Fans of Jazz and Blues music received a surprise concert by the Scott Ross Trio band on Sunday afternoon at the . A previously scheduled concert with Paul Sachs, an urban folks singer and songwriter, had to be canceled but the local jazz band came to the rescue and performed several tunes for the audience.
The concert was organized in Yetta Shuriff’s honor, an East Meadow resident who loved music and poetry, and passed away in December 2010, and was funded with public funds from the New York State Council of the Arts.
“I decided to dedicate this concert in Yetta’s honor,” said Jude Schanzer, director of public relations and programming for the library.
After some kind words about Yetta, Schanzer welcomed the band to the stage with big applause from the audience. The band started the concert with some tunes from Duke Ellington and the audience tapped their feet and swayed from side-to-side to get into the rhythm of the Scott Ross Trio.
“I really enjoyed the show, especially the songs I knew like 'Summertime,'” said Doreen Burnston, an East Meadow resident. In addition to George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” the Scott Ross Trio played popular songs such as Matt Dennis’ “Angel Eyes,” West Montgomery’s “West Coast Blues,” Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar,” Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” and much more.
“The guitar player was really proficient and the bass player did a good solo on 'A Night in Tunisia,'” added Paul Wexler.
Residents Dick Cardozo and Ruth Cherney also raved about how great the concert was and Cardozo particularly enjoyed the Scarborough jazz.
The local trio band featured Scott Ross on the guitar, David Pellegrino on the bass and Skip Scott on the drums.
“We like to do the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s style cool jazz with West Montgomery’s influence,” explained Ross.
Since starting the band less than a year ago, the Scott Ross Trio has performed at many local hot spots including Frank’s Steaks in Jericho.
To check out the Scott Ross Trio, visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/scottrosstrio.
