by Deborah Johns Moir
When the drum needed repairing in the middle of her set, Dianne Reeves effortlessly incorporated the task into a song, giving a new flavor to “give the drummer (and the repair guy on stage) some.” There have been concerts where something goes wrong, the artist gets flustered, and someone gets fired. Not Ms. Reeves. She created lyrics encouraging the audience to applaud, smile and appreciate the instant repair job.
We have fun,” she said, and invited the sizable crowd at The Jefferson Center’s Shaftman Performance Hall to sing, tap feet, and dance in the aisles throughout the evening, Friday, March 3. She explained that this Roanoke concert was the next to the last one in a five week 2017 tour and the last stop will be Atlanta, the drummer’s hometown.
Her trusted and long-time sidemen include pianist Peter Martin, bassist Reginald Veal, Terreon Gully on drums, and her, (as she said) “brother from another mother,” Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo. They were a cohesive group who jammed together before Ms. Reeves came out and after she left.
She is a multi-Grammy award-winning stylist who scatted through a song one minute and then launched into a Billie Holiday tune the next. She sang “Summertime,” told stories in between, and melted into one or two of her popular songs. She jazzed up “Nine” from her 1995 album, “Quiet After The Storm.” She gave some background on her song “Cold” from her 2014 album “Beautiful Life” which won a Grammy for best jazz album in 2015. Lyrics include “Got my life back, my swagger. So much better now, so I’ll be on my way.”
The encore song, “Better Days” about her grandmother’s wisdom as Ms. Reeves was a child growing up, proved to be the most popular and well received.
After the show, several band members spoke with us while still on stage, pumped from the concert. Back stage, Ms. Reeves was asked if she saw the snow flurries that came into the Roanoke Valley that morning. “At first we thought it was the blooms from the trees!” She said she had seen the Star on the mountain and had enjoyed her stay in Roanoke.
Dianne Reeves performed years ago in a musty store basement called Dimensions in Music in Baltimore and on the sun-shiny, outdoor stage of Baltimore’s Pier Six. She was on the star-filled stage of the 2014 Capital Jazz Fest in Columbia, MD (in a tribute to her late cousin composer/ singer/ producer George Duke) with the likes of Al Jarreau, Jeffrey Osborne, Phil Perry, Marcus Miller, and more. Not to mention her participation in “Jazz at the White House” hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, which aired on ABC in April 2016.
For a long-time fan, an audience with Dianne Reeves for “Spring Jazz At Jefferson Center” in Roanoke, VA ranked as one of the most memorable and jazziest performances.
