I recently met one of the coolest cats in town. He's an accomplished alto sax player, the artistic director of the Manly Jazz Festival in Australia and a live/streaming promoter. And he's doing it all from B'game! Andrew Speight is a whirlwind of energy and what people like to call resilience these days. Persistence fits his passion for jazz. He's turned his living room into a little jazz club complete with a grand piano, lighting, amps, and everything one needs to stream shows on his Facebook page which he has done every Sunday afternoon for more than a year.
A few people get to see the shows live and I was lucky enough to fall into an invitation. Andrew has the connections to bring in name artists (Vince Lateano, Smith Dobson, Sylvia Cuenca were all there playing) and they are chomping at the bit to play just like many of us are chomping at the bit to listen--since April as shown here. We lost the Savannah Jazz club in San Carlos to the lockdown, but Andrew has created a private version that feels about the same. Check out his Facebook page for the streams every Sunday at 5pm and a special Saturday night gig on July 24th at 8pm.
Now that the Covid restrictions are off we have the opportunity to start seeing more live music in town. That has been a challenge for B'game well before the pandemic, but it feels like the appetite is there now and the city entertainment permits can start being issued again, so I'm thrilled to know we have a professional in town with similar hopes and dreams. I wish my living room looked like this sometime.
Off and running:
https://www.facebook.com/andrew.speight.73/videos/542110453583523
Posted by: Joe | July 11, 2021 at 05:40 PM