This was two-for-one as far as new experiences for me. Not only had I never visited The Starlite Room, but I had never been to an actual jazz show. There, I said it.
I did take jazz dance lessons for a year when I was a kid, but that involved me donning a robotic-type silver wig, a truly regrettable metallic unitard, and doing some routine to the classic 90s techno tune "Rhythm is a Dancer."
I can't believe I'm even mentioning this in the company of the quality of music I heard at The Starlite Room show, so I'll stop!
The performance that evening featured Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Kate Davis:
When I mentioned in passing to a few folks that I was going to see Chad perform, I found out pretty quickly that he's well-known around here. Turns out he's a Horseheads native.
She has a West Coast background in Portland, Oregon, but studies at the Manhattan School of Music.
Between them, they've performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note. They've won about 1,094,233 (my crack estimation skills hard at work) awards and played with all sorts of jazz icons. They're both undoubtedly rising stars, and now Elmira can say she knew them when.
The music itself was indescribably impressive. Check out some of these samples on her website, and the samples on his, and you'll know what I mean.
On the whole, though, here's what I came away with from this performance:
One, that I should look into incorporating some jazz on my iTunes playlist.
Two, The Starlite Room has a fantastically cool, friendly vibe. There's a ton going on there, from the live music to trivia nights to dance lessons. There's Winey Tuesdays, featuring Finger Lakes wines.
You can order from a full menu or from the huge martini menu, featuring creations such as the "Affair to Remember," "Assassin," "Blue Hawaiian," "Chocolate Covered Cherry," "Lounge Lizard," "Love Shack," "Pink Squirrel" and the "Rhett Butler" or "Scarlett O'Hara."
That's just a fraction of the martini selection. (Personally, they had me at drinks named after "Gone With the Wind" characters.)
And as for three, I think a performance like this speaks to the quality of music and arts available in this area if you just take a second to look.
And I think I'll end on that note.
(Oh yeah, I did just go there. You're welcome, punsters.)
The Starlite Room
3018 Lake Road, Elmira, NY 14903
(607) 733-3333, info@thestarliteroomelmira.com
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