Saturday and Sunday at The San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival

Entertainment, Travel — By Buddy Sampson on July 2, 2018 at 9:58 pm

Saturday and Sunday at the San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival

By Buddy Sampson

The Saturday and Sunday shows for the San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival in Seaport Village, a simply gorgeous venue near the water, with boats, ships and beautiful scenery matched the environment- they were just stunning.   It was an amazing weekend of jazz, a picture perfect event that had something for everyone that attended.

Opening the Saturday show was guitarist/vocalist Steve Oliver who opened the show with style. One of his best songs of the set was “Chips and Salsa,” a funky Latin themed song that got the audience moving. Taking the stage next was “The Sax Pack,” which featured Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole and Jackiem Joyner, a rising star that you’ll be hearing a lot more of. “They’re good musicians they’ve been around for a long time,” said Jackiem Joyner, after their set. “I’m playing alto, they’re playing tenor(saxophone) and we work together, they play on my tunes, I play on their tunes and we learn from each other and we vibe off each other and it just works.” And did it work! They had a completely engaging and entertaining set that moved the audience. “You know what’s fun about this group,” said Jeff Kashiwa when asked about the groups’ chemistry, ”we all of course play the saxophone, a similar instrument, but we all approach it a little bit different. So we each have a unique voice and when we put them together we get this fourth thing called the group sound. And for me that’s the most exciting, to see where that group’s sound is going to go.”

“Jazz, Funk, Soul” which featured Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp and Paul Jackson Jr. demonstrated its virtuosity, with tremendous chops from each of these dynamic musicians. Harp is just a terrific saxophonist, but there were no weak musicians on that stage. They were, to use a musician’s term, “just plain choppin’!!” Their set included a song that Paul Jackson Jr. wrote with Jeff Lorber in which Lorber, Harp and Jackson traded solo lines that were just plain scintillating. Eric Darius closed the night with a fantastic set.

 

But the Saturday show was completely stolen by Brian Culbertson, who not only is a sensational musician, but a fantastic performer too. For most of his set, he had the audience on its feet. He just knows how to excite an audience. He danced, sang, played the keyboards, played the trombone and his stage antics took the show to a whole new level. We had heard that he puts on an amazing show, but you have to see it live to completely appreciate it. It was reminiscent of KC and the Sunshine Band in its heyday, only with a lot more musicianship. To give you the scope of his musicianship, he even played the keyboards backwards, just a stunning masterpiece of a performance.  There was jazz in the set, but he threw it out of the window, playing songs like “Hollywood Swinger,” a Kool and the Gang hit and “Play that Funky Music,” a Wild Cherry song. His band was super tight and he was simply magnificent.

The Sunday show was a tad more jazzy, but still loaded with fun. Nestor Torres, a flautist, had a mellow set, perfect for the breezy Sunday afternoon on the water. Guitarist Peter White, a crowd pleaser, had a set that didn’t disappoint the loyal fans that came to see him. He was terrific. Hiroshima, even though classified as Smooth Jazz, probably had the set that was closest to jazz of all the artists on the show. Founding member June Kuramoto on koto, an ancient Japanese instrument, was as sensational as always, and she plays her instrument with a feel that sounds angelic. Older readers may remember her from a song she played on for the group, “A Taste of Honey,” “Sukiyaki,” a major hit that won a Grammy in 1980. Dave Koz’s Summer Horns, featuring Gerald Albright, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot and Aubrey Logan, a sensational young trombonist, was fantastic. Their arrangement of a classic Duke Ellington tune, “Take the A Train,” was innovative and current. They closed the show.

But humble talent Marcus Anderson, who worked with Prince and opened the Sunday show arguably was the best artist on the Sunday show. We wished, perhaps that his set was later in the evening, as he was a funky, amazing saxophonist and a vocalist too. He had funny stage banter and performed a Prince medley which included “Purple Rain,” “Kiss,” and the Time song “Cool.”

Special thanks to Rainbow Promotions- Al Williams and Kimberly, Payne Pest Management and Publicist KimiRhochelle Porter, an ex Ms. Scoop and Essex Porter, who both were hospitable, kind and informative. Many event Publicists have forgotten the art of treating press well and they have mastered the art and we hope for a lifelong friendship with these two amazing souls and people. A shout out also to Terrence Lee and his lovely companion at the media booth, (we think her name is Shineka, but apologize if we got it wrong.)  . They treated us and our crew with kindness and it was nice to work with them.