Delicious food, fine art and world renowned musicians are pairing together Friday night, June 1st from 5pm to 10pm at Bella Rose Café in Haverstraw. The fine art is by Maureen Plainfield, a local photographer who sat in the front window of Bella Rose from 8am-5pm one day and photographed the world inside and outside Bella Rose. Appropriately enough, that is the name of her exhibit “Bella Rose – inside and out” and her photography will be on display and for sale Friday evening. But Maureen admits that as much as she loves photography, she also appreciates fine food and likes to rave about the Bella Rose cuisine. “My absolute favorite at Bella Rose is the calamari prepared to a golden brown with Fra Diavolo sauce, if you have not tasted it, you must,” said Maureen, who added that the burgers and soup are also some of her favorites.
The evening begins at 5:00pm with a display of Maureen’s work and at 7:00pm the Latin Jazz Quartet begins with four musicians who are certainly no stranger to their crafts. Kim Plainfield, drums; Mayra Cassales, congas; Bill O’Connel, keyboard and Gregory Jones, bass.
Kim Plainfield, drummer, and Maureen’s husband, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area has been based in New York since 1977. He has accumulated numerous performance and recording credits during his professional career, which began at the age of 19 when he began playing with Mingo Lewis and subsequently secured the drum chair with the Pointer Sisters. Some three years later, at 22, Kim moved to New York where Kenwood Dennard introduced him to the Drummers Collective. This is where He then started playing with Bill Connors, the world-renowned guitarist from Chick Corea’s original Electric Band, and Didier Lockwood, the unparalleled French jazz violinist. Kim began to receive international recognition during his seven-year engagement with Tania Maria. During that period, he toured extensively in the US, Europe, Central America, South America, The Caribbean and the Far East. Additional performance and recording credits include Jon Lucien, Andy Narell, John Pattitucci, Kenny Rankin, Jacques Higelin, Charles Fambrough, Edgar Winter and Mose Allison.
Mayra Cassales, Born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Miami, Florida,was influenced with the Afro-Cuban musical culture of her surroundings. In Miami, Casales studied with Carlos “Potato” Valdez. Before long she was performing with some of the biggest names in Latin and Cuban music such as Celia Cruz, Machito, Joe Cuba, and Miguelito Valdez. In 1978, Casales moved to NYC where she continued her musical journey, playing with soulful vocalists Phyllis Hyman, Carmen Lundy, Jon Lucien and the Jazz Greats Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Barretto. The list of legendary musicians Casales has shared the stage with and the styles of music she has mastered are endless.
Bill O’Connell is a native New Yorker who studied classical composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Early in his career, he played and composed in various salsa and jazz settings that set the tone for his musical style. In 1977, he joined salsa great Mongo Santamaria writing and performing with him for over two years. Following that he worked with Chet Baker and jazz legend Sonny Rollins with whom he toured the United States and Europe. Bill is an internationally recognized composer and has written for television including a documentary about Latin Jazz legend Tito Puente. Over the years, Bill has displayed his versatility performing, writing and arranging for numerous other jazz artists including Gato Barbieri, The Fort Apache Band, and vocalists Jon Lucien and Kenny Rankin.
Gregory M. Jones is an American electric and acoustic bassist. He has toured with Ray Anderson, Marc Ribot, Jon Lucien, Chico Hamilton, Ben E. King, Andy Narell, Astrud Gilberto, Savion Glover, Ute Lemper, Eileen Ivers, and many others. Adept in Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, jazz, pop, and funk. He studied at New England Conservatory of Music with Miroslav Vitous, Bob Moses, and Jaki Byard.
“Maureen has an artist’s eye and her work is a pleasure to view,” commented, Anthony Accomando, Chef/Owner of Antoine McGuires in Haverstraw and Executive Director of the Arts Alliance, “If I wasn’t working in my own restaurant that night, I would head down to Bella Café!”
The Bella Rose Café is at 11 New Main Street in Haverstraw. www.bellarosecafe.com
Maureen can be reached at info@maureenplainfield.com.
HaverstrawLife.com 