Jazz with The Softwinds All Stars at The Horse & Sulky Pub & Grill

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Jazz with The Softwinds All Stars, Sunday, September 21st at The Horse & Sulky Pub & Grill, Campbell Hall, NY. The Softwinds All Stars: Tom Cabrera-drums, Paul Duffy-piano, Lou Pappas-bass, Ron Crosta-vibes, Mike Anotnelli-saxophone. The Horse & Sulky Pub & Grill - 206 Sarah Wells Trail,
The Musical Side of Softwinds

My name is Ron Crosta. I'm a drummer turned jazz vibraphonist and a former resident of the state of New Jersey. My partner in the venture was Madeline Shaw, a native of Ridgebury, New York; an actress and vocalist with extraordinary talents in the voice over industry and, luckily for us, she was a whiz in the culinary arts as well. Perfectly suited to handle the food and drink aspects of the business.
We launched our dream – the Softwinds restaurant and jazz club in November of 1987. The building was situated out in the horse country on the Sarah Wells Trail between Goshen and Washingtonville in central Orange County New York. When we took our first look, I had negative feelings about it. It had that classic roadhouse bar appearance-shabby. It was 3 stories high with the bar proper on the first level with individual rooms on the second floor that were rented out on a weekly or monthly basis. It was a place some folks would call a good old fashioned honky-tonk. It was rundown and badly in need of repairs and lots of TLC. But Maddy had the vision and after lots of arm twisting, finally convinced me that we could turn it into something cool and satisfying to both of us. So we incorporated and set upon the enormous task of transforming this seedy tavern into a jazz club in the summer of 1987. We became the Madaron Corporation – doing business as Softwinds.
Early on, we had agreed on what would be our first major purchase. So, just a few days before the grand opening, two burly moving men set up a used 5'6" grand piano made by Chickering. It had a bright tone and full bass and would be the primary component and focal point for all the music that was to come. It would be maintained and frequently tuned by Ralph Hackett, one of the top technicians and tuners in the county. After the club closed it went to our friend Victor Caruso, a fine pianist and vibraphonist from Port Jervis. It made us both very happy that it would rest in good hands.
Because of the limited space and our small operating budget, we decided on a duo and trio group format with jam sessions, which were billed as evening jazz suppers, on late Sunday afternoons. Vibes, piano, bass combinations or vibes with guitar and bass were featured on Friday and Saturday nights. On Wednesdays, my piano buddy Clyde Crawford and I performed in a duo setting.
We decided on not having drums at the start, primarily because of the noise factor and to save a salary. But only a few weeks after we opened, Tom Cabrera came along and stole our hearts. Soon after, he was installed as Softwinds' official house drummer ignoring the fact that he couldn't be paid. It was enough for him to just play; to gain experience and enjoy backing up such a varied blend of musical personalities. To our delight, he stayed for the duration.
It wasn't long either before the news of a jazz club somewhere along the Sarah Wells Trail reached the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and members of the jazz ensemble there, The West Point Knights began to frequent the club. Musicians such as the extremely talented bassist Lou Pappas, guitarist Rob Helsel and trombonist Harvey Tibbs soon became regulars, blending in nicely with the local talent. We were very excited to have Ahmad Jamal's fine electric bassist Jim Cammack on many occasions when gigs with Ahmad got a little slow and Chris Parker, a pianist and composer of high caliber who was also the musical director at Orange County Community College. Among the many fine players that graced the bandstand on a regular basis were bassists Midge Pike and Hal Gaylor, pianists Vivian Lord, Richard Kimball and Paul Duffy, guitarist Mike Jackson, tenor Saxophonist Mike Antonelli and many more.
Time to time, even more recognizable names in the jazz world made appearances at 'The Winds'. Helped along by Russ Lane, a jazz promoter from nearby Warwick, NY and booking agent for the Sugarloaf Jazz Series, stars such as Lynn Arriele (then known as Lynn Bernstein), guitarist Attila Zoller (who actually drove down to the gig from Vermont and back again the same night), bassist Jamil Nasser, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, Mark Egan's great trio with pianist Gil Goldstein and Danny Gottlieb all plied their wares. Pianist Hal Galper made three appearances, bringing bassists Todd Coolman and Rufus Reid and drummers Vernel Fournier and Victor Lewis to two of them. Jazz great Bob Brookmeyer and guitarist Jim Hall made visits to the club and vibraphonist Dave Samuels and pianist Andy LaVerne did a pair of duo gigs there. We used our letterhead to good advantage getting the club name mentioned on the jazz calendar over WBGO 88.3 FM radio out of Newark, NJ. Almost immediately, musicians from there and as far away as Manhattan and Woodstock began to call and make inquiries about the goings on. Even Horace Silver's agent phoned wanting to book Horace's quintet for a one-nighter but there was no way to seat a large enough audience to cover Silver's fee which was well over a grand so that idea was quickly squashed and forgotten.
It was a good run for a little better than a year but due to the very limited seating, 54 at the tables and another dozen or so at the bar, it was an impediment to the gross receipts. That, coupled with the constant squabbles with the landlord over failing systems in the 100 year old building spelled doom and The Winds stopped blowing in late December of 1988. Maddy and I had given up the ghost at that location but we gave it one more punch; opening six months later under the same name at the former Lighthouse Inn in nearby New Hampton. An upgrade certainly, in space and surroundings and very few operational problems, but it came with more than four times the expense in rent and utilities. Just raising the start up cash was a hassle to the extent that a Jazz-a-thon was quickly organized to raise some capital. The fund raiser started Friday evening at 6 pm and went until Sunday night at midnight, non stop. The musicians all took their turn at the wheel, some of them making multiple appearances. It certainly helped get the thing off the ground but Maddy and I soon saw the futility of our efforts because of the monthly outlay. One evening, after hours, we were seated at our modern rectangular bar and I made some quick calculations on a bar napkin. I reckoned that to meet the $4000 per month rent and the monstrous utility bills, plus all the taxes and fees, we would have to pour shots for at least a dozen people, every minute, around the clock for all seven days of the week. This is perhaps an exaggeration on my part but maybe not. In any case, making any sort of profit was going to be next to impossible so we closed up again after only a few months. It was our second bang up in two years. The net proceeds were less than zero. Despite all that, it took nothing away from the music that was played there or at the original Softwinds for that matter. That still stands today, proud and tall, and on its own merits.
Recently, thanks to Tom Cabrera, I had the honor of playing some good music with some old friends. After falling out of touch for many years, Tom and I had rekindled our friendship and over lunch one day, he hatched a plan to get some of the Softwinds alumni together. It didn’t take him very long to get the ball rolling. He drove out to the old club on Sarah Wells Trail which is now called the Horse and Sulky Pub and Grill, and made arrangements with the present ownership to have a reunion there. The reunion took place on Sunday afternoon, July 27, 2014. It was the first time I had seen the place in 27 years. A strange feeling to be sure but I had the distinct pleasure of playing again with tenor saxophonist Mike Antonelli, pianist Paul Duffy, guitarist Mike Jackson, and the fabulous Lou Pappas. Tom was on the drums and I was happy to make the acquaintance of and share the music with Tom’s present guitarist Jack DeSalvo and Tom’s lovely wife, vocalist Julie Lyon.
Word has it that there are going to be future jazz things happening there. I hope that I’m a part of it.

Au Biéntot

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