Sunday, February 20, 2011

2011-0219 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival-2199794

Janine Gilbert Carter as Dinah Washington and Bonnie Harris as Gloria Lynne at performance of Sistas Can Sing: A Tribute to Female Legends in Jazz and Blues at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville, MD. This was a musical play devoted to the legacy of Dinah, Gloria, Billie Holliday and Nancy Wilson backed by a fine quartet of musicians.

The play element is a little contrived to allow the musical contributions and fame of these four legendary vocalists to be paid tribute. Both Janine and Bonnie were wonderful in interpreting songs of their persons. Lavenia Nesmith did a wonderful job as Nancy Wilson, but Kristine Key may be a wonderful singer, but her vocal range was much broader than Lady Day and also her performance involved scatting, which is incongruous with Holiday as a vocalist. This was very entertaining.

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