I think the advertising agency used by Southern Comfort did a good job. I knew nothing about this brand of liqueur until I saw its attention grabbing commercial. I still haven't tried it but at least I know it's kinda like whiskey/bourbon now. And combining the phrase Southern Comfort with great violinist Regina Carter certainly sounds awesome even though I guess the music has nothing to do with the brand.
This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I've been to a Regina Carter concert and she's one of the artist that I consider "couldn't go wrong": anything she played has high musical values. Of course, that's a huge compliment to a musician. Before her last 2 albums, Regina Carter had already played a large variety of jazz throughout her career, including her early, heavily pop-influenced "Something for Grace," classically-influenced "Paganini's Dream" and the jazz-standard filled "I'll be Seeing you: a sentimental journey" which established her status as one of the top jazz violinist. In my opinion though, it was the last 2 releases that broke away from mainstream jazz and propelled her from "merely" good (skillful, versatile and enjoyable) musician to a truly great master.
In her last album "Reverse Thread," Regina Carter collaborated with African musicians and came up with authentic, original music by combining elements from African music (folk tunes and rhythms) and jazz (improv) She continued her musical journey tracing the roots of her ancestry in the South. This time she used a lot of melodies from her childhood. Her performance at the SFJAZZ center included playback of such music pre-recorded in the South as references for the audience. We could clearly hear how she used the simple tunes as building blocks and transform them into vehicle for improvisation. The concert hall was filled with joyful mood. The encore piece was about going home by train and it deeply moved me as it brought back all those old memories of taking KCR trains home after school or work when I was in Hong Kong.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
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