Acoustic swing, cabaret and funk melodies will fill the numerous rooms and corridors of Mohegan Manor, a historic, multi-story building in Baldwinsville, New York on Sunday, Jan. 26.

The manor will once again house the Central New York Jazz Central’s January JazzFest, which will showcase a variety of local musicians, including pianist Rick Montalbano and saxophonist Mike Dubaniewicz. Headlining the festival is Olivia Chindamo, from Australia. The festival also serves as the organization’s ninth annual fundraiser to support its programs that run through spring and summer.

“It’s really like a jazz buffet featuring jazz musicians in different groups and other types of music as well as beyond jazz,” Dubaniewicz said.

Dubaniewicz, who has participated in the winter event for many years, said he’s looking forward to reuniting with fellow jazzers and fans in CNY.

The day of jazz begins at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m., during which time concert-goers can wander onto each floor, sampling from different musical groups from the area. Food and drink will be available.

Larry Luttinger, founder of CNY Jazz and the festival’s creator, said that rock and swing will be on the first floor, rhythm and blues on the second floor and a special performance featuring guest artist Chindamo will take place on the third floor at 4:30 p.m. Luttinger added that there will be space for dancing.

Chindamo, a jazz vocalist from Australia, will sing alongside Dubaniewicz and his group, Micro Big Band, in the venue’s ballroom. The group will play familiar songs and jazz standards from the Great American Songbook by the late Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Horn, two jazz vocalists Chindamo admires.

“I went online and checked out her website and her YouTube videos, and she’s a tremendous singer,” Dubaniewicz said about Chindamo. “I’m looking forward to performing with her.”

As a receiver of the 2016 Bell Award for Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year and a finalist of the 2018 Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition, Chindamo is celebrated for her ability to scat like a jazz soloist, according to a CNY Jazz Central press release.

Chindamo currently resides in New York City, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in jazz voice at The Juilliard School. Despite being far from home, she stays connected through the music her new city has to offer.

“We’re so far away, we’re across a very large pond, but the love for jazz is still there,” she said.

Growing up surrounded by jazz and classical music, Chindamo was always attracted to the spontaneity of improvisation and the countless possibilities to make a song her own. She was first drawn to the clarinet, which she played from the age of 10 until her undergrad at Monash University in Australia, where she switched to vocal jazz.

Her love for improvisation and playing with musicians she has never met before will shine through in the professional jam session, which will take place in the lower level of Mohegan Manor from 6:30-9 p.m., following her performance with Micro Big Band.

The session will be led by saxophonist Joe Carello in a more informal setting where people can come up and sing, play an instrument, or even just say hi, Dubaniewicz said.

Jazz is a very special style, Chindamo added, because it can connect people who sometimes don’t even speak the same language.

“Jazz is a universal language,” she said. “You can go anywhere in the world, and people know the same songs.”

Published on January 22, 2020 at 1:11 am