On Thursday evening, I had the pleasure of seeing Monty Alexander and Freddy Cole, brother to Nat and Ike, in concert at Yoshi’s. They will be playing there through Sunday, so if you get a chance, definitely catch this show. I put my reviewer’s pen and pad aside for the evening and just enjoyed this great performance. Monty is a dynamo on the piano and Freddy is a fine vocalist and pianist as well. Monty sings a little but his true love is the piano and he pours his heart into it. They shared the piano for one tune then Monty sang “Too Marvelous” and Freddy came in on “Little Girl.” As an encore, Freddy dedicated “I’ll Be Seeing You” to Ray Charles. They were joined by Harold Jones on drums and Hasaan Shakur on bass. After the show, Freddy signed autographs and joked with the crowd. He is quite a personality.
Roy Haynes, Kenny Garrett, and Frank Morgan will be playing the final day of the 6th Annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival in the heart of Sonoma County’s Wine Country. I missed seeing the Carmen Lundy Quartet yesterday but I am definitely planning to attend the festival next year.
Today, Regina Carter will headline the 67th season opening concert for the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco. The Tin Hat Trio will be the opening act and Regina will host a pre-concert talk in the Trocadero Clubhouse on the festival grounds. See you there!
Coming up next at Yoshi’s…
06/15-16 Stefon Harris & Blackout
06/17-20 Joe Sample
06/24-27 Dee Dee Bridgewater
06/28-30 Dave Murray’s Creole Project
07/01-03 Kenny Rankin
Kimball’s East
06/25-27 Marion Meadows & Phil Perry
08/06-08 Ronny Jordan
08/13-15 Roy Ayers
SF Jazz Spring Season
06/15 Hugh Masekela
06/18 Sonny Rollins
06/19 Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Brian Blade
06/25 João Gilberto
Also check out the SF Jazz Summerfest, a series of summer concerts throughout the Bay Area.
Clairdee will be playing Jazz at Pearl’s 6/25-26 for three shows each night.
Jill Scott will be playing Bimbo’s 365 Club in SF for one show on Friday, July 9. General admission seating so plan on getting there early. Doors open at 8pm and the show starts at 9pm. Her new album, Beautifully Human – Words and Sounds Vol. 2, will be released on August 31.
The Invitational Musician’s Showcase (IMS) Competition “The Vocalist Series” which features some of the Bay Area’s best up and coming male and female singers is underway. Each singer gets to sing several songs to display his/her different styles of music. These are dynamic, entertaining, and powerful singers who have been given the chance to show off their talents in an excellent venue to a panel of well-known judges in the music industry. Backed by the ever talented Dee Spencer Trio, it’s a show like no other in San Francisco. The competition is held on Thursdays at 8pm thru July 1 at Club Jazz Nouveau.