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Big John’s Starlite Lounge

Copyright 2009
Starlite Studios

Contact: Steven Donnini


Orlando, Florida
Austin, Texas
407-645-4705

In the 1950’s, there was an explosion of jazz clubs across

the United States, from New York to Miami to Los Angeles to

San Francisco. History tells us, jazz was at the cutting

edge of contemporary music, with some historians saying

jazz was the beginning of a cultural revolution that

changed the world. Now, young enthusiastic music lovers

have rediscovered jazz.

The Starlite Lounge is a venue for a Music/Talk Radio Show,

where featuring host, “Big John,” spins jazz LP’s, plays

piano and answers questions mostly about jazz music and

LOVE. So, the audience calls in with questions about their

romantic relationships. Big John answers with his unique

style of humor. In many ways it’s like “Delilah” the

nationally syndicated night time music/talk show

personality. In fact, this is a wildly successful format.

The target audience is well educated young people. In

demographic terms it’s males and females between the ages

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of 18-45. This is a wildly enthusiastic, growing group of

music lovers, who prefer LP’s. They say, “LP’s just sound

more like the real thing. When a recording is digitized

and engineered track by track, it changes the whole sound

of the music.” There are many examples of NEW jazz

Musicians like Thomas Chapin. With the resurgence of a

jazz culture, jazz is alive and well with a new young,

enthusiastic audience. This is not limited to just the

United States, but, all over the globe people have

discovered modern jazz. These same people are educated and

buy high quality products, a marketer’s dream.

Here, we can enter the world of Branded Entertainment with

an entertainment format that is currently HOT and growing.

Who are the brands that can be attached? Consumer

electronics, autos, fashion, spirits and many more,

including equity partners, production cost, timing and

revenue streams.

1. Equity Partners: We will be interviewing partners ,

who are also music enthusiasts. We need our partners

to be excited about this business opportunity.

2. Production: We have identified several revenue streams

and attached production costs to each. (All production

cost and revenue streams estimates are proprietary.)

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3. Timing: This show can be produced at anytime. However,

it’s efficient enough to go to market when there’s

still a growing interest, instead of waiting until the

market is developed or mature.

4. Revenue Streams: The Starlite Lounge has a multi-

media platform which includes… spot market radio

syndicated licensing, web streaming radio, CD

distribution, web video streaming and downloads, cell

ring tone downloads, cable & satellite licensing and

branded entertainment attachments. (All production

cost and revenue streams estimates are proprietary.)

To learn more about participation in this unique

opportunity contact Steven Donnini in Orlando, Florida or

Austin, Texas at 407-645-4705.

Email: DonniniStudio@aol.com

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Big John’s
Starlite Lounge
Jazz has a life of its own in the coolest spot in town.

Written By Steven Donnini

Copyright 2009
Steven Donnini
Austin, Texas
Orlando, Florida
DonniniStudio@aol.com

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Welcome to The Starlite Lounge a jazz club in Tucson,

Arizona. It’s located just south of town on I-19 by the

Tucson International Airport.

It’s where the mountains dominate the desert landscape,

rising out of the desert like castles into the sky. At

night the stars are as clear and bright as anywhere on

earth. For years, dating back to the 60’s, the Starlite

Lounge was known as a haunt for the commercial pilots,

after hours drinkers and serious jazz lovers. It’s a jazz

Mecca radiating vibes to millions of music enthusiasts.

In fact, there’s a FM all night radio show hosted by “Big

John,” a jazz pianist from Miami, who headlined there for

many years. Somehow he forgot exactly when he moved here.

Exposure to the desert dust and wind will do that to you.

But, it had to be in the 1970’s when the club owner, Jim

Reynolds, a famous front man and jazz singer asked Big John

to come out and sit in for a key board man, who left saying

it was too hot in Tucson. He moving back to his home town

of Chicago. The 120 degree summers were making him dry up,

creatively that is. As always in a jazz story, there was a

women involved by the name of Stella Devine, who had a

drinking problem. But, she was also one of the best female

jazz singers in the southwest. Jim says, “She just had to

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wet her whistle every little bit or she couldn’t hit the

high notes.” As luck would have it, Big John has a very

good speaking voice which is perfect for him taking on the

all night FM Radio Jazz Show from the Starlite Lounge. The

show rolls on from 12am to 4am. It has evolved into a

talked about show among the youngsters interested in real

jazz. They prefer the live sound and LP’s from the past.

Lionel Hampton, Bill Evans, Ira Sullivan, Miles Davis and

John Coltrane. The new interest in spinning LP’s is a

specialty Big John has added to the show. So as part of

the show he takes requests from a phone line and spins LPs.

