By Lynn Redmile
Jerry Rife's Blue Skies Jazz Quartet
Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 2pm
Concert and Live Stream
Haddonfield United Methodist Church
29 Warwick Road
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
Jerry Rife and Blue Skies, is a 4 piece acoustic band led by Jerry Rite featuring trumpet, clarinet/sax, banjo/guitar, bass/tuba/trombone performing American Song Book and standard jazz.
The Blue Skies Jazz Quartet specializes in performing blues, swing jazz, and standard traditional jazz—all music from the first half of the 20th century. They have entertained crowds for over thirty years with repeat performances at many central New Jersey institutions. They have played at family reunions, class reunions, town holiday special events, community concerts, and for fifteen years held educational workshops at high schools in the fri-state area under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Jazz Society. The group played at The Marroe Inn in Lawrenceville, NJ weekly for nine years.
Made possible by funds from the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission at Camden County College, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Made possible by funds from the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission at Camden County College, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Lineup
Jerry Rife - clarinet and saxophone
Danny Tobias – trumpet
Pat Mercuri – guitar
Peter Reichlen - trombone, tuba, and bass
Background
Danny Tobias is one of the hottest and most sought after trumpet players in the region. He has worked extensively with the Tony DeNicolo Bond, Jerry Rife's Rhythm Kings, the Midiri Brothers, and has played with Kenny Davern, Warren and Allen Vache, Harry Allen, Howard Alden and John Bunch. He is often heard with the top swing and hot jazzbands in New York City.
Jerry Rife is extremely active in the jazz scene in the Midwest and East coast and is a member of the John Johnson Trio, The Dixie Devils, and the Blawenburg Dixieland Jazz Band. He led the Greot Lakes Rhythm Kings in Wisconsin and Michigan in the 1970s before moving to New Jersey in 1984. Born in Kansas, he learned to play jazz at an early age. His high school dixieland jazz band, The Mason Dixies, performed on live nation-wide television on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour in 1965.
Pat Mercuri is the leader of Pat Mercuri's Dixie Jazz Band and plays regularly with the Midiri Brothers. The son of the legendary guitarist, Lou Mercuri, Pat is the first-call performer on guitar, banjo, and mandolin with the Philadelphia Orchestra and has played show, jazz and classical music professionally in Philadelphia and New York. He has played on Broadway (Rogtime...) and with The New York Philharmonic, and has toured Europe with classical musical groups.
Bassist Peter Reichlin is an extremely versatile trombonist who is comfortable playing classical and all types of jazz music. He has toured with the Metropolitan Opera and with the Jimmy Dorsey Band and is currently principal trombonist with the Capitol Philharmonic in Trenton. He is featured on tuba and electric bass as well as trombone with Blue Skies and has played with the lndependence Hall Jazz Band and the Jazz Lobsters big band. Pete is a respected recording engineer and piano technician as well.