San Jose Jazz is celebrating its 26th Summerfest (Aug 7-9, 2015). With a dizzying array of shows spread across 12 stages it is always a challenge to figure out which ones to attend. I ended up watching about 5 shows today that included a wonderful world premiere of Etienne Charles‘s San Jose Suite. The piece pays homage to 3 San Jose’s located in Trinidad, Costa Rica and USA. I was unsure what to expect of this show, and was pleasantly delighted by the suite. It was intriguing to discover how Charles found and wove a common theme around these cities.
Bombay Jazz fused American jazz with North Indian classical music. This was the first time that I listened to them and it was quite an experience to watch how American and Indian musicians worked together to create this fusion music.
The grand finale of the evening was the delightul Cuban bolerista Ernesto Oveido and The John Santon Sextet. Oveido was a consummate and elegant singer. He sang a handful of well-known boleros including my favorite Bruce Manigua. Oviedo is 80 years old and yet he sang in an effortless manner.
Besides these three shows, I also watched Canadian singer Johnny Summers and John Pizzarelli Quartet from New Jersey.
The Kamla Show 