SFJAZZ presents Mary Stallings
Robert M. Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
7:30 PM, Friday, May 5, 2017

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

1. [7:41 PM, lights down, trio of Capoeristas enter and perform 3-4 dances, accompanying themselves on berimbau and pandiero]
   
2. [7:48 PM, Capoeristas exit; four Samba dancers enter with bateria ensemble of six unidentified drummers: two surdo drums, three ?snare? drums (big, medium & small), chocalho rattle; solo and group dances follow]
   
3. [7:56 PM, Capoeristas return and parade into the audience with the dancers; messy finale (too crowded up there!)]
   [8:00 PM, all parade off to stage right as tonight's headlining band enters from stage left]
   
4. [8:00 PM] One Note Samba (started as an instrumental; MS enters at about 8:05 PM)
5. [8:10 PM] Triste †
6. [8:19 PM] Love Dance †
   [banter from MS to introduce Adriana Evans]
7. [8:31 PM] Se Todos Possem Iguais A Você (MS/AE)
   [AC, RL, MS sit out next tune]
8. [8:42 PM] (unidentified, lyric in Spanish instead of Portuguese?) (AE)
   [MS sits out next tune]
9. [8:47 PM] I Hear Music (AE)
   [BB, MS sit out next tune]
10. [8:51 PM] (unidentified, lyric in Portuguese, ?“Bahia”; seemed to morph into a Cuban/Yoruban chant at the end) (AE)
    [all sit out but AC, RL]
11. [8:58 PM] (unidentified instrumental)
    
    [all back but AE]
    
12. [9:05 PM] A Little Tear †
13. [9:14 PM] If You Went Away
14. [9:19 PM] Dindi
    [set ends 9:26 PM; all off after bows & applause]
    
    Encore
    [band back with AE and samba dancers]
15. [9:27 PM] Wave
    
    [show ends 9:35 PM; all off in a couple minutes, after hugs, bows & applause]

• Vicente Archer: contrabass;
• Bruce Barth: piano;
• Anat Cohen: clarinet, † tenor saxophone;
• Adriana Evans: vox;
• Romero Lubambo: acoustic guitar;
• Clarence Penn: drums;
• Mary Stallings: vox.

Energia do Samba

• Maisa Duke: samba queen, leader;
• Sunday Ely: samba dancer;
• Marissa Litman: samba dancer;
• ? (unidentified girl): samba dancer;
• drummers TBD.
• ? Uriel Arauz: berimbau, pandiero, capoerista;
• ? Guilherme Ferreira: berimbau, pandiero, capoerista;
• ? (unidentified dude): berimbau, pandiero, capoerista;
• Veronica Teixeira Benites: capoerista (listed by SFJAZZ, but I'm sure she wasn't present in this capacity);

Between the sundry openers and the sultry closer, tonight's show was an interesting grab-bag of Brazilian influences.

I really enjoyed the opening few minutes from the capoeristas. Although the space allotted to them was pretty darn small (just a corner of the full stage), they made good use of it with both solo acrobatic dances and more sparring-oriented partner dances. In my dreams I can pull off some of those moves without breaking anything! Sadly, if the guys were introduced, I didn't catch it, and I'm uncertain whether SFJAZZ posted correct information about them.

And the sambistas were darn sexy in their not quite there costumes of fishnet and feathers, shaking their wares to the slinky beat of the bateria. Entrancing, to say the least. You want booty? Yeah, we shake booty. I think the drum group got shorted tonight: no solo segment, no introduction, no parading through the crowd with the dancers, just play. Or work? I dunno, they looked happy!

And then the main event: Marry Stallings singing fabulous Brazilian tunes with a crack band. It seemed to me as if the gig had that loose, under-rehearsed feel: counting on the professionalism of the assembly to carry through without accident. Most of the time they succeeded, but every now and then it seemed as if someone missed a cue to start or stop a solo. No matter, that's part of the thrill of listening to live jazz, no? If we wanted to hear precision and polish we'd have headed to a classical recital or a pop concert… So I'm happy with the performance, warts and all!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!