Tri-State Jazz Society Launching a New Image
November 2004, excerpt
By Robert Baxter, Living Section, Courier Post

Playing an arts and business version of The Dating Game, DeWitt Peterson and Marina Pino-Unland hooked up. Peterson needed some help in marketing the Tri-State Jazz Society's concerts. Pino-Unland's Moorestown-based firm, Chameleon Advertising & Marketing, is providing it. Playing Cupid is Audrey Muse, the assistant executive director of the Arts and Business Partnership of Southern New Jersey. After consulting with both, Muse paired Peterson and Pino-Unland.

When it presents the John Breslin Jazz Band in Brooklawn next Sunday, the Tri-State Jazz Society will be sporting a new logo designed with Pino-Unland's help. An upraised cornet with three stars, representing New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, stands next to the society's name. Peterson says the new logo catches the eye and replaces an old one that delivered a less distinct image, as was less readable and recognizable. "We needed to freshen our image but we didn't know where to go," explains Peterson, who helped found the society 16 years ago. "Thanks to the Arts and Business Partnership and Chameleon Advertising, we now have a new look and a new energy and focus."

Pino-Unland calls the partnership "rewarding" and adds, "We wanted to give something back to the arts. It's a joy for us to provide our services to an arts group like Tri-State Jazz Society, who otherwise would not be able to obtain them." The partnership will continue. Peterson says he needs help to redesign the monthly newsletter the group sends to its 300 members. Pino-Unland suggests they can also help design posters and other materials.

The society is dedicated to performing traditional jazz, what Peterson calls "Dixieland, New Orleans and Swing." He says young blacks have turned away from Dixieland for modern jazz, fusion jazz and progressive jazz, which have become popular since the 1950s.

Although the society has more than 300 members, only about 100 people show up for the monthly concerts. Peterson hopes the society can reach a larger audience with Pino-Unland's help. "Dixieland is joyous music," notes Peterson. "It sets your fingers snapping and your feet tapping. Everybody is smiling at our concerts, but young people haven’t discovered this music yet."