Beaches Jazz

Every year, I go to the Beaches Jazz Festival and I love that long walk from where I park the car down a quiet street and hearing the music wafting up from the mainstage in Kew Gardens. I got there halfway through Tad Robinson w/Alex Scholtz on guitar. It was a great soul performance...he sing with a lot of emotion. But 3 vocal ballads in a row??? I missed the Sisiters Euclid - it was pouring rain so I waited it out - they played right through and those who stuck it out witnessed a transcendent Kevin Breit. On Thursday night I did my walkabout to see a lot of familiar faces playing on every corner. Not to dismiss any of the great musicians that were playing on the street (some I know some I don't) but as I made my way back towards the car I was starting to wonder if I would hear anything that perked up my ears - and I finally heard it from the lead singer of a band called Dr. Payne and the Disease. Great singer - La-Nai Gabriel. And apparently she plays sax too...heard a bit on my space. She's official! David Rotundo rocked the house - as usual. Carrie Chesnutt had them in the palm of her hands. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow - Tab Benoit is on. Last time he was at the festival, shis truck got as much attention as he did - no one had ever seen a truck quite like that: a stretched Dodge Truck with tandem wheels and tinted glass.