Steve Frumkin, one of the
guys from Cleveland who books a lot of jazz shows around the country, called
the other day to talk about the lineup at this year’s Lakeland Jazz Festival.
Just before he hung up he said, “By the way, if you got nothing going on tonight
you have to check out the woman we have singing at Nighttown tonight.” When
Steve recommends someone, I usually try to follow through. And I am very glad I
did this time.
Headlining at Nighttown last
Friday was San Francisco based vocalist Jackie Ryan, backed by a trio of
Cleveland’s best players. She came to town to showcase her new release “Listen
Here.” She was very good, and hopefully will become a regular at Nighttown in
the years to come.
She
did two sets of about an hour apiece, mostly featuring things from the new CD.
She has the type of voice that is perfect for Nighttown, strong yet romantic,
sultry but not overly sentimental. She has great stage presence, and her selection
of songs really showed off her talents. She covered a few standards by a
variety of composers (Gerswhins, Ronny Carter, Henry Mencini), and a few lost
ones ( Abbey Lincoln). Both sets featured a song or two sung in Spanish and
Brazilian, a nod to her own Latin American heritage. The audience loved all of
it.
She
was backed by Dan Meier on piano, Glenn Davis on guitar, and Demetrius Stone on
bass, and they clicked with Ryan as if they had been playing with her for years
instead for just the evening. On a cold Ohio Friday night it was a great night
of jazz and vocals.
For
more about Jackie Ryan and her music go to www.jackieryan.com. For all things Nighttown go to www.nighttowncleveland.com. And, yes, don’t forget about the upcoming Lakeland Jazz Festival
February 22-24 at Lakeland Community College, featuring saxophonist Chris Potter on Saturday
night. For more info go to http://lakelandcc.edu/academic/arts/music/jazz_festival.asp.
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