The Jazz Voyager
From NOLA to the Big Apple, the Jazz Voyager is cruising at 30,000 for another jaunt into Manhattan’s theater district. Gotta love New York’s public transportation as taking the bus from LaGuardia into Harlem, getting off at 125th and Lenox and catching the #3 Express downtown to 42nd Street is a breeze. Walking a couple of blocks north up Broadway to Birdland will put me there in time for the 7:00pm show.
Tonight I have the opportunity to hear a pianist who I’ve only seen when he first hit the jazz scene and then about a decade ago. He’s a Steinway Artist and his name is Christian Sands and he has matured with time. I find it so gratifying to hear musicians who age in their playing but maintain the fire in their expressiveness.
The Band:
Christian Sands – bandleader, pianist
Ryan Sands – Drummer
Gilad Hekelsman – Guitar
Scott Colley – Bass
Cover: $40.61 ~ $50.91 | Including Fees
Birdland is located at 315 W 44th Street, #5402, New York City, NY 10036. For more information contact the venue at birdlandjazz.com.
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,piano,preserving,travel
The Jazz Voyager
Back in the States this Jazz Voyager has landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Getting in early gives me time to visit friends in Slidell and get beignets in the French Quarter. Then I’ll be on my way to the 7th Ward’s three-block entertainment district of Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny. The final destination is the intimate 86 seat jazz venue called Snug Harbor.
This Thursday I will have the pleasure of experiencing longtime New Orleans jazz vocalist, visual artist and educator Betty Shirley who has come full circle in her life and is now reaping the benefits of her hard-earned endeavors. The Big Easy Award winner has released several acclaimed albums including Unveiled, Close Your Eyes, and With The Red Organ Trio, solidifying her legacy as a vital force in the city’s jazz scene.
The Band:
Betty Shirley – vocals
Will Thompson – piano
Quinn Sternberg – bass
Simon Lott – drums
Snug Harbor is located at 626 Frenchmen Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70116. For more information contact the venue at https://snugjazz.com.
Showtimes ~ 7:30pm & 9:30pm
Cover: $41.30
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,travel,vocal
The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is on his way across the pond once again to the City of Lights to a little venue located in the heart of Paris, between the Forum des Halles and the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Sunset/Sunside Jazz Club, which was created in 1982 by Michèle and Jean-Marc Portet.
The restaurant was transformed upon the request of musicians and regulars who patronized, thus the basement with vaulted ceilings and great acoustics made the area perfect for an intimate club. It was the first club to open on rue des Lombards.
This week I’m landing in Paris to hear a new voice from Kansas City called Eboni Fondren. She comes to Sunside as the lead singer of the famous Kansas City Big Band. Because she has often been compared to Nancy Wilson, my all time favorite vocalist, I have to hear her unique sensual voice tinged with gospel and R&B and an innate sense of swing for myself.
Showtimes: 9:30pm ~ 11:00pm
Cover: 20.00 € ~ 30.00 €
Sunset / Sunside is located at 60 Rue des Lombards 75001 Paris, France. For more information contact the venue at https://www.sunset-sunside.com.
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,club,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,preserving,vocal
The Jazz Voyager
Heading to O’Hare to catch a morning flight to NOLA to experience far beyond the French Quarter the city that gave the world Congo Square, Storyville and Preservation Hall. This week I’ll be sitting in the infamous Snug Harbor. Opening some thirty years ago in the Faubourg Marigny in the 7th Ward, it’s just downriver from the French Quarter and has been known as the place locals go for live music since the 1980s. Anchoring Frenchmen Street between Royal and Chartres Streets, there’s Live music 7 nights a week.
On the stage is bassist, composer, and bandleader Jasen Weaver who is a New Orleans native of New Orleans, who has established himself as a vital part of the city’s jazz scene and beyond. This will be this voyager’s first time witnessing his talent and of course will be at the second show at 9:30pm.
Cover: $41.30
Snug Harbor is located at 626 Frenchmen Street, New Orleans, LA 70116. For more information contact the venue at https://snugjazz.com/calendar.
More Posts: adventure,bass,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,travel
The Jazz Voyager
Getting out of Philadelphia the Jazz Voyager is on his way to Andy’s Jazz Club in a much warmer Chi-Town this month. Originally a lounge oasis for the newspaper personnel in the 1950s, by the late Seventies it changed hands and became a destination for jazz. Offering first Jazz at Noon, the club expanded to Jazz at Five and Jazz at Nine.
Having never seen the soul jazz, hard bop, post bop and modal group Sabertooth, this jazz voyager is anticipating a fervent showing of talent. Headed by saxophonists Cameron Pfiffner and Pat Mallinger, who put the group together thirty-five years ago, they play the classics by the likes of Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Lester Young, John Coltrane, covers by the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley as well as their original compositions.
Showtimes: 6:00pm-7:15pm & 8:15pm-9:30pm
Cover: $15.00
Andy’s Jazz Club is located at 11 E. Hubbard Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611. For more information contact the venue at https://andysjazzclub.com.
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,saxophone,travel