Monterey Jazz on Tour

Last night I attended the concert held at the Carpenter Theatre on behalf of "Modlin Downtown" to hear artists Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling, and Russell Malone in a concert entitlted Monterey Jazz Festival, On Tour. The ensemble had only been playing for a month together, admitted one of the artists, but they had a variety of pieces to show off each artists' talents, including one for trio, and eventually, a solo for guitar. The two artists not mentioned on the website were the bassist (Kiyoshi Kitagawa) and the drummer (Johnathan Blake) who were also good. Kitagawa's bass performance was marred by an inability to hear him within the ensemble's texture (amp too small?). Blake had two prominent solos, the second one was the real winner. Carter and Barron played a duet that was outstanding, combining several verses of Georgia (on my mind) with How Great Thou Art. It was played in the second set, when the ensemble seemed to really find their place, where Johnathan Blake played an outstanding solo, where Carter seemed to break out of her shell and break a sweat, and where the ensemble locked in together with each person contributing something substantial (including vocalist Kurt Elling who is an outstanding vocalist). An excellent event which brought me to the new and revitalized Center Stage.