He’s played Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival. He’s toured with Sha-na-na and Za Zu Zaz. On Saturday, he shared his smooth guitar stylings with an appreciative audience at Shanghai Jazz in Madison.
Of course, we’re talking about Grover Kemble. We have marveled at his latest project, mentoring a delightful kids band, The Members, who performed last month at Festival Earth on the Morristown Green.
The Members are a testament to Grover’s versatility; although best known as a jazz man, he has penned some toe-tapping bubblegum tunes for the group that would have been sure hits in the heyday of AM Top 40.
Grover did not share any jazz interpretations of those songs Saturday, though the mix was eclectic. The set list veered from jazz standards to spiffed-up treatments of Burl Ives, Harry Belafonte, and the Beatles.
“When people start asking for songs by the Members,” Grover said between sets, cracking a smile, “we’ll know they’ve really made it.”
