Historic Piano Debuts at Local Jazz Club

An historic 1937 Steinway that was the house piano at the Village Gate in New York City for many years Thursday inaugurated the second year of live jazz at Restaurant 323, 323 Main St., produced by Richard Epstein and Ina Chadwick. Rabbi Greg Wall of Westport, artistic director and sax player, teamed up with Chris Coogan to play two sets of hot music to a full house. Pianists Frederic Chiu, Joe Utterback, and Marco Scott also had chances to try out the instrument. The piano was crowd-funded and fundraising is still underway with the intent of forming a nonprofit devoted to live jazz performance and education in Fairfield County. 323 Jazz Club is ongoing from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. every Thursday night, and an upcoming program will also feature singer Melissa Newman of Westport. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo