Saratoga sends off Joel Moss with music fit for a legend.
Saratoga celebrates Joel Moss's lasting legacy with a rousing, hundreds-strong march through town and emotional, musical tribute at Caffè Lena.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Tuesday night was a one-of-kind celebration of life with musical performances dedicated to the late Joel Moss, a Grammy award-winning music producer and sound engineer who was beloved in town for his generosity and creative spirit. The event drew a diverse and lively audience, all of whom were friends, family, colleagues and admirers of Moss, who passed away Sept. 15 at the age of 79.
The evening began at the Katrina Trask staircase in Congress Park, where hundreds lined up behind Glen David Andrews and his New Orleans Jazz band. Andrews, playing “When the Saints Go Marching In” on his trombone, led the procession north through the park and straight to the front door of Caffè Lena on Phila Street. The city block was closed off to cars for the event.
Saratoga’s Poet Laureate Joe Bruchac opened the night in front of Caffè Lena. A performance stage was set up on the sidewalk and the café opened its doors to everyone. The venue was full by 6 p.m. and was prepared with food and volunteers to accommodate the brimming crowd. The night featured speeches and performances that volleyed back and forth between inside and outside stages, much of it thanks to a streaming system that Moss himself initiated.
[Click on the below embed to watch the video.]
Musician Jeff Brisbin performed a song written and dedicated to Moss and their late friend, composer and sound engineer Charlie Eble, who passed away in 2017. The song is entitled “Always in Key” and was inspired by Moss and Eble’s friendship.
Jim Mastrianni, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Caffè Lena, gave a speech about his experience working and collaborating with Moss over the last 10 years. “Joel Moss was indeed a giant, not in a loud or self-important way and not in the trophies, but in the generous way he lived,” Mastrianni said.
Composer Marc Shaiman, who worked with Moss extensively on music for films in the ‘90s, performed “The Place Where the Lost Things Go,” which he co-wrote for the movie Mary Poppins Returns. Shaiman also spoke about his and Moss’s time working side by side.
[Click on the below embed to watch the video.]
New and old friends alike performed in honor of Moss. Singer Kelsey Dodd met Joel just last year and recorded her first EP with him. Dodd is a Saratoga native and freshman at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music, and she returned to Saratoga for the memorial. She described how he invited her input when it came to collaboration and recording. “He was the quietest in the room,” she told the Dispatch. “He wanted to give everyone the space to speak.”
John Wager, a Grammy award-winning producer and composer who worked with Moss in the music and film world, said, “One of the many things Joel inspired in me and taught me was to live a full life, and do what you love, and keep finding ways to stretch yourself… no matter how old you are.”
Musicians who worked and recorded with Moss performed for nearly four hours between around 5 and 9 p.m., with artists performing outside and audience members hanging out on Phila Street long after dark.
Other artists and individuals that paid tribute include Heard, Mark & Jill, Ariana, Steve Candlen, Maswick & Brown, Jeanne O’Connor & Friends, Andrew, the Jazz Pebbles, Shiri Zorn, Judy & Azaam, Kate McDonnell, Cassandra Kubinski, Don & Judy McCormack, William Kennedy, John Clayton, Jocelyn & Chris, Franklin Micare, Carolyn Shapiro, the Adirondack Song Dogs, Michael Eck, Alex Hale & Friends, and Peter David & Friends.
Joel’s daughter, Rachel Moss, spoke on the café stage and said that when her father moved to Saratoga he said “‘I have found the best place with the best people.’ And I think he was right…” She added, “I’m so proud of all of the people that he met here and all of the musicians who are going to carry on his legacy and the music that he loves and his memory.”
The entire memorial service, “Where the Music Never Dies: A Celebration of Joel Moss,” which includes clips of Moss himself, is available to watch on YouTube, courtesy of the Caffè Lena YouTube channel.
The Joel Moss Fund was established after Moss’s death to support the Caffè Lena School of Music. Sarah Craig, the director of Caffe Lena and longtime friend of Moss said, “The fund will help us accommodate a rapidly growing student body.”
To donate to the fund, visit caffelena.org, or mail a donation to Caffè Lena.
Read more about Moss’s career, legacy and connection to Saratoga at large: Saying goodbye: Saratoga gears up to celebrate the life of Joel Moss
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