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| 2nd Annual Sonoma Jazz + Festival The second Festival will kick off on Thursday (5/25) at the big (capacity 3, 800) tent with Bay Area blues/rock legend Steve Miller Band with special guest jazz great John Handy. Miller will reprise his many hits, including “The Joker, ” “Fly Like An Eagle, ” and “Take the Money and Run, ” which are so popular that his “Greatest Hits” album went platinum 13 times over. But the set will also be specifically jazz inspired, thanks to the participation of one of the great saxophone players in the genre, John Handy. One of Miller's other cohorts will be his regular band mate, Sonoma's own harmonica maestro Norton Buffalo. Preceding him will be the English singer-saxophonist-songwriter Curtis Stigers, named by Downbeat as a Rising Male Star. His jazzy interpretations of contemporary tunes by Sting, Randy Newman, and Willie Nelson - as well as his appearances with jazz greats Nancy Wilson, Randy Brecker, and Toots Thielmans - promise an eclectic evening. Friday night will deliver consummate greatness. Riley “Blues Boy” B.B. King began his career first as a disc jockey and then as an innovative blues guitarist at Sun Records in Memphis in the late 1940s. Early on he scored the classic hit “The Thrill is Gone, ” and his love affair with the blues, the road, his guitar “Lucille” and the joy of performance have kept him going ever since. Now 80, he is better than ever. Opening will be the gifted Dianne Reeves, fresh off her Grammy-winning turn for “Best Jazz Vocal Album” for the soundtrack of George Clooney's “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Saturday night will feature one of the great singers of modern blues-pop-jazz, Natalie Cole. The daughter of Nat “King” Cole, her after-the-fact duet with her father on his classic “Unforgettable” has become part of American song history. (The evening's opening act is still TBD at press time.) A “Sunday Surprise” program is not quite ready to be announced. As in the inaugural festival, “Wine and Song” will present a wide variety of small group performances across varying styles from swing to gypsy to soul to blues paired with wines poured from the finest local vineyards in restaurants, bars and courtyards surrounding the historic Sonoma Plaza on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. ”Sonoma Jazz + After Dark, “ new in 2006, will extend the evening with small club performances in selected Wine & Song venues after the main stage headline concerts are finished Friday - Sunday evenings. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |