As many of us know, trying to find the right words to say when remembering a loved one or a friend can be difficult. We search for just the right words. In hope, we can express loving thoughts.
In the memorial tribute to Angelo Di Loreto live-streamed on Friday, December 4th, Philippe Lemm, Jeff Koch, and Adam Kromelow, instead, let the music and stories of Angelo convey the essence of his life that they will remember forever.
The outcome of the evening was pure beauty. A heartfelt spiritual reverence. Even if you did not know Angelo at the beginning of the live stream, the music and stories gave you a warming glimpse into his unique individuality.
Philippe Lemm opened the tribute with just a hello and a few brief words. The trio began their performance with the song, Chrysalism. The song is from the Philippe Lemm Trio debut album, New Amsterdam. The melodic tone of the composition was an Angelo trademark and it was a perfect opening. Adam Kromelow on the piano had internalized the music into his brain and heart. Evoking the sound that captured Di Loreto’s playing style yet shone a light on what a gifted pianist Kromelow is.
The interspersing of songs followed by anecdotal stories gave all of us watching a time to enjoy and witness. Witness in the sense of Angelo’s bandmates and friends express deep love for a friend who they will dearly miss. Beautiful stories throughout. Philippe Lemm shared about the unbeknownst comical trip to a nudist colony spa. Jeff Koch sharing how Angelo was given a unique nickname that embodied his Dad-like personality at times. Others shared a time in India and mentor, jazz pianist Ted Rosenthal, provided touching words about Angelo’s commitment to jazz.
The music performances were spectacular. The trio performed music from Adam Kromelow, Philippe Lemm Trio, and the Genesis Piano Project. Highlights included the tune The Better Story by Adam Kromelow, the Sting tune Fragile in which Jeff Koch shined on bass, and the Genesis song Firth of Fifth. In all of the songs performed, Philippe Lemm demonstrated his incredible versatility, sense of timing, and melodic style of playing drums.
For me personally, the song Emerge was a special moment. Angelo had composed this song for his sister and her dance company. He always seemed to revel in sharing what was behind the composition. It seems in the few times I personally saw him perform this song, it was always performed with evident immense passion and love. As difficult as it may have been, Adam Kromelow channeled this same passion and love beautifully as did Jeff and Philippe.
Here is a live performance of Emerge featuring Angelo Di Loreto:
The memorial tribute was made possible by the partnership between JazzBuffalo and MusicalFare Theatre. In which, we also gave attention to mental health awareness and support for NAMI and Mental Health Advocates of Erie County.
The back-end production of the memorial tribute could not have happened without the superlative efforts of Chris Cavanagh of MusicalFare leading the video production and Mark Percy of JazzBuffalo in designing sound. With support by Kevin Fahey of MusicalFare. (And, many thanks to Ed Croft for use of upright bass!) Live streaming is hard work and challenging. Chris, Mark, and Kevin are to be applauded for the quality achieved.
JazzBuffalo contributor and photographer, Jack Zuff, was present. I know Jack loved this trio and mentioned it was his hope to capture the emotions of the performance. There is no better photographer we would want present to do just that.
What follows is the gallery by Jack. It captures lasting memories of a tribute that was filled with heartfelt emotions.