Big John has created the largest collection of jazz LP’s

anywhere in this part of the world. The station also

places his show on the web for audio streaming all over the

world. In fact, the Starlite Lounge has 250,000 global

listeners every night. Most US TV networks don’t get that

many people watching their shows. So, everyone knows about

Big John & the smooth vocals of Jim Reynolds and Babbs

Newman. The show features female singers as well, like

Trudy Heller and Barbara “Babbs” Newman , who spent her

early years in Kansas City and New Orleans. Trudy Heller

is a west coast gal, just 22 years old, she started out

singing in Laguna Beach Clubs. She followed in the

footsteps of her mother, Evelyn Heller, a lifer into the

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jazz club scene. The Starlite Lounge is a simple layout

with a small bar and 12 tables around a 3 foot stage with a

12” riser. The center piece is a black baby grand piano

bought by Big John from a retired key board man.

PLAYERS

BIG JOHN

Big John is a 55 year old, jazz keyboard veteran from Miami

Beach, Florida. A unique blend of tough guy Bogart and a

smooth operator like Frank Sinatra or Peter Lawford.

JIM REYNOLDS

Jim is a music lifer. He started singing and playing

guitar at grade school in Coral Gables, Florida. He has

been an owner of many clubs in Arizona, with the Starlite

Lounge being the most famous.

BARBARA “BABBS” NEWMAN

Babbs studied music at Southern Methodist University before

moving on to work the clubs in New Orleans. She’s 35 years

old and is the child of a Kansas City meat packer.

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Big John opens the show with an original tune that you can

only hear at the Starlite Lounge, titled “Before Daylight.”

With an unforgettable set of pipes Big John opens the show

with a bellow, "Hey Baby! This is Big John, spinnin’

and tappin’ out many sounds from the Starlight Lounge till

4:00 in the AM on the WWHD/FM in Tucson.”

Babbs Newman walks across the stage dressed in a black

sequin cocktail gown, "Hi Big John. I'm Babbs. I got to

know, why do they call you Big John?"

Big John playing a quite riff, "There are some Q's I don't

touch Babbs.”

Babbs, "Come on Big John, don't be like that. My man is

hung like a field mouse. Talk dirty to me."

Big John, "Look Baby, I'm the jazz man. Your style may be

better suited for this Ira Sullivan track circa 1965. Day

for night.”

Music up comes up from his turn table.

So, here Big John is spinning tunes from his turn tables

and talking to women about what turns them on. All the time

he is mixing it up with advice from the Starlite Lounge.

Caller, “Hi Big John, I’m Rita from Miami… Remember me?”

Big John, “Hey Baby, how could I forget you.”

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Rita, “I was the one Roger Strickland knocked up and moved

to Miami from Corpus Christi.”

Big John, “So how ya hanging girl?

Rita, “They call ‘em pendulous breasts, thanks to three

kids and a frisky boy friend named Roger.”

Big John, “Wow Doll, that’s a little more info than I can

handle.”

Rita, “You always said, I looked like I was carrying two

pups in a basket. I shoulda wore a bra. But, in those days

we just let it all hang out.”

Big John, “Oh, I was just kidding. Thanks for calling. Is

there a tune I can play for you?”

Rita, “Tell Roger to call me. I still have a jar of his

Royal Crown hair cream.”

Big John, “I’ll pass it along. Thanks for calling, Rita.

Next Caller is Marci from Cottonwood in Verde Valley.

Big John, “Hi Marci. What’s happening in your love life?”

Marci, “I’ve been dating a truck driver from Tempe, and he

said the Starlite Lounge is always his first stop in

Tucson.”

Big John, “So Baby, what’s your question?”

Marci, “He said you have a great show, because women want

to know what you think about different things, like having

sex in the back of a semi. What do you think about that?”

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Big John, “Well Baby, let me try it first. I don’t drive a

truck. But, if I did jump on some unsuspecting, but

consenting adult stranger in the sleeper cab, I guess after

12 hours on the road, I would give into the White Line

Fever.”

Marci, “I never looked at it that way. I gots to have my

lovin and I get it where I can. Thanks!”

Big John starts to play White Line Fever with Jim Reynolds

vocals.

White Line Fever


By Merle Haggard
C F C
White line fever
G C
A sickness born down deep within my soul
C F C
White line fever
G C
The years keep flying by like the highline poles
F G
The wrinkles in my forehead
C
Show the miles Iâll put behind me
F
They continue to remind me
G
How fast Iâm growing old
C
Guess Iâll die with this fever in my soul
C G
C
I wonder just what makes a man keep pushing on
C G
C
What makes me keep on humming this ole highway song
F G C
Iâve been from coast to coast a hundred times or more

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F G
C
I ainât found one single place where I ainât been before
C F C
White line fever
G C
A sickness born down deep within my soul
C F C
White line fever
G C
The years keep flying by like the highline poles
F G
The wrinkles in my forehead
C
Show the miles Iâve put behind me
F
They continue to remind me
G
How fast Iâm growing old
C
Guess Iâll die with this fever in my soul
C F C
White line fever, fever

Big John comes back to the mic. “It’s all over, but the

crying. Now, we’ll go back to a horn man for all times,

John Coltrane. Miles Davis was the dominant jazz musician

of his generation. But unlike Miles, John Coltrane died

before any career embarrassments could interfere with his

legacy. John is the most influential tenor sax player in

jazz history, and probably the most influential soprano

player as well, he was also a leading force in bringing

spirituality to jazz. He was incredibly prolific during

his last five years, and Impulse continued to release

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first-class Coltrane recordings for almost a decade after

his death in 1967 at the age of 40. He was before the

whole digital era. Here’s “After the Rain.”

