Guitarist Nick Rossi swings into Vallejo
Jazz players will celebrate legacy of the Beat Generation
San Francisco guitarist Nick Rossi explored a wide variety of musical styles over the course of several decades of playing and performing, starting out with rock and R&B, before eventually becoming enamored with jazz.
Embracing the many subgenres within the uniquely American style of music, Rossi collaborates with a large stable of different Bay Area musicians, depending on what sound he is looking to achieve. For his concert this Friday evening at the Temple Arts Lofts in Vallejo as part of the month-long celebration of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Rossi is planning on a program of 1950s style modern West Coast jazz.
“I love to have these kinds of opportunities to take a closer look at different things stylistically, or historically,” said Rossi. “When I was approached to be a part of this, I thought I would use a specific set of musicians and collaborators who I knew had similar interests in terms of the stylistic approach.”
When he moved to San Francisco from Southern California roughly 30 years ago, one of Rossi's first stops in the city was to visit Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books. Although the famous owner wasn't there
during his first trip to the bookshop, he would eventually see him many other times over the years on subsequent trips.
“I can say the very first book I bought at City Lights was Ferlinghetti's
`Pictures of the Gone World.' I've revisited a lot of the Beat folks, Ferlinghetti's poetry has stood the test of time a little bit better than some of the others,” said Rossi.
Rossi and his bandmates will be drawing from their extensive repertoires to find pieces of music and songs they hope will evoke the feeling of being in a jazz club back in the 1950s, where one could imagine some of the original members of the Beat Generation might be bopping and having a drink while scribbling in a notebook in a dimly-lit corner.
“It really does mean a lot to me to be participating in this,” said Rossi. “The fact that he was a multifaceted artist, not only was he a writer, but he also painted, he was a successful businessman, he ran a publishing company and a bookstore. He's an inspiration.”