Husband-and-wife jazz duo spreads some soul in Forest Hills
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
George Gershwin once
said, “Life is a lot like jazz …
it’s best when you improvise.”
Husband-and-wife jazz performers
Luca Soul (Rosenfeld),
a double bassist, and Kelly
Green, a pianist and vocalist,
who make up Green Soul, are
great at improvising.
The sizzling, Queens-based
musical duo joined creative
forces to form “Green Soul”
in the spring of 2019, and have
been making soulful music
together ever since, playing
many venues in New York City
and abroad, while performing
alongside a myriad of world
class musicians in different
instrumentations.
Enjoying their bohemian
lifestyle, the couple does weekly
shows these days — as a duo,
or as a trio with the occasional
addition of drums — in clubs
and restaurants in Forest
Hills. Some of the venues they
perform at in Forest Hills include
Dylan’s on Metropolitan
Avenue (Saturdays from 1 to
4 p.m.) and White Radish on
Ascan Avenue (Sundays from
6 to 9 p.m.). They also perform
in Manhattan at Fine & Rare
(Monday evenings) and Flatiron
Room (Friday evenings).
They also both teach lessons
out of their home studio
in Forest Hills.
“We never allowed the pandemic
to break our stride and
keep us from practicing, playing,
performing music and doing
what we love,” Rosenfeld,
29, said. “We are extremely
fortunate to be married, to
live and to play together, because
we motivate each other
to stay in shape and maintain
our craft and our art.”
A native New Yorker and
the son of a painter and a bass
baritone singer, young Luca
Soul began studying music
at age 8 when he took up the
guitar. By age 14, his attention
turned toward the acoustic
bass, while attending the
Frank Sinatra School of the
Arts in Astoria, where he
played in the big band and the
symphonic orchestra.
The passionate artist, who
said he’s heavily influenced
by jazz artists Miles Davis,
Wayne Shorter, Israel Crosby,
among others, has toured with
various ensembles in Switzerland,
Greece, Spain, France,
Belgium, South Korea and
New Zealand. Since 2015, he
has curated and produced an
Green Soul performing at Polytechno in Corfu, Greece. Courtesy of Green Soul
underground concert series in
Manhattan, at The Treehouse,
an interdisciplinary art space
near Union Square. He also
leads The Luca Soul Trio.
“Many musicians found
themselves in a very bleak and
isolating period, especially in
the first six to eight months of
the pandemic. Not being able
to play with other musicians
in the same room can be detrimental
to development, especially
when the emphasis is on
improvisation. Presence and
social interaction are crucial
to the art form,” Rosenfeld said.
So, the couple improvised.
“With everything closed we
had to get creative with how
to support ourselves,” said
Green, 31, noting that they had
the opportunity to do a handful
of sponsored live stream
concerts from home, so jazz
lovers could experience their
original compositions, jazz
standards and arrangements
from the great American songbook,
as well as classical pieces
and free improvisations.
“When the weather was
with us, we would also go under
the LIRR overpass on Ascan
Avenue and do a couple of
hours of busking,” Green said.
“This allowed us to meet a lot
of new neighbors and connect
with real people out in the
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | OCT. 1 - OCT. 7, 2021
world — something that everyone
was starved for in those
times.”
Green, a Florida native, became
interested in playing jazz
at age 11. In her senior year of
high school, she recorded and
produced her own album of 12
original songs called “Aspire.”
She kept honing her craft and
before long, the talented songstress
would be performing at
hot jazz clubs around Manhattan,
such as the Blue Note, Dizzy’s
Club Coca-Cola, Birdland
and the Apollo Theater.
In 2019, The Kelly Green
Trio performed at the Kennedy
Center as part of the
DC Jazz Festival to honor the
Centennial of the great Nat
King Cole. The honey-voiced
crooner is one of several jazz
greats that Green is heavily
influenced by, while other favorites
include Shirley Horn
and Thelonius Monk.
Eventually, the daring duo
would start spreading some
soul in popular spots around
their neighborhood.
For the last two summers,
folks would gather to watch
them perform at several private
outdoor concerts celebrating
the Summer Solstice,
in beautiful Forest Hills Gardens.
Guests sat on socially
distanced beach chairs and
blankets, brought their own
refreshments, and had the opportunity
to enjoy an outdoor
jazz festival experience right
in their neighborhood.
And the songbirds’ creative
juices just kept flowing.
“After getting married on
Aug. 11, 2020, we acquired a
beautiful Steinway baby grand
piano and converted our large
living room into a music studio.
We hung curtains, paintings
by local artist Hilary
Mance, and did some soundproofing.
It now functions as
a recording studio, teaching
studio, art gallery and an intimate
DIY venue called Green
Soul Studios,” Rosenfeld said.
Then, Green Soul — who
toured Europe in the summer
of 2019, while collaborating
with various musicians along
the way — decided to host a
series of private, invite-only
concerts in their living room.
Those jazz soirees took place
between autumn of 2020 and
February 2021.
“One day, we decided that
we were going to take things
into our own hands and use
the resources that were available
to us to carve out our own
lane. This has been our project
ever since,” Green added.
Green said they served
fresh, home-cooked dinner
made with ingredients from
farmer’s market, allowed
guests to bring their own
drinks, and put on a specially
curated performance.
“It became a special inthe
know, speakeasy, secret
supper club-style happening
here in Forest Hills,” Green
said. “With people being so
starved for live music, art and
human connection during the
thick months of the pandemic,
it provided an outlet for us to
do what we love and feel truly
received and appreciated.”
And the couple agreed that
with these challenging times
and what the ongoing COVID
19 pandemic has done to
the performing arts, “this was
and is a true blessing, and a
worthy project to sustain.”
The Green Soul Studios
Concert Series will resume
this fall with a special “Couples
in Jazz Series,” featuring
other respected couples in the
NYC jazz community.
The events will be held
Thursdays, 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct.
7, Oct. 21 and Nov. 4, with more
dates to-be-announced. For
more information, those interested
can email kgmusicllcinfo@
gmail.com.
For their weekly performance
schedule, visit
kellygreenpiano.com/calendar.
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/calendar
