An Afternoon of American Jazz Classics, Originals, and Lore ⏺️

The Marilyn Ginsberg Eckstein Cultural Arts Program Fund and Neranenah present An Afternoon of American Jazz Classics, Originals, and Lore featuring Joe Alterman (piano), Lewis Franco (vocals and guitar), Justin Chesarek (drums), and Scott Glazer (bass).

This concert is open to the community. Reception following the concert. No admission charge or reservation required. A $20 entrance donation for the Cultural Arts Fund is appreciated.

Questions? Please contact the Cultural Arts Committee Chair: Ivan Millender (ivanmillender@earthlink.net; 404.406.6333).

Meet the Musicians

Joe Alterman
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Alterman studied music at New York University, where he received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Jazz Piano Performance. In addition to performances with Houston Person, Les McCann, Dick Gregory, and his own trio, among others, Alterman has performed at many world-renowned venues, including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland, and New York's Blue Note, where Alterman has opened, many times, for Ramsey Lewis. Alterman has released eight critically acclaimed albums, his most recent being 2023's "Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo & Little Joe." He was profiled three times by iconic journalist Nat Hentoff and was the subject of Hentoff's very last piece on music in March 2016. Les McCann calls Alterman "tiny, but only in stature; as a man and a musician he is already a giant," Ahmad Jamal called Alterman "a very special artist" and Ramsey Lewis called him "an inspiration to me" and his piano playing "a joy to behold." In addition to his piano work, Alterman is the Executive Director of Neranenah, an Atlanta-based Concert & Culture series which celebrates Jewish contributions to music and the arts. He's also a budding journalist who has written liner notes to three Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra w/Wynton Marsalis albums. Nat Hentoff called one of Alterman's columns on jazz "one of the very best pieces on the essence of jazz, the spirit of jazz, that I've ever read, and I'm not exaggerating."

Lewis Franco
According to Dan Bolles of SevenDaysVT, "Precious few hepcatamounts swing like Lewis Franco. The central Vermont guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader has almost single-handedly kept the jump and jive alive in the Green Mountains, wailing away with swagger and unimpeachable cool for nearly two decades." But Franco says he eventually noticed that most of the jazz and show tunes he loved were not just written by Jews (Berlin, the Gershwin's, Rodgers & Hart, Kern, Arlen, etc…), but were informed by Jewish values and concerns. His YouTube series, "Franco the ReJewvenator" is a result. His 2023 recording, "On the Sidelines", his sixth CD of original music, also reflects this awareness. It features Franco's cousin, Joe Alterman, on piano and includes titles such as "Say, Don't You Remember Yip Harburg?" and "Just Pretend I Wasn't Lorenz Hart." "I relate to these songwriters as nervous outsiders, observing American life while seeking a sense of belonging. And they weren't looking casually. They had either been persecuted themselves, or they felt the effects of centuries of European antisemitism. For them, the question of whether somewhere over the rainbow the American dream of a multicultural democracy really does come true, or if it's only a paper moon, was high stakes." "Yes, my experience is different from theirs. By the time I came along, Jews in the US were far more secure. However, being born and raised in Atlanta to Ashkenazi and Sephardi families, I felt similar anxieties and yearnings to the ones expressed in those amazing songs." Franco explores these themes through music, storytelling, and humor in his concerts. "Music has been my favorite form of Jewish observance ever since childhood, when we sang zmiros around my beloved Bubbe and Zeda's Shabbat table every Friday night. So this is super meaningful and super fun for me."

Justin Chesarek
Justin Chesarek has been mesmerized with drums since the age of 10. He earned a Bachelors of Music degree from Slippery Rock University, trekked south to Atlanta in 2008, and earned a Masters of Music and Jazz studies at Georgia State University, following which he landed a regular engagement at Churchill Grounds, Atlanta's premier jazz club at the time, which gig continued for five years. During that time, he made a name for himself as an exceptional musician. Justin performs regularly with the Alterman Trio and is a regular with the Atlanta Jazz Festival. He has performed at the Iridium and The Blue Note in New York City, DC's Kennedy Center, a TED Talk, Juneau Alaska Jazz and Classics Festival, the North Sea Festival in Holland, and the Montreax Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He has gigged with legendary artists, Count Bassie vocalist, Carmen Bradford, Grammy nominee trumpeter, Russell Gunn, and others. He teaches jazz percussion at Kennesaw State, Artist Affiliate in Jazz Percussion at Emory, and former Professor of Jazz Percussion at Moorehouse. His classes include jazz composition, improvisation and analysis, jazz combos, and piano accompaniment for jazz vocalists. He runs a private studio of his own in which he works with students of all ages. His alumni have become professional touring musicians Broadway pit players, and top call drummers.

Scott Glazer
What Wynton Marsalis is to New Orleans, Doc Severinsen was to Johnny Carson, and what Scott Glazer, with his decades of talent, is to Atlanta. We've heard him perform at clubs, symphonies, the Atlanta Jewish Life Festival, and Ahavath Achim Synagogue, in combos, and perhaps in Tokyo or Manhattan. He appeared in Courtenay Collin's Cabaret at the Alliance Theatre's Hertz Stage, where he harmonized with her. An Atlanta native, Glazer grew up within a musical family where his father, Morris, played coronet and appeared as a band leader. On the maternal side, he grew up in a world of opera, chazanut (cantorial) records, and music of the world, including Italian and Hungarian. Following graduation from Lawrence Academy, he earned a music degree at Georgia State University. "I enjoy a variety of situations–theater, orchestras, and jazz gigs. The gig I enjoy the most is the one I'm on right now." His group, the Mojo Dojo, is composed of two horns, vocals, and great guitarists performing The Allman Brothers Band with a twist or recognizable iconic songs from Sam & Dave, Ray Charles, and Wilson Pickett. He occasionally plays with jazz pianist Joe Alterman. Glazer has toured domestically and internationally and performed with artists as diverse as Grammy-winning guitarist Kristian Bush (Sugarland), Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), Scott Henderson (Chick Corea, Jean-Luc Ponty), Edwin McCain, Carmen Bradford (Count Basie), The Last Waltz Ensemble, jazz sax legend Houston Person, Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie), Carmine Appice (Jeff Beck), and Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel). He has played at Seattle's Jazz Alley, the Blue Note in New York City, and in Tokyo clubs on the road with the jazz legend Earl Klugh.