All That Jazz, Georgetown
By • October 3, 2024 0 318
By Mark Edelman
October offers up some great music in clubs and concert venues here in Georgetown and around the Washington area. Check out these entertaining evenings with your favorite cocktail, wine, beer or similar libation firmly in hand:
NICOLE HENRY Oct. 3 to 4 Blues Alley
I got a chance to see this accomplished vocalist at D.C.’s premier jazz club, Blues Alley in Georgetown. Dressed fetchingly in crimson lace, Ms. Henry gave a master class in the kind of song interpretation that made Nancy Wilson, Carmen MacRae and Sara Vaughan jazz legends.
Celebrating 20 years in the recording biz and her 16th appearance at Blues Alley, Nicole got things started with a smoky cover of the Gershwins’ “Summertime” from “Porgy & Bess.” The Nat Cole chestnut “That’s All” got a swinging arrangement; and Ms. Henry paid tribute to her mentor Nancy Wilson with the latter’s “I Will Never Marry,” ballad-style.
Switching to pop covers, Ms. Henry made James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” a plaintive cry of loss without altering that tune’s well-known arrangement. She added a funky edition of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” before returning to jazz standards, swinging an up tempo “Old Black Magic” and a touching “The Nearness of You,” the Hoagy Carmichael standard, with only the piano for accompaniment.
Perhaps the most interesting performance of the evening was the group’s deconstruction of the Sinatra standard “Fly Me To the Moon.” Nicole’s arrangement took on a disjointed contemporary jazz feel, with the bass laying down a repetitive figure and the other players—and Ms. Henry—caroming on top of and alongside it.
Nicole’s sidemen were some of the best young players around. Pianist Pete Wallace and guitar player Max Light contributed flashy solo outings. Mark Prince kept time efficiently, joined by stand up bass player Amy Shook, who contributed a throbbing bass line to the aforesaid rendition of “Fly Me…” All and all, a great set by one of the most accomplished vocalists working in jazz today.
October at the Clubs:
Blues Alley in Georgetown welcomes reedman James Carter in an Organ Trio configuration Oct 12 and 13; later this month, jazz guitar virtuoso Larry Carlton covers tunes by Steely Dan and the Crusaders, among others, on 26 and 27. For fans of vocalese, the Capital City Voices hold court on 22 and Mike Kamuf leads an octet—his Little Big Band—on the 28th. Check out all Blues Alley has to offer this month at www.bluesalley.com.
Mr Henry’s in Capitol Hill offers up its long running Jazz Jam every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Songstress Cindy Moses warbles on Oct. 10 and Scott Hertz Clark croons with the Big Night Band on 24. Saxophonist Herb Scott fronts a combo on Oct. 26. More info at www.mrhenrysdc.com
Jojo Restaurant & Bar on U Street keeps the room humming with keyboardist Colin Chambers and Friends every Friday and guitarist Sol Roots on Sunday. The Tabard Inn near Dupont Circle programs its warm, inviting lounge on Sundays and Mondays around suppertime. Stand-up bassist Victor Dwoskin invites some of D.C. Jazz’s finest to join him for a series of duets, including Fred Hughes on piano and Steve Herberman on guitar. Check out the schedule at www.tabardinn.com.
In Concert:
The Kennedy Center pays to tribute to drummer Max Roach on Oct. 12 and recently-deceased
aaxophonist Wayne Shorter on Oct. 23. The Strathmore hosts Afro-Cuban All Stars on Oct. 18 and chanteuse Madeleine on Nov 1. The Birchmere has songbird Oleta Adams on Oct. 27, and Oct. 13 finds fusion ensemble Spyro Gyra celebrating its 50th at the Bethesda Theatre in Maryland.
Brit fusion/Afrobeat octet KoKoRoko unwinds at the Howard Theatre on Oct 12. When they’re not putting on an awesome festival, DC Jazz Fest continues to promote the music at Jazz@Met. This month, Venezuelan percussionist Fran Vielma leads a quartet at Jazz@Met from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Oct 10 in Arlington’s Metropolitan Park near the Pentagon City Metro stop. Info at https://nationallanding.org/do/jazz-met-2.
Mark Edelman has been a member of the Jazz Journalists Association since 2010. Before moving to the Washington, D.C., area, he was publisher of Jam Magazine and executive produced “12th Street Jump,” public radio’s weekly jazz, blues and comedy jam.
