Jazz trombonist and bandleader Melissa Gardiner is sitting on top of the world now that her MG3 trio triumphed at a recent competition in Bucharest, Romania, an historic city known as the Paris of Eastern Europe. Gardiner is a graduate of Liverpool High School where she studied music with instructor Jim Spadafore.
The MG 3 trio — Gardiner, drummer Byron Cage and organist Willerm Delisfort — won the grand prize at the 12th annual Bucharest International Jazz Competition at EUROPAfest in mid-May.
The competition is considered the second-most-important jazz contest in Europe and the third in the world. The event debuted in 2007 hosting 30 bands from 25 countries.
“It’s still kinda hitting me,” Gardiner told a Syracuse reporter after the Bucharest judges gave her group the big thumbs-up. The competition ran May 12 to 19 in Romania. “I had never gone international with my own group before and never competed like this.”
Crowd-funding campaign
Last year, Gardiner, who now lives in Syracuse, mounted a crowd-funding campaign that brought in more than $3,000 so the threesome could travel to Eastern Europe. The combo arrived in Romania on May 11 and spent the next week moving through the rounds as they competed in the finals against bands from Italy, France and other countries. MG3 went on to tie for first place with a band from Italy.
In Bucharest, the trio’s repertoire ranged from Gardiner originals such as “Slowly” and “Take 2” to jams on pop standards such as “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone” and “It’s All Over Now,” a tune she often performs with her streetwise octet, Second Line Syracuse which won a 2017 Syracuse Area Music Award for “Best Jazz” recording for its self-titled debut CD. Gardiner started that band in 2015 after visiting New Orleans and witnessing the excitement of second line parades following brass bands playing in the streets.
There was a cash prize, but Gardiner valued the networking opportunity as much as the money.
“You need to expand beyond your own local hometown and to do it, you need a proper agent, a promoter, a lot of money or to already be successful,” she said. “To get to that point, it’s a grind. So you have to go for opportunities like this and put yourself out there constantly. It’s a good way to develop the band, too, some external motivation. It helps to be working toward something bigger.”
Ace on the move
Former Salina Supervisor Richard “Ace” Ward is moving out of his Fourth Street home. A lifelong resident of the village, Ace now plans to live summers with his son, Rick, near Wetzel Road and winters with his daughter, Margie, way down South.
Ace had lived on Fourth Street between Tulip and Tamarack for at least four decades with his wife, Marlene, who became Liverpool’s first female mayor in 2001. Marlene died in January 2016.
Grille fizzles
Salt City Grille, which opened its doors at 1333 Buckley Road in February 2017 as an upscale steakhouse, closed the doors for the final time on June 25.
The restaurant, operated by Steve and Erna Eno, tried to make a go of it at a location that previously housed the Sugar Mill, Colorado Mine Steakhouse and more recently, the Flat Iron Grill.
Salina Pools now open
Town of Salina swimming pools opened for the season on June 22 and will remain open to the public on afternoons through Aug. 17. Open swim takes place daily from noon until 7 p.m. at Duerr Park, Electronics Parkway, Richfield and Sehr, and lifeguards and water-safety instructors are on duty. For info, visit salina.ny.us/content/departments/parks/.
Murder victim worked here
Christopher McLaurin, one of two murder victims found shot to death June 20 in Eastwood, lived in Syracuse, but he worked at The Retreat, here in Liverpool. The kitchen assistant and dishwasher was 28 years old.
Syracuse Police say McLaurin was killed alongside Luis Sepulveda, 21, during the commission of a robbery. The two young men were apparently been playing video games before encountering their killers.
Treamon J. Elmore, 24, and his 13-year-old brother, Brendell Elmore, have been charged with the crimes after their vehicle was spotted June 25, in Westvale, the town of Geddes.
Friends offering condolences to the McLaurin family on the Farone & Son Funeral Home website characterized Christopher as a respectful and caring man who aspired to be a musician.
Last word
“I’d like to know the details of their upbringing… these two brothers who have bathed their hands in the blood of others.” – WSYR radio talk-show host Bob Lonsberry, on his June 26 broadcast.
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