DC Jazz Festival Picks for June 6

This is the sixth post I am making to highlight some of the shows associated with this year’s DC Jazz Festival. I am specifically not highlighting the DC JazzLoft Fest since I have posted on this already. I will may also pick a few other shows around the DC Virginia area that should not be overlooked. I am posting this a day ahead of the date of performances.  For more information visit http://www.dcjazzfest.org/content.cfm/schedule_and_major_events.

Roy Hargrov

The Hamilton features trumpeter Roy Hargrove this evening. Hargrove is among the leading trumpeters and composers to emerge in the past several decades and a DC Jazz Festival favorite.

Bistrot Lepic Wine bar in Georgetown will feature Véronneau. Véronneau is an acoustic, song-based group playing Latin Jazz, Gypsy Swing and much more featuring the marvelous vocals of Lynn Véronneau along with Ken Avis on guitar, vocals and percussion, David Rosenblatt on guitar and percussion and Pete Walby on drums. Their first recording is the wonderul Joy of Living (Véronneau Music) that showcases Ms. Véronneau’s marvelous singing of which I have written, :She simply has a way of touching the listener's heart … .” They have just issued the Jazz Samba Project which celebrates the classic Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd record Jazz Samba that was recorded in Washington 50 years ago.

Lena Seikaly

The Atlas Performing Arts Center hosts both a Master Class and a performance by guitarist Rodney Richardson and vocalist Lena Seikaly. Richardson is among the foremost jazz guitarists (as well as educators) in the area whilst vocalist Seikaly has emerged as among the many fine jazz singers in the region. Of her most recent CD, Lovely Changes, the website CapitalBop.com said, “In just a few years, Seikaly has established herself as a major jazz vocalist and educator in the D.C. area, performing with the cream of the local crop. …The arrangements and musicianship on the album are crafted to serve the songs, leaving space for the vocal to shine front-and-center. That voice, the endlessly inventive arrangements, and the sensitive ensemble musicianship serve to make Lovely Changes a complete delight.”

The Musical Living Joy of Véronneau

Based around the vocals of Quebec native Lynn Véronneau, Véronneau has established itself around the Washington DC area with its interesting blend of musical inspirations ranging from gypsy jazz, brazilian sambas, folk and Beatles. In addition to her, the group is comprised of Ken Avis on guitar, vocals and percussion, David Rosenblatt on guitar and percussion and Pete Walby on drums. On their self-produced recording Joy of Living (Véronneau Music), they are joined by David Kline's violin and
tenor saxophone.

Lynn Véronneau has a lovely voice immediately evident on the opening La Mer (known here in the States from Bobby Darin's recording Beyond the Sea), with the light backing of the guitars and drums and Kline's violin. She has a gift for Brazilian tunes including The Gentle Rain, Concovado, and One Note Samba, with the band providing subtle and complementary backing. This style is also present on the charming rendition of The Street Where You Live, with a nice single-note acoustic guitar solo as well as Kline's violin adding coloring. Saxophonist Antonuik adds a nice flavor on The Gentle Rain, that might suggest to some the Getz-Gilberto collaborations.

There is a enchanting rendition of the traditional Mexican Ranchera song, Cielito Lindo, that might be more familiar from performances of it by Mariachi Band and she also places her own stamp on Brazil. with her gentle longing beginning transformed into a lively samba. David Rosenblatt contributed an original instrumental Abertura do Verao (Opening of Summer), that is a lovely guitar duet, while Antoniuk returns for the lively closing "Blue Skies."

If there is a favorite selection on this, it may well be the lovely rendition of Lennon & McCartney's For No One, as she sings "she no longer needs you, in her eyes you see nothing," with a lovely violin break over the two-guitar accompaniment. The gentleness of the performance accentuates the heartache reflected in this classic Beatles number. She simply has a way of touching the listener's heart and this track may exemplify this best, but there is plenty of Joie de Vivre on this excellent recording.

Véronneau will be performing June 2 at the Creative Cauldron (www.creativecauldon.org) in Falls Church, Virginia.

I purchased this recording.