Yeah Baby, we could surely send this to the weather man.”

Big John spins “After the rain.”

When Big John comes back to the piano, it’s time for

another call. “Yello!”

Caller, “Hi Big John, this is Roger Strickland. Do me a

solid. Don’t be given me away on the air. It seams like

yesterday I got rid of that girl at the Greyhound Racetrack

in Hollywood, Florida. She likes that Wild Irish Rose, if

you know what I’m saying?”

Big John, “What’s happening Roger?”

Roger, “I been working a club in Buffalo called the

Carousel. Well, I met this woman who just knocked me out

after the last set last Friday the 13th. And I think I’m

in love.”

Big John, “Look Baby, you’ve got some issues to work

through.”

Roger, “I told her about the herpes thing hoping she would

run over the Queen E Bridge into Canada. But, she said,

“That’s OK, I have that too.” Wow, what a coincidence.

Don’t you think?”

Big John, “When was the last time you had some sleep?”

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Roger, “Well, we been porkin’ the weasel all night.”

Big John, “Have you considered rehab?”

Roger, “I went once, after the Judge nailed me to the bench

in Buffalo. My Barrister, Rocco Patenza, got me off a DUI,

with a 28 day horror story. You know everyone in the joint

has a story. But, do you know, is there a rehab for love?”

Big John, “That sounds like the title for a album.”

Roger, “Yeah! Wow! That’s where I met this woman. We

really have a lot in common. They make you tell them

everything. You know about different stuff. Crazy things

that happen along the way.”

Big John, “Look Baby, you got to get real.”

Roger, “Yeah. Man. Thanks. Talking to you makes me feel

better.”

Big John, “Now, I need a therapist. A rehab for love.”

Caller, with a deep smokers voice, “Hi Big John, I’m

Glenda, I been up all night listening to you and I don’t

think your crazy. Just a little off center.”

Big John, “Look Doll, I was just saying...”

Glenda puffing on a cigarette, “I’m not your Doll. Just

forget it. You can’t help everyone.

Big John, “Whatever you say Baby.”

Glenda, “I’m not you Baby. Play some more music and you’ll

feel, you know IN the zone.”

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Big John, “OK Sister, Silly sticks, I’m sure. You sound

like a quit smoking candidate.”

Glenda lighting up another cigarette, “I’m not your Sister

ether. I’m a self hypnotist. It keeps me from doing

things that get me in trouble. Just one question. (She

coughs.) If you have a pimp, does that make you a whore?”

Big John, “Look, Baby I got to go. But to answer that, I

would have to say, most definitely. Most Pimps, pimp

whores. But since your not my Baby, or Doll or Sister, you

could be a slut.” Click. “Makes Miles Davis sound sane.

Now, comin’ up “Round bout Midnight” with Miles and

Coltrane, 1957. Damn, Baby, they sound good!”

He spins Round Midnight.

Babbs Newman walks across the stage with Jim Reynolds.

“How about a love song? I’m in the mood for love.”

Big John, “Hey Baby, you should know. You’re the jazz

house historian PHD.”

Jim takes the mic. “I'm in the Mood for Love was the

inspiration for another song, a jazz standard. The

original record involved was launching an entire new

movement in jazz, "vocalese." Saxophonist James Moody

recorded a jazz solo which used the chords of “I'm in the

Mood for Love” as the basis of a new melody.

Lyricist/singer Eddie Jefferson then set words to the new

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melody. The resulting song is Moody's Mood, and

Fields/McHugh are often given credit in liner notes of

recordings.”

Babbs and Jim sing to Big John’s accompaniment.

I'm in the mood for love simply because you're near me

Funny but when you're near me, I'm in the mood for love.

Heaven is in your eyes, bright as the stars we're under,

Oh, is it any wonder, I'm in the mood for love.

Why stop to think of whether this little dream might fade,

We´ve put our hearts together - now we are one, I'm not

afraid.

If there's a cloud above, if it should rain, we'll let it.

But for tonight forget it, I'm in the mood for love.

Big John answers another caller, “Hey Baby. What’s your

story?”

Caller, “Hi. This is Janis. I have a boy friend, who’s a

Scorpio. What should I do?”

Big John, “Call the Sheriff, Doll. I don’t know. What’s

this cowboy up to?”

Janis, “He’s got all these love toys stashed in a tool

box, but he never uses them.”

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Big John, “How do you know that?”

Big John, “Well, that’s all for tonight, Baby. Don’t you

crazy kids do any thing I wouldn’t do, but if that happens

anyway, call me and let me know. This is Big John signing

off from the Starlite Lounge. Here’s a tip for you hard

core jazz lovers, there’s a open stage right here where I’m

sittin Sunday from 2:00PM to 7:00PM. Bring your horns and

friends, if you have any left an join us. OOPS, the Sun is

coming up, got to go.

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