New Jersey Jazz Society

During the early 1970s, New Jersey jazz fans would gather at the Chester Inn to hear Chuck Slate ’ s Traditional Jazz Band or at the Hillside Lounge (also in Chester) to see cornetist Wild Bill Davison, or alto saxophonist Rudy Powell, or guitarist Al Casey. In fact, The New York Times ’ John S. Wilson, having visited those venues in 1972, wrote, “ If there is such a thing as a ‘ jazz center ’ in New Jersey, it must be here.” Slate, Wilson wrote, is “ the founding father of both jazz rooms.” While Slate was the musical inspiration for the New Jersey Jazz Society, the organization was actually founded by Bill Cleland and Jack Stine. Warren Vache, Sr., who became Editor of Jersey Jazz , after the Society was created in 1972, wrote that, “ Bill Cleland and his wife Dorothy were devoted jazz fans and constant boosters of the Chuck Slate band.