Our annual Palladium Jazz Awards concert in Hough Hall this year will feature two touring artists who have sold out shows in the Side Door Cabaret. Both artists will be backed up by some of our favorite Tampa Bay area jazz artists.
The co-headliner bill features New York Chanteuse Allyson Briggs, who dives deep into the Great American Songbook and jazz artist Judy Carmichael, the undisputed queen of stride piano in the Fats Waller style.
Judy will share the stage with her pal, Nate Najar, the acoustic guitarist who is well-known to our jazz audience. Allyson will front a band of great local players, including Simon Lasky, piano, Alejandro Arenas, bass, Dominic Walker, guitar and Mark DeRose on drums.
At the intermission, I will present our annual Palladium Jazz Award to Joan Dragon and Steve Splane from the Suncoast Jazz Festival. Joan has run the festival for years and Steve has been a board member and the official photographer of the festival. We’ll be projecting some of his photos from the festival and past Palladium shows.
I spoke with Allyson Briggs this week, just after she escaped the frigid New York temperatures for sunny South Florida, where she’s building a following. I asked her how it worked being based in two different spots.
“It works better than I thought it would,” she told me. “I’m on a plane every week or so. I built my career in NY for the last 18 years. It’s been a great fit since I got down here.”
She had arrived in time for two shows at the Kravis Center and a private party in Palm Beach. She’s also built a following in the Tampa Bay area, thanks to her debut show at The Palladium.
Allyson bills herself as “The Glamour Girl of Jazz,” and she’s known for her look that harkens back to a more elegant, sophisticated era.
“Something that’s really lacking the in the world of entertainment, it’s elegant. I always felt very informed by my costuming. I want to remind people about the great things that were a staple of daily life at one time. “
The American songbook is also a perfect fit for her.
“I grew up in musical theater. The repertoire suits my voice, and the attire is kind of my personality, naturally. It’s the world I live in.”
If you missed her sold-out Side Door show, be sure to catch Allyson, along with Judy Carmichael, at The Palladium at SPC on Saturday night, Feb. 21. For tickets and more info, please follow this link.
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