(This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of the South Baltimore Peninsula Post.)
It started as a pandemic passion project: turning a back room of Little Havana restaurant on Key Highway into a pop-up jazz club with top-notch area musicians. Nineteen shows later, The Sonic Lifeline’s “Hemingway Room Jazz Series” recently announced dates for its first full season, and the SoBo-D.C. duo behind the project have started crafting new types of live music experiences in new places.
The Sonic Lifeline is the brainchild of Sobohemian Ed Baldi, a longtime live event producer with roots in Broadway and television who lives about a block from Little Havana, and his nephew Nick Moreland, a D.C.-based photographer and chronicler of the area’s music scene. Together they handle every aspect of putting on the shows, from selecting and booking the bands to hanging drapes on the stage and running the sound.
The duo’s first show in the 50-seat venue was the Herb Scott Quartet from Washington, D.C., in March 2022. The pop-up shows, announced one at a time, have featured a wide variety of musical styles, from Roberto Villeda and the Latin Jazz Allstars to Baltimore’s own Rufus Roundtree and Da B’More Brass Factory.
The June 2023 show with young Baltimore musicians Brandon Woody (trumpet) and Ebban and Ephraim Dorsey (saxophones) was featured on Maryland Public Television’s “Artworks” series. The episode includes interviews with Baldi and Moreland.
After a year and a half of shows, Baldi says The Sonic Lifeline has succeeded in its mission to bring high-caliber musicians to SoBo and foster a sense of community through the power of live music. He estimates that about two-thirds of the audience is from the peninsula area.
“And it’s been great to see how quickly the word spread among the musician community about what we’re doing here,” Baldi says. “More than once, a musician standing on our stage has said, ‘I love this room.’ They want to be here at the Hemingway Room. And that MPT segment gave us the affirmation that we’re doing something right here that people are responding to.”
Building on their initial success, the duo locked in six dates with Little Havana for their first full season of shows, which began on September 22 and continues through New Year’s Eve. To keep things fresh, the fall shows will feature bands new to the Hemingway Room stage and shows dedicated to jazz interpretations of popular singers such as Michael Jackson.
“Our first show in this season was Elijah Easton from the D.C. area with a more avant-garde type of jazz than we’ve had here before,” Baldi recalls. Grammy winner Anderson.Paak dropped in to this show after headlining Artscape that night and jammed with the band late into the night.
The second show on October 6 is a tribute to soul singer Donny Hathaway with a five-piece band featuring singer Jonathan Gilmore. The acts for the remaining dates of the year have not been nailed down yet, Baldi says, but will likely feature a “Thriller Night” of Michael Jackson’s music on Halloween and a New Year’s Eve show (tickets available now).
Baldi hopes that by the time The Sonic Lifeline announces its spring 2024 Hemingway Room season, a full season of acts will be arranged and patrons will be able to purchase ticket packages.
In the meantime, Baldi and Moreland have taken the Hemingway Room model of a pop-up jazz series to new venues in D.C. In September, they launched a weekly jam session on Tuesday nights at Whitlow’s (901 U Street NW), a restaurant/bar near the 9:30 Club. And on September 29, they produced a show at a new art gallery as part of the city’s annual “Art All Night” weekend.
Baldi envisions expanding the types of live performances that The Sonic Lifeline produces to include other music and art forms. He hopes to continue working with the D.C. gallery owners to produce “curated experiences” that could include spoken word and hip hop. “And I’d love to do something where there’s live art happening while a show is going on,” he says.
“The vision for The Sonic Lifeline is to become a recognizable brand for a curated experience in multiple pop-up spaces that has a certain quality, a certain vibe, that you want to go see,” says Baldi, no matter what the specific genre.
To keep an eye on the latest events from The Sonic Lifeline, visit thesoniclifeline.com/events. – Steve Cole
South Baltimore Peninsula Post 