cassandra wilson @ the charlie parker jazz festival.
death's gonna spare none of us. still, as i smoke my life away, i'd like to believe there's a little extra time for us true believers. 2 yrs ago was my first cpjf. was lovely, got there late (a trend that hasn't ended unfortunately). couple pics from that here. after the festival, wandered into the meat and ligament of the village, and in the (outdoor) park with the awesome sculpture on 6 and A (pics maybe to come/be linked), heard music. stopped in. another jazz show. tho it felt invite-onlyish, ingratiated myself to the front and ended up takin pics (first summer of the d50). saw some nifty music. when i walked in, the garden was dark, save for torches and some battery powered whatever, and there was a woman onstage (liz diamond) (http://www.23hq.com/insky/liz%20diamond )singing. sounded eerily like billie holiday channeled thru snapped up equalizers (and please..i don't make that comparison lightly, ever). and she sang. weird thing was, she was sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube up her nose. and i fell in love. after her (at this tiny little garden, with like 55 people there) evelyn blakey http://www.23hq.com/insky/evelyn%20blakey is introduced to raucous applause. daughter of art, she put on a fun, very swinging and bluesy set. went up to both of them after the show and chatted a bit - two of the sweetest ladies. sigh. later, as the crowd gathered in front of the stage, i was there. then the mc announced, "abby had to cancel, the hot weather yesterday made her sick'. 'but we've got a fine replacement'. thinking oh no and 'what?' at the same time - a minute later he introduces cassandra wilson. now, abby lincoln may be my favorite living jazz singer of all time, but dammit, kayson runs a close second. if you've read this far and don't know her, immediately put 'blue light 'til dawn' on your list and buy it - anon (now!!!). one of the only nearly perfect records of our generation, and tho this show didn't showcase that, she was there. and rocked. |
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3 comments so far...
what a treat to read this, the bar/personages details make one feel like being there at least while in a blurry yet beautiful musical new yorker dream, great that you shared these moments of your life, jazz on insky, jazz on!