A to Z: Jazz

Today's letter is J so I thought I would dedicate it to jazz and take a look back at some of the jazz concerts I have reviewed. Of course not only will I share my reviews but I will try to find some neat videos to share as well.

My first jazz concert review..


Isaac Bryd Jr and the Judah Tribe (picture above-video below)

Coincidentally my first jazz review was published three years ago. The Alhambra Dinner Theater in Jacksonville, Florida had a jazz night that I went to while I was on vacation. The show highlighted some of North Florida's best jazz bands including The Derryk Lawrence Project, The Fusion Band, and Isaac Byrd Jr. and the Judah Tribe.  Local comedian Nick Harvey was the MC. You can read my review here.

Here is Allana Southerland-Prince of The Fussion Band...

Probably one of the best shows I have covered was the Monterey Jazz Festival 55th Anniversary concert at the The Kennedy Center. Dee Dee Bridgewater and Christian McBride were incredibele. Throw in the rest and wow! You can read my review here. Below is a taste...

There was John Tesh and his Big Band last summer. You can read my review here. Tesh is a talented musician. Here he is in action with the band...

Diana Krall and her special guest Denzal Sinclaire  was an exceptional night of jazz at Wolf Trap. You can read my review here.

I was really impressed by Sinclaire's voice take a listen...

Diana Krall..

I have covered some artists that blur the lines of jazz as well Norah Jones, Al Di Meola, and the California Guitar Trio to name a few. Bluring the lines of musical categories doesn't bother me, if the musci sounds great it is all good. I even covered a play called Side Man which was about a jazz musician. You can read my review of the award winning production here.

Hope you enjoyed and I will be back tomorrow for the letter K.

A Return to Jazz: Diana Krall

No Diana Krall didn't return to jazz she was already there. I returned to jazz. It isn't a genre I get to review very often. Mostly because someone else grabs them up, but I get my share of shows. Sometimes it is simply I can't cover multiple shows at the same time.Any way Diana Krall was great as one would expect. You can read my review of her show here.

Here is a taste...

I really enjoyed her opening act Denzal Sinclaire. I like his voice here is a video of him to check out.

I love that about opening acts or going to festivals, you get introduced to a lot of great music.

The first jazz review I wrote was in April of 2010. I am sure I blogged about it too. It was about Jazz Night at the Alhambra Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida. You can read that review here. However, at the time I probably wasn't using technology like I am now. Here is one of the acts I saw that night Isaac Bryd Jr. and this is from that performance..

Here is a promo for another band called The Fusion Band which performed that evening as well..

I love being able to add videos and give more information.

The last jazz concert I reviewed was a songwriting show that had a jazz night. It was last year and held at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. You can read the review here. One of the bands was Zaccai Curtis and the Curtis Brothers Quartet.

Sonia Szajnberg also performed.  Here she is from that evening.

Well there is a little jazz for you. I hope you enjoyed and I hope it made your summer a little bit cooler. I will back soon with a new post.