The New Standard Jazz Quartet to Play Knob Hill Golf Club

Jazz music emerged out of the blues around 1865 and has been engaging audiences around the world with its myriad of styles and musical voices ever since. The New Standard Jazz Quartet are four musicians for whom jazz offers a vehicle for their musical voices and personal passions.

The New Standard Jazz Quartet artists are Mike Bono, guitar, Jeff Dingler, bass, Jules “Juicy” Drucker, drums, and Miguel Rodriquez, sax. They perform and study, keeping the jazz legends alive while emerging as new, unique artists for future generations to appreciate. The Manalapan Arts Council brings the New Standard Jazz Quartet, who will be performing live at Dinner and All That Jazz, to you on July 16 at the Knob Hill Golf Club.  The Quartet will be playing jazz standards from the 1950s and 1960s featuring greats such as George Gershwin, Charlie Parker, Cole Porter, Joe Henderson, Victor Young and many others.

Classic jazz and straight-ahead jazz are often synonyms for one another but can never be confused with smooth jazz, which the group adamantly does not perform. “Straight ahead jazz is like a big bag of fun,”  says Jules “Juicy” Drucker. “The best part of jazz is that each musician takes the knowledge that they acquired from their past experiences and lays it all on the table and speaks through their instrument. They help to describe the story that is the tune itself.” 

Mike Bono agrees and says, “Jazz is all about playing over the changes of a song. We play popular tunes and standards and then everybody solos over the form of the song.”

Jazz is an amazingly diverse genre of music. There are many sub categories of jazz music representing different time periods, geographical regions, and styles of musicianship. Some types of jazz include New Orleans, Chicago, Dixieland, West Coast, swing, bebop, post bop, hard bop, smooth jazz and straight-ahead jazz, to name some of the varied sounds. It can be a bit overwhelming to the jazz neophyte.  Neophyte or jazz connoisseur, the appreciation remains the same – it’s all about the backbeat, feeling the groove and digging the swing.

The New Standard Jazz Quartet will create their vibe performing straight-ahead jazz, which includes swing, and be bop, amongst other styles. They will perform standards including: "There Will Never Be Another You," "I Remember You," " Inner Urge, Beatrice, Confirmation" and more

The New Standard Jazz Quartet is comprised of hometown Jersey boys, three of whom met at Howell High School while playing jazz in the band. Howell High School, home to the Fine and Performing Arts program, was the perfect place to launch their musicianship.

Now, Mike Bono and Jules Drucker are studying at the esteemed Berklee College of Music, known for jazz studies. A Presidential Scholarship to Berklee, an honor given to a rare few musicians, validates Mike Bono’s extremely unique talent. The scholarship was “established to bring the world’s best young musicians to study at Berklee…this program is one of a kind at a music college,” states the Berklee College of music website.

As a scholarship recipient, Jules Drucker has been honored for his unique talent and passion on the drums. Miguel Rodriquez, the youngest performer of the group, studies at the Manhattan School of Music.  Miguel Rodriquez performed in the Charles Mingus National High School Jazz Band Competition.  He also performs with the Manhattan School of Music Pre-college sextet in the Ades Recital Hall. Rodriquez can be seen performing at the Langosta Lounge and at the Berkeley Hotel, both in Asbury Park with his jazz quartet called The Move.

Jeff Dingler graduated from the Mason Gross School of Music at Rutgers in 2009.Dingler performs with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, http://www.nelsonriddlemusic.com; Larry McKenna, who is an accomplished singer,keyboard player, and composer; Conrad Herwig, who is a New York based jazz trombonist and is considered a top performer and composer;  and jazz drummer Rudy Royston.

As working musicians, the members are often seen around New Jersey playing with diverse groups of musicians so it is a rare treat to have them performing together at the Knob Hill Golf Club.

Reservations for the show and four-course waiter served dinner are required. The reservation deadline is July 8.  Make checks payable and mail to: Manalapan Arts Council, 120 Route 522, Manalapan, NJ 07726.  The $35 per person cost includes dinner and the show. Table requests will be honored.