After exciting trips to New Orleans and San Diego, the schedules for March included more local attention to the incredible talent we have right here in Tucson, Arizona!
Sheryl Ann Mckinley (v) gives about six or seven performances each month at several locations in the Tucson area. An evening at the Westward Look Hotel (a Wyndam Grand Resort & Spa) was the venue chosen to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, Sheryl and her “leprechaun” band donned green tights, pants, shirts, hats, and other emerald-tinged items to add a touch of frivolity to the evening’s tunes. She tried to add some Irish humor in several song lyrics and for the most part, they were well-placed. The audience had to be very attentive to the subtle changes in the lyrics to reflect the honoree of the day.
Band member Max Goldschmid is an awesome musician. Playing clarinet, alto sax and trumpet, Max drifts easily in and out of a number, putting one instrument down and grabbing another within the same three minute song! He also plays piano, French horn, trombone and, I am sure, anything else he touches—he is a serious local musician with multiple talents. Max also heads the late Sunday night jam session at the downtown Century Room, another of our favorite local haunts located at Hotel Congress.
Bassist Jack Wood and Rob Resetar on piano rounded out the quartet and provided a wonderful rhythm to Sheryl’s outstanding vocals. Local and also multi-instrumentalist Sly Slipetsky, sat in on a few numbers and gave Rob a rest on the piano.
The setting sun provides a beautiful backdrop to the elevated outside patio and a feeling of being “above it all” shows off the Tucson skyline.
A few weeks later Sheryl Ann was at a local restaurant—Vero Amore—with a different quartet. This time, Ed Delucia (gtr) and Gary Love (tenor) augmented the rhythm section with bassist Jack Wood again behind Sheryl Ann. For this set, Jack had a 5 string bass guitar adding a low “B” to the other strings.
Sheryl Ann has many vocal ranges and although she will deliver the song in the style of say, a Billie Holiday, she never just mimics the acclaimed vocalist, she adds her own interpretations. She will provide an emphasis on a phrase that makes it hers. There is always a hint of originality in a song that the listener may have heard a hundred times before, but is now hearing in a different way. That is one of the techniques a talented vocalist uses to bring new life and personal meaning to an old favorite.
We will be attending the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the end of April for a total of eight days of traditional jazz in our chosen venue of the Economy Hall tent. With 13 other venues within the local racetrack grounds near City Park, the Festival offers an extensive variety of musical genres (jazz, blues, gospel, zydeco, etc.) highlighting the hundreds of local musicians and their bands in addition to well-known groups, i.e., the Beach Boys, Queen Latifah and believe it or not, this year—the Rolling Stones. We’ll stay with the trad musicians and let the Rolling Stones, celebrating 62 years of their hard rock sound, get some Satisfaction from the sold-out crowd! It will be a fun Fest for s
