About Us
MISSION
JoRei Jazz & Company's Mission is to Sponsor Jazz Music Events throughout
New York City, which began with Jazz Open Mic Series at Perks in Harlem in 2012, After a short hiatus we moved to Black Cat Cafe on the Lower East Side. Now we’re sponsoring the Jorei Jazz Jam & Open Mic Series at Sour Mouse, NYC., which is also on the Lower East Side. We’ve been sponsoring a weekly Jazz Jam at Sour Mouse Since October of 2020! We got a call from the owner, who asked if we were interested in hosting a Jazz Open Mic at his Billiards & PingPong spot on Delancey, and we jumped at the opportunity
More ABOUT
Jorei Jazz & Company
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JoRei Jazz & Company was founded by Johnny Johnson and Katherine Joyce-Reilly in 2018 after a prior Live Jazz Event partnership dissolved. Not wanting to abandon their commitment to continuing the Legacy of Jazz music for future generations, K.J. Reilly and Johnny Johnson decided to regroup under the JoRei Jazz umbrella, as JazzByJorei on Social Media
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After a short hiatus It was not long before they discovered a cozy cafe in the Lower East Side; Black Cat Cafe, where they began hosting weekly Jazz Jam and Open Mic For the Jazz community and enthusiasts. We have moved our event to a new super fun Billiards & Ping Pong venue, just blocks away from Black Cat Cafe, where we are hosting a weekly Open Mic Jam session series.
Sour Mouse, NYC is a new and exciting club and game room which has undoubtedly become one of the Hot Spots of LES
Photo: Asanto Nobel
Breaking News!
New Club Opening Soon!
Sugar Mouse Billiards & Game Hall
47 3rd Avenue, NY
Jorei Jazz with Jazz
Icon, Bertha Hope
Jorei Jazz with Jazz
Pianist Danny Mixen
Jorei Jazz & Co. is a non-profit group dedicated to
fostering an enhanced Jazz community of singers
& musicians of any age.
The Villager Article - April 2022
<Click Image or Scroll to Media page to Read article by Bob Krasner. Photos by Bob Krasner
Future of Jazz Music: Concerning but Hopeful
By K.J. Reilly
Let’s consider how the Jazz music genre has
been lagging behind in popularity, sales, marketing, radio play, streaming, etcetera.
Even though Congress designated Jazz Music a National American Treasure in a 1987 resolution, its popularity was already diminishing. By the time the internet, eCommerce and streaming came
into play, the Jazz Music genre was brought to its knees, in terms of records sales and downloads and streaming revenues.
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Case in point, in 2018, Jazz genre record sales amounted to only 1.1% of the overall sales for that year. According to an article in Billboard Magazine, the total Jazz record sales in 1987 was 4.9% of all annual sales, which declined gradually to 2.8% by 1997 (source: Billboard, April 17, 1999). This is disturbing especially for the established and aspiring Jazz artists.
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In reality, the avantgard, alternative and Jazz Music acts have to depend on tours outside the country to earn a living, especially these days.
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So bringing it back to the local scene here in New York; It is a travesty when we compare it to the once booming Jazz scene in New York, which has dwindled considerably over the past 30 years. There seemed to have been many more Jazz venues throughout the City in the nineteen sixties, seventies and even the eighties but there were signs of trouble when the 1990’s rolled in, when many of the popular (non touristy) Jazz clubs began to close down. Club owners most often struggled with rising rents, making it impossible to eke out profits.
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In the seventies and eighties, however, there were a good number of small, no-frills clubs all over New York City, that starving artists could afford. It’s places like this that foster development of aspiring musicians and singers who are looking to grow or maintain their chops. There were also programs like Jazz Mobile, University of the Streets, which hosted jazz workshops (Instructed by the Late Barry Harris) for over 40 years.
Continued Article........
