Rooted firmly in the organ tradition with the great Hammond B-3 jazz players like Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes, Don Patterson, Jimmy McGriff, and Wild Bill Davis who emerged in the 1950s, Dan Fogel caught the B-3 bug early.
Born in Atlantic City, Fogel came from a family deeply ingrained in the entertainment industry, being Jackie Gleason’s second cousin and the nephew of Helen Forrest, a famed big-band singer who worked with Benny Goodman, Harry James, and Artie Shaw, among others.
So it was a natural step for Fogel to follow his path and first love—music.
Fogel was a fixture in the surrounding area on a myriad of gigs, including the celebrated Kentucky Avenue, in Atlantic City—a hotbed for Jazz organists. Jazz Organ was not available as coursework in music colleges so it was on gigs and jam sessions where Fogel developed his “Grits and Gravy” style.
Fogel continues to use the Atlantic City area as a home base. Consequently, he’ll be opening at the free concert July 9 at Kennedy Plaza, between Mississippi and Georgia avenues on the Boardwalk.
“I’ve been playing for 50 years,” he noted in a recent telephone interview. “But there’s just not a lot of places to go and hear good jazz nowadays.”
Fogel played at the Shire in Cape May, which was a favorite venue of the local jazz aficionados back in the 1990s.
At the July 9 concert, he goes on from 7-8 p.m., followed by another local favorite—Bootsie Barnes from 8:30-10 p.m.
The free concert has room to seat about 300 people, according to Fogel, who hopes to find a jazz gig this summer in the Cape May area, which is difficult since the Shire closed, and other than the Cape May Jazz Festival, Fogel laments the dearth of jazz venues.
“Young people aren’t hearing much good music today,” he lamented.
