February 15th, Mindi Abair at Demitriou's Jazz Alley, Seattle, Washington
Funk
/ Jazz saxophonist / singer Mindi Abair put on a spectacular, high-octane
performance at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in downtown Seattle, on February 15th.
Dressed in a sleeveless shimmering black and silver short dress, cut high
above the knee, and with her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, to
the middle of her back, she moved to the front of the stage in the candlelit
dinner club, and opened the evening with “High Five,” an emotive, mid tempo,
song from her second CD Come As You Are.
Many years ago, Abair dispelled any notion that she is just a pretty face on the music scene. The always-approachable artist has long been considered to be one of the best saxophonists on the planet, and her musical missives are infused with pop and funk, in a similar fashion to the music of her contemporary, sax lady, Candy Dulfer. Abair plays with lots of sass and personality. This was the second night of what would be four nights of performing at Jazz Alley, and it was obvious from the electric vibe, in an absolutely stoked crowd, that Abair has established a strong following in the Pacific Northwest.
Abair has developed into a fabulous bandleader, who has a commanding stage presence, ensures that her backing musicians have an opportunity to shine, and most of all involves her audience in a fun, party like experience. Prior to performing her hit song, “Bloom,” which during the spring of 2007, captured the top spot on R&R’s Smooth Jazz charts she encouraged her fans to hold the candles, cell phones, or lighters above their heads, during the performance, much like you would expect to find at a pop or rock concert. Few, if any declined her invitation.
In an interview with Riveting Riffs last year, in reference to “Bloom,” Abair said, “There is smooth jazz, contemporary jazz, and modern jazz. Now there is stadium jazz. The song is interesting, and I think that it has connected with a lot of people. It is a different sound than you are used to hearing on the radio, for this genre.”
“Bloom,” is a get up and move type of song, that allows electric guitarist Jay Vaughan to lay down some incredible licks, and allows the musical genius of bassist Andrew Berry to shine through.
Abair prefaced the song “True Blue,” by letting her audience in on what she described as a technological secret, that being, there was no way she could sing, and play her saxophone at the same time, so her fans would hear her recorded vocals, while she played. In the studio, while recording the album Life Less Ordinary, obviously the vocal and instrumental tracks were recorded separately.
The fact that Abair writes most of the music that she performs, lends itself to a strong connection between the artist and her music. This was no more evident during the evening than when she sang and played, “Every Time,” another tune from her album Life Less Ordinary. The song which eventually was featured in the film License To Wed, was written while she was falling in love with her husband, Jason Steele, to whom she has now been married for three years. In a whispery vocal style, Abair sang the emotive, romantic pop song, serving notice that in addition to her numerous other musical gifts, she is also a good singer.
Abair told her audience that one of the qualities that she admires about the legendary Miles Davis, is he was able to perform with phenomenal artists such as “Cannonball” Adderley, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and others, without feeling overshadowed or threatened. To that end, she performed “Work Song,” to provide an opportunity for her own musicians to shine. The song, penned by “Cannonball’s” brother Nate Adderley, allowed the audience to once again soak up the delicious electric keyboard and electric organ grooves of Rodney Lee. Each of the musicians on stage took a turn soloing.
Although she closed her set with the song “Lucy’s” from her first CD, It Just Happens That Way, it was her cover of Eagle-Eye Cherry’s “Save Tonight,” that best expressed the desires of Mindi Abair's fans, who were wishing this evening, could last forever.
Reviewed by Joe Montague, for Riveting Riffs (www.rivetingriffs.com)
Reviewed February 15th, 2008
Riveting Riffs thanks Demitriou's Jazz Alley for making it possible for us to review this performance
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