I wanna give a shout out to the fab vocalists for the Microsoft Jazz Band 2011 season. The crowds loved them, danced to them, and couldn’t get enough. Much of the standard Jazz repertoire was written for the voice and subverting popular song through rhythm and phrasing has long been the domain of the Jazz Vocalist. A band without a vocalist is a very sad thing indeed.
Our female vocalist was the inimitable Shaz Adams. A talented singer with ties to the Three Tenors, this sultry singer had even the band’s full attention. Her voice is a warm, deep, rich in color and expression contralto; her voice guided by a sense of rhythm and technical mastership going from moaning, caressing, soaring, roaring, culminating with an ability to find that sweet spot in a song that leaves you speechless.
New this year to the band, but not to music, Roger Bare blew audiences and the band away with his jazzy styling’s. Influenced by 1940s to 1960s era singers like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, and Elvis Presley, Roger croons like Sinatra. We love to have him as a new addition to the band.
This coming year we have rebranded the band as the Microsoft Jumpin’ Jive Orchestra. Last year was a building year and I think we have all the pieces in place to have a very nice season. Drawing inspiration from the great bands, performers and composers of the “Jazz Age” and “Swing Era,” our orchestra will affectionately and authentically work to recapture the excitement and fascination of that musical heyday.
Hope to see you on the dance floor.
The Bis Key Chronicles 