The Jazz Voyager
Touch of Europe Restaurant & Jazz Club: 337 South Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota / Telephone: 605-336-3066 / Contact: Jim Speirs (music bookings) / Below the street level, the place offers a warm, inviting ambience that’s only made more attractive by the presence of live jazz and artwork by regional artists. Here one can sample something deliciously out of the ordinary at this downtown eatery. Eastern European cuisine is prominent, although traditional Continental favorites make appearances, along with regional delicacies. No matter what graces their plate, regulars rave about the food.
Next Stop: South Africa! From Sioux Falls I will depart at 6:05am for 53 hours of flying, stopping in Atlanta for 11 hours where I’ll stop to see friends, then twelve hours in Paris to walk around the city and catch up with a musician friend living there, then off to Cape Town and then on to Johannesburg finally arriving two days later at 7:25pm. Interestingly enough as I rack up the frequent flyer miles, I am actually only in the air for 24 hours. For two days of travel, the layovers do a body good.
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Review: Sweet Lu Olutosin | Sweet Lu’s Blues
When pursuing dreams that extend far beyond the horizon of sight, the journey demands unwavering faith. This not only applies to the visionary but to the listener as well. So on a beautiful sunny afternoon I put my ear buds in and settled down with Sweet Lu’s Blues for what I anticipated would be a wonderful adventure in sound and color. From the very first note of Malcolm’s Song I was transported to a “Gay Paris!” street scene with dancers in colorful attire moving provocatively to Sweet Lu’s words.
Then ever so gently he slips into the romance of falling in love every day with the same woman, deftly followed by the promise of the bittersweet side of love in the blues when a man falls hard. Scatting through Call Him Blackjack he easily moves us to drift into the simple pleasures life has to offer to the adventurous. Turning his attention to the Sinatra classic he slows down to interpret Nancy With The Laughing Face and closing the project with the up-tempo of The Baron, a Latin beat under Be My Mamacita and the title track that had me bopping my head and tapping my foot.
I would do grave dishonor if I failed to give praise for the fine aggregation of musicians that comprise the Antonio Ciacca Quintet. Never the understatement, these voices will become familiar compliments to your ear as they place their signature on this project. The arrangements are fun, exciting and surprising with each track and as the title tune came to a close I unabashedly shouted “Applause, Applause!” to Lutalo Olutosin for a vision that unquestionably hit the sweet spot on the mark.
carl anthony | notorious jazz | november 15, 2014
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The Jazz Voyager
Full Jazz Hotel: Rua Silveira Peixoto, 1297 – Batel – Curitiba, Brasil / Telephone: (41) 3312.7000 / Slaviero Full Jazz was built and designed for jazz and blues lovers, where you can relax and listen in the bar. Even the hotel location contributes to this musical environment. Then its back into the street and just two blocks away I will get a taste of the city’s nightlife heart, the Batel Avenue, a place with the best options of restaurants and nightclubs in Curitiba.
Next Stop: South Dakota! From Curitiba it’s off to the Queen City of the West in the heart of the Lakota and Dakota Native American Nation on the Great Plains and the largest city in the state of South Dakota, Sioux Falls. Another long plane ride begins at 3:19pm and the 25 hour flight has layovers in Brasilia, Atlanta and Minneapolis before arriving at my final destination at 12:30pm the following day. But I will take advantage of the six hour layover on the first leg of the trip in Brasilia, so for about five hours I can check out the capital city before getting a bit of Europe in America.
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
It Might As Well Be Spring has been a classic jazz favorite for many years but it didn’t start out that way. It was a song taken from the 1945 film State Fair with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and was part of the only original film score.
Jeanne Crain, who played Margy Frake, sang the song in the film, but was dubbed by Louanne Hogan. Dick Haymes, who portrayed the original Wayne Frake, made the first hit recording of the song, followed by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Kaye, Paul Weston, Margaret Whiting, Shirley Bassey, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Blossom Dearie, Nina Simone, Brad Mehldau and Jane Monheit.
The Story: Love, romance and competition take center stage as the Frake family sets off for the state fair. Margy is melancholy and looks forward to the break in routine. Father Abel is excited about entering his prize pig Blue By for the ribbon and bets his neighbor. Mother is entering the cooking competition with her pickles and mincemeat recipes. Brothe Wayne is left forlorn by his girlfriend’s inability to go with him.
At the fair all the romances take a different turn of occurrences and lucky beaus end up with new ladies, Blue Boy wins in all his categories thanks to his lady love Esmeralda, and it’s a happily ever after story ending.
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The Jazz Voyager
Porta Jazz: Sirok Sokak, Bitola, Macedonia / Telephone: ++38947236615 / Contact: Vlatko Hristovski-Dado / Situated on the main street called Sirok Sokak, simply translated as Wide Street, I will finally arrive at my destination, Porta Jazz. It is a really good jazz bar that has a nice atmosphere and superb music. Wanting to hear every note the musicians are offering I will arrive when the doors open at 9:00pm and take in a couple of sets before the 1:00am close. I will see if Porta Jazz really does provide their claim of a relaxed and friendly atmosphere for enjoying the best international and local jazz. Macedonia is old enough to be placed in the annals of antiquity around the year 356 BC that Philip II, father of Alexander The Great established.
Next Stop: Brazil! Jet-setting around the globe is taking me back below the equator to the country I love – Brazil. Having driven back to Skopje I jump on the plane at 3:50pm and three stops and nearly 22 hours later i arrive in Curitiba at 10:39am. Time to get to the hotel, relax for a while before heading out into the city and enjoying the people , the food and the music that’s always in the streets. I’ll have a leisurely dinner before heading out for some good music.
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