Saying goodbye: Saratoga gears up to celebrate the life of Joel Moss
PLUS: Eye on GF, biz made simple and Marco polo (news)
Welcome to the Daily Dispatch!
The future of Spa City news straight to your inbox.
In this Oct. 8 edition:
RIP: You’re invited to celebrate the life of the great Joel Moss.
Biz made simple: how to join next week’s showcase
Eye on GF: How GF is putting safety first
Marco: Polo! (news)
Saying goodbye: Saratoga gears up to celebrate the life of Joel Moss
You’re invited: How Joel Moss’ music legacy — from Talking Heads to Jazz Pebbles — will be celebrated Downtown with hours of public performances.
[For a shareable link to this story alone, click here.]
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Joel Moss was a once-in-a-lifetime artist, community figure and friend who passed away on Sept. 15 in Saratoga. Known as much around town for his influence and dedication to art as for the many Grammys he won as a recording engineer and music producer, he’s inspired the community in so many far-reaching ways.
And now Saratoga is gearing up to say goodbye, with a celebration of life fitting for the legacy of a man who worked with hundreds of artists during his six-decade long career.
“Where the Music Never Dies: A Celebration of Joel Moss” on Oct. 14 is open to everyone and will include several hours of musical performances in his honor, emphasizing the people Moss did projects with.
The service will begin at the Katrina Trask staircase in Congress Park, where attendees will gather and then begin the rousing parade — dancing and clapping led by New Orleans’ Glen David Andrews and a 2nd Line brass band — to Caffè Lena, which served as Moss’ de facto second home. Performances will begin at about 5:30 and play on a screen outside for all of Downtown to enjoy. It will be an in-person and virtual event.
“He was the best friend of so many people,” says Sarah Craig, Caffè Lena’s long-time executive director and close friend of Moss. “He had so many relationships throughout the music world.”
Chuck Lamb will also honor Moss at tomorrow’s Jazz @ Caffe Lena series, which the two friends created together and co-hosted for the past eight years
Moss worked primarily in New York and Los Angeles during the peak of his career, before landing in Saratoga — where he had first found himself as a teenager, when he hit Caffè Lena while touring with a folk band called the Hi-Lighters that he had formed in his hometown of Detroit.
“It’s a coincidence to an extent,” Craig says. “But I think it set the stage for him to bring value to Caffè Lena”
Moss eventually settled down in Saratoga — at first part-time while he continued to work with artists at major recording studios in New York and L.A. — after meeting his second wife, Saratoga photographer Terri-Lynn Pellegri.
His work as the broadcast and sound technician at Caffè Lena has been pivotal to the establishment. In 2018, Moss established the recording archive, creating a digital archive of all of the concerts as a recording engineer.
“He believed everything needed to be recorded for posterity, so we have an incredible treasure trove of everything that’s happened here,” Craig says. “He used to say, ’I want to have the deck turned when the next Bob Dylan plays on stage.’”
In conjunction with the digital archive, Moss set up and championed the live stream at Caffè Lena, which will now allow fans from all over the world to watch his celebration of life. His very last recording project was recording the Jazz Pebbles, an ensemble of four children ages 10-13 from the Caffè Lena School of Music.
“He was on cloud nine that evening.” Craig says of Moss’s enthusiasm over the experience he’d been able to give them and their futures in music. “He loved this whole school of music project.” Moss was passionate about taking the music school to the next level and finding a designated space for it. “We were just getting these conversations started,” Craig adds.
During his storied music career, Moss worked with The Beach Boys, Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Joe Crocker, Talking Heads and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Between 2003 and 2015, Moss won seven Grammy’s, including the production of the of the cast recording of In The Heights and the recording of Ray Charles’ album You Don’t Know Me.
For more information on Joel Moss’ Celebration of Life on Oct. 14, visit caffelena.org.
Business made simple? How to get in with the local biz scene.
The Gideon Putnam hosts the year’s largest gathering of local companies and nonprofits — here’s how to join the action.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Fall is officially upon us, and for folks from the local business community that means it’s time for the Saratoga County Business Showcase. This annual expo is one of the area’s largest business networking opportunities, boasting hundreds of companies, nonprofits and organizations — from startups to seasoned corporations and B2B service providers.
The event — formerly known as the “Business-2-Business” expo — is scheduled for 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at the Gideon Putnam and is open to the public. A post-event exhibitor mixer will also take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“This showcase is our largest professional networking event of the year and presents a phenomenal opportunity for anyone looking to cultivate valuable relationships, explore new opportunities and establish impactful connections within our community,” says Todd Shimkus, President of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the event’s host. “We anticipate a great turnout of exhibitors and attendees eager to engage within a lively networking environment.”
The premier sponsors of this year’s Saratoga County Business Showcase are Adirondack Trust Company, AIM Services Inc. and (conveniently) Arnoff Moving and Storage, which will offer on-site assistance to exhibitors moving in displays on the day of the event.
Area professionals are invited to make connections amid a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere. Event-goers will have the chance to interact with exhibitors to grow their network and find potential future partners. Attendees are encouraged to bring business cards.
For more information on attending, visit chamber.saratoga.org. To see if there’s still room for reserving a booth, email Andrea Mulholland at amulholland@saratoga.org. Limited spaces are available.
This news is brought to you by…
Eye on GF: Safety initiative celebrated before football game
Safety first: literally, and come Friday night — when families are invited to a fun celebration about Glens Falls back-to-school safety. (Afterwards, hit the varsity football game.) There will be a bike raffle, giveaways, a safety clinic, and “Chalk the Walk Sidewalk Art and face painting, all in the name of raising awareness around the improvements to sidewalks, traffic flow and access around Glens Falls High School and Middle School. Getting to school safely has never been this much fun.
Event starts at 6 p.m. Friday at the entrance to Putt LaMay Field at the high school.
Saratoga Polo Club sold to Thorougbred breeders
The Saratoga Polo Club in Greenfield has sold for $3.5 million to the Esler family, according to an Oct. 7 report in the Albany Business Review. The family purchased the 43-acre property after it was re-listed for sale in September, according to the outlet. Matt and Kristen Esler are breeders and owners of Thirty Year Farm, a 250-acre Thoroughbred horse farm on Fitch Road in Saratoga, founded in 2018. While there’s no word regarding whether they’ll keep the polo tradition alive on those hallowed grounds, there’s still plenty of time to watch polo matches this fall through the ‘Polo Under the Lights’ series hosted by the Saratoga Polo School every Thursday this October. Read more on ways to watch the team play.
ICYMI…
‘Live like Liv’ Sat. with Kelly’s Angels and make dreams come true
Were you seen by Seen in Saratoga at the Saratoga Book Festival?