Day 2 of the 32nd Annual Long Beach Jazz Festival

Trumpeter Willie Bradley opened Saturday’s Long Beach Jazz Festival with his swinging quintet with guitarist Kay-Ta Matsuno, bassist Jermone Randall, drummer Bo Lamar, and keyboardist Tateng Katindig. The audience enjoyed a few original compositions from his Grammy-nominated CD Going with the Flow and his upcoming CD Life On Top.

Willie Bradley:
“This is my first time playing the Long Beach Jazz Festival, and I had a great time playing with my band.”

Al Williams Jazz Society is a sextet of veteran musicians. They put on quite a lively performance with straight-ahead and Latin jazz, blues, and a tribute to the late Nancy Wilson. Barbara Morrison, legendary jazz vocalist lent her confident, vibrant voice to the tribute. Morrison engaged the audience with humor, relating stories about her and Nancy Wilson. Alexis Joi also performed a few Nancy Wilson songs, showcasing rich and colorful seasoned vocals. Al Williams and the sextet delivered the goods, moving their musical conversation along expertly.

Hats off to Al Williams Jazz Society for keeping the tradition of straight-ahead jazz alive, and sharing their brilliant, musical gifts to the Long Beach Jazz Festival crowd.

The Jazz Classics quartet featured Patrice Rushen on piano and Ernie Watts on sax. They honored us with their incredible virtuosity, rich in the jazz tradition. For the following hour, the audience was treated to an inspirational set of great music. Patrice Rushen brilliantly attacked the keys while Ernie Watts played beautifully yet wickedly on his sax! The entire band was incredibly tight and ended the festivities with a rush of jazz improvisation.

Jazz in Pink brought their “lady jazz.” Each wore pink and contributed excellence on their respective instruments, which included sax, guitar, drums, bass, violin, harp, congas, and keys. During the performance, Jazz in Pink founder Gail Jhonson introduced the songs and those musicians who played solos. These ladies were in sync and their music soared with such synergy. Their sensational grooves and soulful jamming could only be described as Simply Fantastic! Simply Pink!

Poncho Sanchez’s sizzling Latin music entertained audiences later that day with savory rhythms on the congas, timbales, and horns. Everybody got up to dance during this set right up to the very last note!

Poncho Sanchez:
“I’ve been playing now for 36 years, and I have been all over the world many times. People ask me, ‘Have you been to Paris? Have you’ve been to Japan?’ I’ve been to these places not once, not twice but many times. However, The Long Beach Jazz Festival is one of my favorites.

“As long as the Long Beach Festival has been going on, I have played in it almost every year. I’ve only missed three during the thirty or so years. I’ve always told Al and his daughter Kimberly . . . if you give me a hoot and a holler, I’ll always come running to play here.”

Guitarist Norman Brown closed the evening with high-energy music that blew us away. Musical Director Gail Jhonson played keys and commandeered the show. And Rochella Brown and her background singers were a great addition.

Angie Stone performed her soulful vocals. She asked everybody to sway in rhythm while shining their phone lights during her performance. Norman Brown ended the show by playing the guitar behind his neck, while brilliantly shredding. The audience loved it!

The moon that evening acted as a spotlight for the thousands of festival goers as Day 2 of the Long Beach Jazz Festival came to an end.

Enjoy more highlight from day 2 of the 32nd Annual Long Beach Jazz Festival.

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Reviewed and Photographed by Sheryl Aronson | Executive Editor Kaylene Peoples

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