Following Up on the Fair

Brenda Carol's Renaissance Jazz Fair on Sunday, February 3rd was one of those nights where I felt folded into the arms of the art that is jazz. Although we were competing with the Super Bowl for an audience, those listeners who did make it out were the best kind of audience, respectful of the performers and enthusiastic for the music.  I'll take 40 people sharing the musical moments with you over 100 people chatting while you play any day. 
The great thing about the set up of the jazz fair was that each performer played for 30 minutes which meant there were 8 musicians in one night, each one backed up by the killer duo of Ross MacIntyre on bass and Nathan Hiltz on guitar. The exposure to new artists that night expanded my favourite musicians list to include Christine Bougie and Alexis Cole.

Local guitarist Christine Bougie debuted a new CD this past year, Hammy's Secret Life.  Christine's sound reminded me of the Worst Pop Band Ever and when we chatted afterwards I discovered she is musically tied to the WPBE's Dafydd Hughes.  In fact she covered one of Dafydd's tunes, Giant Things By The Side of the Road, along with several of her original compositions in her BCRJF set. I had to adjust my own set slightly as Christine also covered a Beach Boy tune that I've included on my upcoming album.  It's like the universe is rediscovering Pet Sounds!

I was thrilled to see and hear Alexis Cole for the first time. Alexis, 2007 winner of the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, had been in residence all week at Opal Jazz Lounge, playing their beautiful red piano and singing but at the fair she was able to be a stand up singer.  Did she ever wow the crowd with her presence and poise.  Then there was her amazing scatting and compelling story telling.  Just gorgeous.  Plus she sang all my favourite songs along with introducing me to some new ones. Following her set when we were gabbing, I mentioned how much I enjoyed the Jitterbug Waltz number she opened with and she gave me a copy of the chart.  I tell you, that doesn't happen very often amongst singers.  It's very easy to feel territorial about your repertoire even if it isn't original material.  Alexis plans on spending more time in Toronto in the upcoming year, if you get a chance to hear her sing promise me you'll take it!

Check out more pictures of the fair that will help you feel like you were there in Mike Colyer's gallery of shots.