Saturday night we went to see Hot Jazz: A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald & Oscar Peterson at Mohawk College. It featured the Darcy Hepner Jazz Orchestra and Sophia Perlman, singer. As it was explained, “Duke Ellington called him "the Maharaja of the keyboard". She was known as "The First Lady of Song." This evening, jazz saxophonist Darcy Hepner and his 16 piece orchestra and Perlman, a singer who can scat like Lady Ella celebrate the legacy of these two legends. From Ron Collier’s classic big band arrangement of Peterson’s masterpiece “The Canadiana Suite” to Ella’s signature hits including “How High the Moon” and “Satin Doll” it’s a jazz lover’s dream night!”
It was a great evening. I had not seen live big band jazz since the 1960’s. The performances were fantastic and the young singer was amazing. It was an evening of great music and fun.
I thought maybe jazz was dead, but it’s not. The audience, however, is dying! I had a woman with us who has a broken foot and she had a handicapped sticker. We used it, as I was driving and we arrived early. All of the handicapped spaces were already taken! This should have been an indicator of what we would find.
As a regular concert attendee to classical music events, I’ve learned to be prepared for older audiences. I will even admit to being older myself!
When we saw the Who, we knew it would be an older crowd mixed with young people. But this was overwhelming to me.
At break time, it looked like a rush for the noon meal at the nursing home! People were lining up for the washrooms, and I was able to get in. There were so many guys with canes lined up that the urinals all had people with three legs! (OK, maybe four legs!).
It looks to me like if something isn’t done to change perceptions that we’ll have great musicians and no audiences left to see them.
We went to see Diana Krall a short while ago and I was surprised at that audience as well, although, as a top name performer, she had some younger people in her audience.
Now I have no regular view of this and my only connection with jazz music is pretty much listening to Jazz FM from Toronto and supporting them on an annual basis. It just seems there should be a boost to keep it all going.
It was a great evening. I had not seen live big band jazz since the 1960’s. The performances were fantastic and the young singer was amazing. It was an evening of great music and fun.
I thought maybe jazz was dead, but it’s not. The audience, however, is dying! I had a woman with us who has a broken foot and she had a handicapped sticker. We used it, as I was driving and we arrived early. All of the handicapped spaces were already taken! This should have been an indicator of what we would find.
As a regular concert attendee to classical music events, I’ve learned to be prepared for older audiences. I will even admit to being older myself!
When we saw the Who, we knew it would be an older crowd mixed with young people. But this was overwhelming to me.
At break time, it looked like a rush for the noon meal at the nursing home! People were lining up for the washrooms, and I was able to get in. There were so many guys with canes lined up that the urinals all had people with three legs! (OK, maybe four legs!).
It looks to me like if something isn’t done to change perceptions that we’ll have great musicians and no audiences left to see them.
We went to see Diana Krall a short while ago and I was surprised at that audience as well, although, as a top name performer, she had some younger people in her audience.
Now I have no regular view of this and my only connection with jazz music is pretty much listening to Jazz FM from Toronto and supporting them on an annual basis. It just seems there should be a boost to keep it all going.
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