The wonderful Whitney James is in the Side Door tonight celebrating the cooler weather with a selection of tunes she’s calling “Fall In Love With Jazz.”
I was going to tell you about it, but I asked Whitney to write a few thoughts down and when I got her email, I realized it was a perfect item for this blog. So get your tickets for tonight’s 7:30 show by following this link. You can also call our box office at 727-822-3590.
And whet your appetite with Whitney’s lovely preview of tonight’s show:
Fall is my favorite season because people start to slow down, reflect on the year and give thanks. We spend time getting together with friends and family. I love that fall is about gathering and community. That sense of community is why fall is so special to me. I love the nesting that takes place in fall – couple that with hot cider, fuzzy sweaters, a cool breeze, a scarf, a football game outdoors, or staying in to cuddle and watch a movie, walking through a park and seeing the beautiful trees painted in fall colors – it’s heaven. I’m from Chicago and grew up in Northern California and Seattle, Washington – amazing places to experience the season. I’m so thankful we are finally feeling a little fall weather here in St. Pete!
Since that is how I define fall, it felt natural to gather my musical family here in town for the gig – the guys from La Lucha (Mark Feinman, Alejandro Arenas and John O’Leary) and LaRue Nickelson. La Lucha and I have been working together since 2010 and we’re like family. We have a ton of history from hundreds of gigs over those ten years and that history is very rich. The same can be said for LaRue, our friendship and working together goes back to 2013. He is such a great musician and he always add such a beautiful dimension with his playing. I love collaborating with them.
A few of the songs we selected are:
Whitney James
Autumn Nocturne – I was introduced to this song by my friend and longtime collaborator Joshua Wolff. I’ve known of the song for many years but have never learned it or performed it. Autumn Nocturne is a gorgeous tune – the lyrics are pure poetry, the melody is beautiful and complex. We’ve dressed the tune in a slow waltz, to mimic the feeling of a fall breeze. It may be one of my favorite songs now that I’ve lived with it for a while. It is a challenging and stunning tune.
Tis Autumn – This is a song was introduced to me by a fellow jazz singer friend who lives in New York. It is such a happy, up-beat take on Fall. The song gives each aspect of fall a personality – the trees (who are divas and are very tired from producing too much fruit) to the birds who move and fly south (in military precision) and good old Father Time who gets fall rolling with a call to the North Winds. It is a fun song to sing, the lyric is so smart and it leaves ample opportunity for expression.
Sweet September – Alejandro and I know it from singer Freda Payne, who Al and Mark played with a few years ago when she was touring Florida. Freda’s version is very 1960’s with a big band and we loved the tune for its unique and unusual form. We re-imagined it as an up-tempo swing.
We’ve really stayed traditional with the arrangements, and the song choices – just classic jazz showing off its love for the season.
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