The afternoon couldn’t have been more perfect as the sun shone brightly and the tunes flowed from PJM Jazz Trio on Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Lighthouse Waterfront Cafe at Brewer Yacht Club in Glen Cove.
This trio of Roslyn natives is comprised of Paul Sabatino on bass, Jeremy ArbitalJacoby on vibraphone and percussion, and Mel Gassman on drums, graduates of Roslyn, Wheatley and Herricks high schools respectively.
Music is a powerful bond. The love of playing improvisational jazz has drawn this group together for more than three decades. “We grew up learning how to play music together and through the years, always came back to each other,” said Gassman.
By day, Sabatino is an engineer, Gassman has a granite fabrication business and ArbitalJacoby left the corporate world to teach just about every musical instrument imaginable to private students, and to tune pianos.
ArbitalJacoby and Gassman have been performing together since the mid ’70s after meeting in the inaugural class of Five Towns College, where they studied music together. They went on to perform in the People’s Jazz Militia, playing to full houses at neighborhood clubs, such as My Father’s Place.
The duo met Sabatino through a friend of a friend and reinvented People’s Jazz Militia as PJM, which now stands for the trio’s names: Paul, Jeremy and Mel. The jazz trio has been playing together on and off ever since, with weekly rehearsals continuing to this day.z
“Playing together for so many years, we have such magic and sometimes amaze ourselves at the musical chemistry we have together,” said ArbitalJacoby. “Sometimes we look at each other as if to ask, ‘where did that amazing sound come from?’ I think very few groups can say that.”
Over the years, their playing has evolved from the standards to include improvisational versions of classic rock and pop songs as they’ve performed in clubs, at private parties and corporate events. For additional information, call 516-233-9410.
