Cabaret style show at Landmark Inn huge success

WARWICK-"This is a house party." That's how local radio and TV personality Dick Wells described the warmth that he and the musicians felt from their appreciative audience during a recent sold-out musical event at Warwick's Landmark Inn. On Thursday evening, April 28, the audience at the inn stood and cheered following a cabaret style evening featuring Wells and the music of the Philip Jones Jazz Quartet. The entertainers obliged with encores. Philip Jones, recording artist, well-known tenor and bass trombonist, is a 17-year veteran of the Grammy winning "Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass" orchestra. As a performer, Jones has worked with many of the most talented entertainers in show business as well as dozens of famous groups and orchestras. And as a studio musician he has also recorded on hundreds of top label releases. Wells is best known locally for his Saturday radio show which airs on WTBQ (1110 AM) and for his appearances on cable television and at community events. But his true claim to fame is as a professional singer and entertainer. He once sang with the world famous Harry James orchestra and even appeared on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show. Wells has also performed on Las Vegas stages with legendary entertainers like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. He has been working with Jones for about five years and the award-winning trombonist appears on Wells' new CD, "Here's to the Band." As Wells had promised, his material that evening was a departure from the songs he usually performs. The audience loudly applauded his rendition of lyrical old favorites like "I'm Confessing That I Love You." But there were also a few well performed surprises such as "Old Man River" and "The Impossible Dream," a song made famous by Wells' friend and neighbor, Richard Kiley. The well-known stage and screen actor, a resident of Warwick, died in 1999. Jones began the evening on his trombone by playing "Georgia," the theme song of an entertainer he had performed with Ray Charles. Later that evening, he took the mike from Wells to perform a gravel voice impersonation of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." The audience loved it. Mike DiMartino, owner of The Landmark Inn, is considering a return engagement sometime next Fall.