These Programs were safe havens for the musicians that couldn’t afford private lessons, or couldn’t afford to go to Mannes School for Jazz at the New School, or a Music Conservatory. In 2015, University of the Streets( UOTS) closed its East Village location, and moved to the Bronx, adding an afterschool music program, Dance and Martial Arts programs, as well as many other activities.
Although UOTS still hosts live jazz , it doesn’t serve the Jazz community as it once did.
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Thankfully .....
For Full Article Click Here
Let’s Work Together
Jorei Jazz & Company
16 Madison Sq. West - 12th floor
New York, NY 10011
E-Mail: Jwjazzforum@gmail.com
Tel: 718 930-5837
Media & Reviews
The Villager Newspaper Article
Jazz by Jorei bring jazz jam sessions to Sour Mouse in the Lower East Side
By Bob Krasner
Posted on April 13, 2022
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Photos: Bob Krasner
Photo by: Bob Krasner - -Johnny Johnson and K.J. Reilly are the sponsors
and producers of the Live Music Event.
Smooth sounds on LES
The jazz jam session. If you know what that means, you’re probably picturing a late-night back room where you don’t even think about getting on stage without a good amount of talent and even more guts, because every player there is ready to play you off the stage and they don’t really care if you never come back.
Then again, there’s the Sour Mouse, where the “Jazz by Jorei” Sunday afternoon sessions organized by Katherine Joyce-Reilly and Johnny Johnson are basically an alternative universe to that scene. Newcomers are encouraged no matter where their musical level is and if you sign up, you get to strut your stuff. It might only be one song, but it’s in front of a swinging house band with an appreciative audience.
“We’re trying to create a supportive, positive environment,” says Joyce-Reilly, who has sung with Stevie Wonder and Martha Wash, among others. “We hear from the musicians and singers that they love coming here – that they don’t get that support at other open mics.”
Sax-E-One serenades the singer with a sax solo
Article Continues....
Johnson, who spent some time singing with The Fabulous Aftabs – a group that opened for the O’Jays and the Delfonics at the Apollo – concurs. “You’ve got to lift people up! I learned that from my father and my uncle. Sometimes you’ve just got to say, you’re not there yet, but you can get there.”
The free sessions start around 3 p.m. on Sunday with a featured performer who is backed by the house band led by pianist Steve Niles with Motoki Mihara on bass and Rich Rodriquez on drums. Singers drop in and sign up to sing one or two tunes with the combo and sometimes end up getting their own featured slot. One of those lucky ones with an upcoming gig is Deborah Auer, who has nothing but praise for the setup. “The house band has a really nice groove, the singers and musicians are happy to see each other and the staff at Sour Mouse are welcoming and supportive,” she says, adding, “It’s been a great place to come back to singing since the pandemic!”
Complete The Villager Article below:
https://www.amny.com/entertainment/jazz-by-jorei-sour-mouse-lower-east-side/
Photo by: Bob Krasner -Mike Young ( far right ) ended his set by calling for ” all hands on deck,” which resulted in a rousing finale by (L-R) Lauren Reilly, Calvin Rey, Claire Delisser, Sax-E-One and Young blowing with Steve Niles on keyboard . The art is a collab by Android Oi and Josie Woods
Johnson and Joyce-Reilly are both veteran singers (jazz and R and B, respectively) who met ten years ago and decided to team up to produce a jazz session at Perks, a well-known club in Harlem. After moving around a bit they settled downtown into the Sour Mouse at the invitation of co-owner Aaron Ho, who loves having them there. “They have a passion for sharing music with others,” he notes. “We’re grateful to be working with people who, like us, want to give something back to the community.”
REVIEWS Jorei Jazz' Sunday Jam
@ Sour Mouse
LINK: Yelp Review / Sour Mouse https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sour-mouse-new-york?select=9nnTQ2DE-_LlFmyO35bkcg
By K.J. Reilly
Let’s Work Together
Jorei Jazz & Company
16 Madison Sq. West - 12th floor
New York, NY 10011
E-Mail: JoreiJazz@gmail.com
Tel: 718 930-5837