Comments on: San Jose Jazz Festival: Celebrating 20 Years

By: krellpw

krellpw — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:56:50 +0000

Saw Betty LaVette a couple of years ago at the Bull Durham Blues Festival. She was stunning. Just my luck she’s performing on the 9th. I fly into San Jose on the 15th. Argh!

By: Chip Boaz

Chip Boaz — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:52:28 +0000

We’re very lucky in the Bay Area to have such a world class Jazz festival. They really go beyond the standard jazz festival formula and reach out to a variety of jazz listeners. They’ve got the Blues stage, a Latin Jazz stage, a Salsa stage, a youth performer stage, and so much more. There’s a respect for all different artistic approaches, even the stuff beyond the mainstream. Something like that takes a lot of thought to put together – they’re doing more than taking artists right off the cover of JazzTimes. I really like how the festival strives to expose people to go outside their comfort zones. It’s cheap and fun, easy to walk around and get a taste of everything.

I’d second Brian’s recommendation on this one, if you’re in the Bay Area this weekend, don’t miss it! I’ll be ther on Saturday covering the festivities for Latin Jazz Corner; hope to see some of you there!

By: Bluesemotion

Bluesemotion — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:58:29 +0000

Ohhhh… I ‘m mesmerized by Bettye LaVette amazing soulful voice !!
Thank you Blue Blogger for sharing such a great artist !!

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:46:39 +0000

Bettye LaVette was amazing. She stopped singing and I just sat there with my mouth open, not believing what I just heard.

Black Joe Louis? Would have liked him better if you’d put him first. He didn’t have a chance as a follow-up to Bettye.

Thanks for a great post!