With a vocal jazz quartet, you can’t have someone sick with COVID and still go on. That’s precisely what happened to Shades of Blue a few weeks ago, scuttling our performance at GRCC Jazz Night.
We conspired, planned, and got support to put on a Family and Friends Concert after the semester was over, so today we got together, sound checked, brushed off the dust, and presented our repertoire to a crowd of about 20 or so. I videoed the performance for posterity.
For me, a week out from testing positive myself, it was my (masked) reentry to the world. While I’m not 100% yet, I was committed all week to rest and recovery specifically for this moment. I wanted to honor their hard work all semester by making sure this performance would still happen.
It’s been a marvelous semester of growth and music with a wonderful quartet of singers as well as some fabulous instrumentalists. I’m looking forward to what next semester will offer.
For now, please enjoy the five pieces we performed today: