Carmen Lundy and Patrice Rushen Performing At The 2014 Lakeland Jazz Festival On Feb. 22!

(by Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer )

Carmen Lundy played the lead in a European tour of the Broadway smash “Sophisticated Ladies,’’ based on the music of Duke Ellington. Here in the States, she was Billie Holiday in an off-Broadway production of “They Were All Gardenias.’’

Carmen Lundy

Now she’s taking on a new role: headliner in the 42nd Annual Lakeland Jazz Festival, which begins on Friday, Feb. 21 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 23.

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The Making of The Curtis Brothers' "Completion of Proof" Album

 Luques and Zaccai CurtisDuring the past few weeks, I've thought about doing this as a regular feature for the blog.

It's a win-win situation for everyone. The artists creating the music get the message out about their project to more people. The readers of the blog get to find out about new music and support the creation of it! YAY!

Kickstarter Project of the Week:

"Completion of Proof" Album by the Curtis Brothers.

The first time I saw bassist Luques Curtis perform live was approximately 4.5 years ago in New York City as a member of Sean Jones' quintet. I remember thinking to myself how his playing of the double bass made me aware of it and kept my attention. I know that's not a profound statement but I do know that prior to that evening, I would rarely focus on the upright bass at a live show.

[That was then, this is now - I discovered the music of Charles Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Christian McBride, Jasper Hoiby and Ms. Esperanza Spalding so I'm good now. :)]

I've never had the pleasure of seeing composer and pianist Zaccai Curtis live but I have checked out Curtis Brothers' YouTube videos over the past couple of years. They are adept at playing straight-ahead  and latin jazz with equal aplomb.

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