Ringing in the Jazzy New Year
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 28, 2004
This coming year will be all jazzed up, if Terry Chestnut and Jazz Hall of Fame member Eric Essix have anything to do with it.
Essix will be performing at a special New Year’s Eve Concert at the St. James hotel, promoted by local radio personality Chestnut.
Chestnut is happy to bring the show to town and hopes to bring a lot more.
Hotel manager Janet Dawkins said she is currently negotiating with Chestnut to bring Jazz music to Selma on a regular basis.
“We’re going to be working to get a regular monthly Jazz concert,” Dawkins said.
Essix, a jazz guitarist, will be the perfect starting point for Selma, Chestnut said.
“It’s the kind of Jazz that you can dance too,” he said.
Essix was born in Birmingham, and began playing at a young age.
He was inspired to get into music while listening to some tunes his uncle played at a party.
His uncle always loved Jazz, Chestnut said, and Essix got the bug when his uncle put on a Wes Montgomery record.
“He was at a grown-folks party with his uncle,” Chestnut said, “and he heard this tune, ‘California Dreaming,’ and he said it just blew his mind.”
Soon after, Essix was inspired again, by an unlikely source.
“What got him into playing the guitar, was when he hear Jimi Hendrix play,” Chestnut said.
Essix will perform on Friday, at 8 p.m.
The show will last as long as it can, Dawkins said, and to keep everybody safe, the hotel is offering special room rates: $60 per night.
Tickets are available at the Selma Post Office: $20 per couple, $15 each or $25 at the door.
Chestnut can also provide tickets and information via 105.3. His show, the Jazz Caf,
runs on Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m.
“Everybody can come and stay and crash and enjoy a good night of Jazz and ring in the New Year,” Dawkins said.