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A Night of Jazz and Blues is being planned in tribute to Asbury Park music man Gladstone Trott.

The Asbury Park Music Foundation March 24 event is a fundraiser to help raise money for medical bills associated with Trott’s ongoing fight against cancer. Trott has been hospitalized since December.

Raised in Asbury Park, Trott began playing music at age six, mastering the piano, clarinet, flute, sax and trumpet, as well as singing and conducting.

Through his association conducting The Downtown Glee Club in New York City, Trott was invited to conduct a segment of Handel’s Messiah in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.

His musical endeavors also include being an organist at St. Augustine Episcopal Church on Springwood Avenue, which began at age 13 and continued for 45 years.

Trott has played and recorded for numerous jazz bands over the years and was a regular at the Breakers Hotel in Spring Lake, and most recently with the Lakewood Jazz Orchestra, according to the Music Foundation President Tom Gilmour.

“The tribute event will feature over 20 jazz and blues musicians who know and respect the contributions of Mr. Trott,” Gilmour said via written statement. Because of the magnanimous participation response, the event will be divided into three sessions with rotating performances.

“Musicians and friends are traveling in from all over the country to be part of this special event,” Event Director Dorian Parreott said. They include Trott’s former bandmates, teachers, students and friends.

Among them are Clifford Johnson, 91, who played with Trott at the church; drummer Bobby Boyd, saxophonist Tommy LaBella, and Sandy Sasso, who toured internationally with Trott. Also attending the tribute, will be Trott’s former music teacher Karl Crudup and former student Desi Norman.

Having sold out of its originally scheduled space at the Asbury Park Music Foundation new headquarters inside the Lakehouse building on Lake Avenue, the tribute will be moved to the VFW building at 701 Lake Avenue to accommodate a larger audience, organizers said.

The show will begin at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple, with 100 percent of all proceeds going to the Trott family for his medical bills.

Checks may be made to the Asbury Park Music Foundation and mailed to APMF, 375 Park Avenue, Freehold, NJ 07728. Donations also can be made via a GoFundMe campaign.

For more about Gladstone Trott’s life and contributions, click here.

[Photos courtesy of Asbury Park Music Foundation]

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