J'Nai Bridges & Ulysses Owens, Jr. at Herbst Theatre, April 28, 2023

San Francisco Performances presents J'Nai Bridges & Ulysses Owens, Jr.
Herbst Theatre
Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA
7:30 PM, Friday, April 28, 2023

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[7:34 PM] {lights down, announcements, performers out; DR begins on guitar}

Segment One: Divine Hope

1. [7:36 PM] TRADITIONAL: The Lord’s Prayer
2. [7:40 PM] Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899–1974): Heaven
   [7:45 PM] {greetings from JB; DR swap to acoustic guitar}
3. [7:46 PM] TRADITIONAL: There is a Balm in Gilead
   [7:50 PM] {segment ends; JB off; UO talk: band introduction; program synopsis; CR off; DR back to guitar}
   
   Segment Two: The Crux of Hope
   .
4. [7:56 PM] Geri Allen (1957–2017): Skin
   [8:08 PM] {UO lauds the band; welcome back JB & CR; DR swap to acoustic guitar}
5. [8:08 PM] Erik Satie (1866–1925): Je te veux
   [8:17 PM] {UO banter; JB banter; TR introduces the next tune; JaB, CR, DR sit out this one}
6. [8:21 PM] Ted Rosenthal: Always Believe
   [8:27 PM] {pause; all back; DR back to guitar}
7. [8:27 PM] Waldemar Henrique (1905–1995): Boi-Bumbá
   [8:33 PM] {segment ends; UO lauds the band again}
   
   Segment Three: Hope Fulfilled
   .
8. [8:37 PM] Florence Price (1887–1953): Hold Fast to Dreams
   [8:38 PM] {JB off}
9. [8:39 PM] Price: Adoration (1951)
   [8:46 PM] {UO banter; JB back; DR swap to acoustic guitar}
10. [8:51 PM] André Previn (1929–2019): _It's Good to Have You Near Again_
    [8:56 PM] {encore break}
    
    Encore
    [8:58 PM] {JB teasing non-introduction of Encore; DR on ?guitar}
11. [8:58 PM] Georges Bizet (1838–1875): L'amour est un oiseau rebelle AKA Habanera aria from Carmen (1875)
    [9:00 PM] {final applause}
    [9:01 PM] {performers off; show ends}

• Jalen Baker: vibraphone;
• J'Nai Bridges: mezzo-soprano vox;
• Ulysses Owens, Jr.: drums, percussion;
• Carol Robbins: harp;
• Reuben Rogers: contrabass;
• David Rosenthal: guitar, acoustic guitar;
• Ted Rosenthal: piano.

Tonight's show was an interesting mash-up: let's see what happens when an opera singer fronts a jazz band, shall we?

I liked the idea a lot, but I would have liked it more with another couple of tunes: 60 min of music in a 90 min show? Yeah, that's too much talking!!.

Program Notes or program notes

Andrew Gilbert posted a neat promo article about the players and the program with SFCV.

A few days later, Jason Victor Serinus posted a review of the show with SFCV. I'd say his experience was consistent with mine.

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!