The soothing power of music is well-established. It has a unique link to our emotions, so can be an extremely effective stress management tool. Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially valuable for money-stressed, anxiety-ridden Capital Region families.
For those seeking such benefits, the local group, Kitchen Jazz, offers a soothing option. The group’s next performance is this Friday, at Arthur’s Market and Cafe in Schenectady’s Stockade District.
Longtime area guitarist Dave Kitchen’s band may be named after him, but that’s not the only reason for the appellation. For one thing, the band was formed in a kitchen — at the Moon & River Café in Schenectady, to be more exact.
The group’s members — Kitchen on guitar, Jim Connelly on bass, drummer Norm Ainsley and vocalists Sylvie Briber and Moon & River and Arthur’s owner Richard Genest — could be considered more an informal gathering of friends who play music together, rather than strictly a band.
Folk, jazz…and more
Indeed, Kitchen describes his group as a cross between folk and jazz. “It started as just me doing jazz standards, but now adding the vocals, [it] has taken on some other lives,” he said recently. “We’ve gone even into — we probably do, five Beatles songs or something like that?”
Anything goes, if Richard or Sylvie…wants to sing it — and ‘Anything Goes’ is one of the Cole Porter tunes that Richard sings. “I guess it’s just a bunch of people that love music that happened to meet each other,” he said.
De-stress, support a local business, and help boost a local musical group, Friday night.
