North Star Jazz & CommonGround
  • Home
  • Streaming
  • With Help From
  • Blog
  • Gallery
    • Video
    • Photos
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Holiday

Remembering President Jimmy Carter

Picture

In 1999 I was VP at North Star Music, a small record label based in Providence, RI, trying to find its niche in the marketplace. Stellar solo pianist David Osbornewas being promoted by North Star as Pianist to the Presidents, having
performed at the White House under Carter, Bush and Clinton. He became a personal friend with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, often performing at their parish church in Plains, Georgia.

When David was asked to perform at Jimmy Carter’s 75th birthday gala, heenlisted the music director at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas (David’s then musical home) to help produce the show. It was a grand event at the beautifully
renovated Rylander Theater in downtown Americus, next door to the Habitat for Humanity headquarters. Jimmy Carter, in his inimitable fashion, would only agree to attend a birthday tribute if it was a charity fundraiser event. A big-screen
monitor was set up outside the Rylander for any of the townspeople who’d like to see the show.

The North Star Jazz Ensemble — Bruce Abbott on saxes, Ron Fournier on piano, Marty Ballou on bass and yours truly on drums — had contributed backing tracks and arrangements for a few of David Osborne’s albums. David, who was the opening act, invited us to accompany him. After David’s set came a multigenerational litany of noted musicians including Indigo Girls, Pat Boone, Phyllis McGuire, Lynn Anderson and the amazing Georgia Mass Gospel Choir.
All flown in for gratis by Delta Airlines. Press corps dignitaries who spoke included emcee Spencer Christian, Sam Donaldson and Helen Thomas.

During the after-party at the classic Windsor Hotel across the street, I was able to meet Jimmy and Rosalynn as part of line of admirers on the mezzanine. A totally gracious 40-second stop as they moved through the long line. The band CDs I planned to give him, which I quickly pulled back due to the stern looks of his Secret Service entourage, remain wrapped on my shelf to this day. Just one memento of a true lifetime experience.

Paul Mason



North Star Jazz & CommonGround Recordings

Special Holiday Bundle - four CDs for $25, shipping included!
Visit our Store page for information.

Christmas has come and gone, but we thought we'd leave our Christmas favorites up for just a bit longer.  The season always seems too short, once we get past New Years!

Here are links to our much-loved Holiday recordings, one from Bruce Abbott and North Star Jazz with strings, featuring players from the Boston Symphony,
and one from CommonGround which features long time Carly Simon guitarist, Peter Calo.

And visit our streaming page for links to our whole catalog
​on the streaming service of your choice!  
​

​Click Here for Apple Music
Click Here for Spotify
Click here for Pandora

Picture

Click Here for Apple Music
Click Here for Spotify
​Click Here for Pandora
​

Picture

We made it through!

And to let you know that we’re thinking of you. Without your support since we made our first CD for North Star back in the ’90s, we would never have gotten the chance to make all the records that followed, and to connect with all the folks that have written to us or come to our concerts and club dates over the years.



In recent years we haven’t had the opportunity to play together as often as we’d like to. And now, with all live music events cancelled for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a while before we’re able to see you up close and personal. We’ll miss playing together, and seeing you all.


At the same time the music marketplace is also changing. Again! We still have plenty of CDs for most of our titles, so feel free to visit our store and we’ll be happy to send some to you.  The days of buying and owning downloadable tracks is however, coming to an end. The new model is based on subscription services such as Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.  Our music is available on those services and most other similar ones.


Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to find us.  Depending on the project, some of our albums were listed in slightly different ways.  The North Star Jazz Ensemble, or Bruce Abbott and The North Star Jazz Ensemble.  Our other identity as CommonGround is sometimes listed as Common Ground.  But we’re out there so keep trying.


We hope that our music will provide a little moment of calm amongst all the confusion that we find ourselves in at the moment.


Feel free to contact us via email on our contact page.


We’ll be updating you on our various adventures going forward.  And while we haven’t played together all that much recently, we’ve all been busy with other projects, and we’ll keep you informed about some of those as well.


Hang in there. Thanks for your support over the years.  Stay safe and stay well.


The North Star Jazz Ensemble and CommonGround.

Want to check in with what we've been up to individually?  Check these out,

Bruce Abbott Music                  Ron Fournier, Copywriter, Songwriter              Marty Ballou/RI Music Hall of Fame


Peter Calo                                     Paul Mason/Dunes Trio                                  Paul Mason/The Conversation                                 

Picture

Thank You!

To everyone who came to hear us at our date at Chan's EggRoll and Jazz. 
It was great to reconnect with
Peter Calo and get to play some the music from Fire & Rain and Homeward Bound.
Here is a slide show of photos taken at Lakewest Recording during the making of the CommonGround projects. 
Click here to view.


We want to say a special Thank You! to the Nantucket Arts Council for asking us back to open the 2017 Nantucket Arts Festival.
Not only did we get to play two great concerts on the island, but the request by the council that we add a vocalist for our first visit in 2016 was the impetus for the addition of Marcelle Gauvin to our quartet.  Since Marcelle came on board we've decided to pursue other opportunities for the group with Marcelle.  We've got a few things we're currently working on, so check back and we'll keep you posted as additional dates get firmed up

Photos by Steve Mason, https://www.stevemasonphotographer.com

North Star Jazz on the Web

If you enjoy listening to music on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music or many of the other online music services, be sure to list us in your online radio choices.


Check out photos from our trip to Nantucket to play a concert for the Nantucket Arts Council.  Our date this past May was cancelled due to high winds
​and dangerous seas, but we're working on a return date for the Fall, so keep you eye on this space for updates.
Photos by Steve Mason, https://www.stevemasonphotographer.com/
photos by Steve Mason

North Star Jazz & CommonGround

The North Star Jazz Ensemble was the 'House Band' for North Star Music, 
a Rhode Island based recording company from 1985 to 2011.  The group, built around the silky sound of saxophonist Bruce Abbott supported by the solid rhythm section of Ron Fournier on piano, Marty Ballou on bass and 
Paul Mason on drums – along with many distinguished guests –  recorded 
a dozen CDs for the label.  Check out our new video North Star Jazz with strings.

With the addition of guitarist Peter Calo (Carly Simon, Linda Eder, New York Voices) we formed CommonGround and produced recordings in a contemporary jazz style.

A changing music marketplace has created a new opportunity for us, and we are excited and proud to have acquired the catalog from North Star Music.

This is the new online home for purchasing our North Star Jazz Ensemble and CommonGround albums.  

Click here to visit our online store and hear samples of all our music.

Our music is also available at iTunes and Amazon.com

Click here to access North Star Jazz on iTunes

Click here to access CommonGround on iTunes

Click here to access North Star Jazz at Amazon.com

Click here to access CommonGround at Amazon.com


Bruce Abbott

Picture
Saxophones and flute

Visit Bruce online at 
www.bruceabbottmusic.com

Ron Fournier

Picture
Piano and keyboards

Learn more about this music at www.jazzillustrated.com
or visit Ron online at www.ronfournier.com

Paul Mason

Picture
Drums and percussion

Paul spends his summers playing with this trio on the beach in Narragansett, RI
www.dunestrio.com