Sultry grooves, old-school swing and stand up comedy – all in the Side Door this weekend

Summer is such a fun season at the Palladium. I get to bring lots of great bands into the Side Door – where the A/C is always set on “stun” – and our audiences get to discover new favorites they may not have heard before.

We’re calling the season – Summer House – and this is a perfect weekend to visit.

Ella Jet and Future Soul

We start Thursday night with Ella Jet and Future Soul. Just 21, Ella is a star in the making and is headed to Nashville soon to expand her reach. For more on Ella and Future Soul, check out my previous blog post with details and links. If you love great tunes, charismatic singers and infectious grooves, you need to get down to this show. Here’s a link for tickets.

I’ll close this blog with more on our Friday night band – Gloria West and the Gents. But let me talk a little about our stand-up comedy show on Saturday. Our favorite comic MC Ward Smith will welcome three of the best comics from Florida to the Side Door stage. Ward’s shows are non-stop laughs and he’s helped make stand-up a popular part of the Side Door menu. This edition of Ward Smith and Friends features Anira Turney, Tim the Dairy Farmer and one of my personal faves, the great Lou Angelwolf. That show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday. For tickets and more details, follow this link.

I’m excited to welcome Gloria West and the Gents for their Side Door debut on Friday at 8 p.m. I’ve caught Gloria around town and seen her grow into a great performer. If you haven’t heard her yet, here’s a little background on she and the band. For tickets just follow this link.

GLORIA WEST AND THE GENTS

Gloria West and The Gents bring old school stride-swing jazz with a sultry twist to stages across Tampa Bay, including The Clearwater Jazz Holiday, The St. Pete Coliseum, and The Tampa Theatre. From classic mid-tempo swing-dancing numbers to sultry torch songs on the edge of the blues, their fast-paced high-energy and her ‘killer vocals’ are guaranteed to get anyone’s foot tapping. Creative Loafing says about West, “One of the most dynamic voices working in the [Tampa] Bay area.”

The acclaimed group has been performing throughout the Tampa Bay area since 2014 and have been described as “pure, tight, sensual artistry”. Gloria West and The Gents perform “stunning originals” with Ms. West delivering a “star-powered voice” with “vocals reminiscent of Lady Day”. They deliver originals, pop covers, favorites from the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, and even old-time movie classics and Disney songs, all with an old jazz feel. Gloria has been compared to Norah Jones and Billie Holiday with the lighthearted fun of “Mrs. Swing” Mildred Bailey added in.

Her mission is to create and share #JazzForTheMasses and to spread her love of jazz to everyone, making it #TheJazzHeardRoundTheWorld. That includes introducing brand new audiences to jazz who have little knowledge of it, and even bringing others around that don’t know about it’s amazing roots and thought they didn’t like the genre. West says: “I want to create jazz in an accessible way where everyone can understand and appreciate it’s broad appeal.”

Gloria West and The Gents released their debut album “Dem Keys” on CD in 2017 to rave local reviews. In December 2018, they released it as a deluxe edition with three bonus songs on a Collector’s Edition Red Vinyl Record as well as digital download. It is also available on major platforms for streaming and downloading and is currently making it’s way around the world. The project was fully fan-funded and recorded locally with top-notch local musicians and is comprised of original songs as well as old jazz and pop covers with their distinct vintage spin.