Dear RCJBS Members - It's finally official!  The Riverspace Jazz Committee has merged with the Rockland County Jazz and Blues Society.  We are now officially incorporated as a Not For Profit, with our own 501c3.  The existing membership of RCJBS has voted to accept re-structuring to an incorporated organization with a new board of directors and officers.

The new officers are:
Chair - Richard Sussman
Vice Chair - Matt Haviland
Secretary - Mike Holober (Interim)
Treasurer - Richard D. Rein

We want to assure all current RCJBS members that we are committed to respecting the history and past objectives of the RCJBS as we move forward.  One of these objectives has always been to provide members with discounts at selected events.  I'm happy to say that we can now offer discounts to RCJBS members for all the remaining jazz events at Riverspace this season (through the end of July), including Sonny Fortune (this Friday, June 27), and John Abercrombie (Sunday, July 27). If you're interested in becoming a member or making a tax deductible contribution, please contact...Richard Sussman at rsuss - {at} -  optonline - {dot} - net

It's taken a little longer than expected to finalize all the paperwork, but we're all very excited about the opportunities that this merger/re-structuring provides for us.  We can now embark on a serious fund raising campaign in support of our many initiatives and projects.  In addition to continuing the weekly jam sessions at Riverspace, we are planning to raise the bar significantly in the coming season by bringing in mid-level headliners to the Cafe and major headliners to the main stage at Riverspace. (Check out Sonny Fortune on June 24 for a preview!).

Other initiatives include prioritizing educational events, starting with bringing back our "Jam With the Pros" series at the Cafe, which gives local area students a chance to study and play with professional jazz musicians.  The series will consist of 3-4 clinic/jam sessions, culminating in an actual performance by the students at the Cafe.  We also hope soon to be able to bring performances to area schools, as well as producing concerts at other venues in Rockland and Westchester.

Please bear with us as we reorganize.  There are still some unanswered questions as to how the new organization will look.  We may dispense with the print newsletter in favor of email.  A few things are definite:  We will continue to host a website (hopefully it will be redesigned soon), and we will probably continue to use the Yahoo group for posting messages.  There will still be annual dues with different tiers & benefits (details to follow).  All members will receive discounts on selected jazz and blues events produced or sponsored by RCJBS.

We are very appreciative of your support and hope you will continue to come out to enjoy some of the exciting events we have coming up through the end of July.  Riverspace will be dark for the month of August - Enjoy your vacations!  Please see below for details.

Thanks & hope to see all of you soon,

Richard Sussman

Our hearts go out to those in New Orleans and the Gulf South. They still need help. Please do what you can. (See this article in offBEAT magazine for how your donations have helped!) See what we've done.