verizon Soundsystem and Freakuency.... " Located on Biltmore Avenue in downtown Asheville.
Tressa's Downtown Jazz and Blues
"..city's best selection of fine spirits such as single malt scotches, small batch bourbons, estate rums, and sipping Tequilas; as well as their famous martinis, light fare menu, and fine cigars.
The multi-cultural and diverse clientele who frequent Tressa's enjoy an ambience not found elsewhere in the city. The softly lit, Old New Orleans elegance together with the truly impeccable service and great live music create an oasis many of Asheville's famous and infamous have and will continue to enjoy for years!
So that we may more fully meet your needs, Tressa's has opened the second floor!! The upstairs has been transformed into a beautiful, non-smoking VIP area complete with a fireplace!
Deep Martinis, Flawless Service, Sensual, Ambient
Underground Global Grooves with Vincent
Perfect for those who seek a more private experience
Also available -- Breathe, an oxygen bar.
A 'day trip' from Boone is Banner Elk. Here's a jazz group playing at The Great Train Robbery's 'ChalkBoard' restaurant during their fabulous Sunday Brunch.
Jazz Festivals
Emma Kay performs with the YMI Jazz Band (directed by Gary Bradley) at the 16th annual All That Jazz Festival at the Grove Park Inn,
"All That Jazz" Festival
Held annually on the 3rd weekend in January at the Grove Park Inn. Afternoon and evening jazz concerts
Jazz Venues and Musicians an Hour or Two from Asheville
Andy Page... Acoustic Jazz Guitar
"... is currently teaching at Appalachian State University as an adjunct instructor primarily in the jazz guitar area.... he has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Japan's Muroran Jazz Cruise.... Recordings include Musette Guitars’ Souvenir de Django (www.musetteguitars.com) He was recently featured artist at the Jazz Composers Forum in Asheville, NC. In addition to maintaining a busy performance schedule, he is currently co-writing a book for Mel Bay Publications with UT jazz professor Mark Boling on jazz guitar comping styles..." Andy's MySpace page
Blowing Rock Jazz Society
"...The BRJS offers outstanding Jazz Concerts every 2nd Sunday of each month at the Meadowbrook Inn at 711 Main St. in Blowing Rock, NC. You may call 828.295.4300 for your reservations or plan to arrive early for good seats...."
Listen to Jazz Online for Free
Pandora
".... a music discovery service designed to help you enjoy music you already know, and to help you discover new music you'll love. It's powered by the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken, the Music Genome Project: a crazy project started back in early 2000 to capture the complex musical DNA of songs using a large team of highly-trained musicians. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the musical universe..."
Great Online "Stop, Look and Listens"
Big Sphinx "... an amorphous new music ensemble
that often incorporates poetry, dance, or animation...."
Discover the Bliss of Asheville ...
through These Books and Videos.
Finding Your Way in Asheville is ".... a different kind of guide book. Instead of offering glossy photos and paid insertions from big bucks advertisers, it gives you the kind of information you'd get from a best friend who moved to Western North Carolina twenty years ago. "I've discovered the greatest place for a romantic dinner," she'd say. "Just around the corner from Pritchard Park. Here, let me draw you a map." It's a selective guide in that the authors share the places they've come to love while living, working, dining out, partying, biking, hiking, canoeing and raising children in the "Paris of the South."
America's Castles: The Biltmore Estate "...the grandest of all American homes... Biltmore dwarfs all the mansions built by his illustrious forefathers... . a remarkable top-to-bottom tour of the largest home ever built in America. With its 255 rooms, the Biltmore is a monument to the extravagance and eccentricity of its owner. See footage of its construction, and go behind the scenes with the men and women who work there to learn the secrets of this incredible mansion. Get a privileged tour of rooms that are off-limits to the public, and marvel at the magnificent treasures that Vanderbilt collected....."
Biltmore Estate: The Most Distinguished Private Place "... Few people realize what effort it took to design and construct the largest private residence in the United States, but this book details it all from the breaking of the ground to the designing of the curtain rods. This book is one of the best written and most appealing architectural history books ever. The photographs and drawings in it are also to be commended. Many of the pictures offer breathtaking views of the mansion and its grounds as well as showing many vintage photographs taken at various times throughout its construction and times of residence...."
The premise of the book is simple but intriguing-- here is Amazon's description: 
A 'day trip' from Boone is Banner Elk. Here's a jazz group playing at The Great Train Robbery's 'ChalkBoard' restaurant during their fabulous Sunday Brunch. 
