By Natalie Wilson
Well, we did it again…another amazing jazz concert presented by the Santa Barbara Jazz Society! We have had nothing but the very best jazz events these past few years and this one was no exception. Janis Mann is one of a very few true jazz singers around today. Her marvelous voice and sense of style are a rare commodity. She made a strong connection early on with the full house audience with her seemingly easy going, warm personality. With the excellent trio opening with Brubeck’s In her Own Sweet Way, it was clear that we were in for a very special afternoon of terrific jazz. Janis joined the guys with the ballad, Beautiful Love. It’’s obvious that Janis loves ballads, but she keeps things interesting and not repetitious or morose by many times singing the first chorus slowly with feeling and then jumps to a jazzy, up tempo double time for the rest of the tune involving her superb trio… and the audience. It’s contagious!
With Mancini’s sultry A Slow Hot Wind, we were treated to a lovely solo by pianist, Daniel Szado. What a phenomenal player and a great accompanist! Chris Conner on bass played a host of melodic solos and was so terrific all afternoon…what a pro! One of my favorites of the day was Tadd Dameron’s If You Could see Me Now. Janis laid the feeling on thickly with her rich full voice. One gets the feeling that she really takes the lyrics personally sometimes channeling Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, but finding her own lovely voice and interpretation. A great arrangement of Old Devil Moon with a Killer Joe back up gave the band a chance to shine with great solos all around including legendary drummer, Roy McCurdy.
Pianist, Daniel Szado, knocked us out with Bud Powell’s, Bouncing with Bud and an uptempo Latin Never let Me Go was a real barn burner. It’s evident that Janis takes her music and performance very seriously. She has great taste in her choice of tunes and gives them all she’s got and teams up with only the best musicians. It was a great afternoon and not one we’ll soon forget!
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