CAPE MAY CONVENTION HALL, FRIDAY, 3:00pm / CARNEY'S OTHER ROOM, Saturday + Sunday

The Story

With his warm-toned, resonant hollow body axe, 16-year-old jazz guitar virtuoso Marel Hidalgo plays with a kind of finesse and maturity that belies his young age. The abundantly gifted Bradley Beach, New Jersey native, now making his mark on the East Coast jazz scene, returns to the Exit Zero Jazz Festival.  

Marel began learning music at the age of four, under the instruction of guitar teacher Jerry Franklin at Big Beat Music Studio in Neptune City, and within a few months he was performing in public. In 2017, he appeared as a 9-year-old rock prodigy on the Harry Connick Jr. daytime talk show. Later embracing jazz, he began emulating such role models as guitar greats Joe Pass, Tal Farlow and Johnny Smith while performing strictly solo. Whether performing in solo, trio or quartet settings, Hidalgo continues to astound guitar aficionados with his virtuosity. Not since guitar great Pasquale Grasso came to Cape May in 2021 (backing Grammy-winning singer Samara Joy) has the Exit Zero Jazz Festival hosted such an abundantly gifted six-string talent.

The Sound

In his solo set, Hidalgo travels from burning jazz jam staples like “Cherokee” and “How High the Moon” to more intimate fare like the oft-covered ballads “Lullaby of the Leaves,” “Tenderly” and Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Midnight.” With his quartet (organist Radam Schwartz, bassist Joe Peterson, drummer Joe Brown), the music can range from uptempo swingers to lowdown blues and songs from the Jamaican Songbook inspired by Jamaican guitar great Ernest Raglin.