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SEABREEZIN'
Just got back from a weekend excursion to Santa Rosa Beach, FL for the 9 th annual Seabreeze Jazz Festival.
This star-packed affair featured some of the tip-top names of contemporary jazz – including Eric Darius, Boney James, Richard Elliot, Rick Braun, Mindi Abair, Kirk Whalum, Jeff Golub, Steve Oliver, and Nick Colionne - doing their thang over the weekend of April 13, 14, and 15 at Gulf Place, a stunning resort within spitting distance of the Gulf of Mexico.
The region, referred to by real estate salesfolks as the “Emerald Coast” and affectionately known as the “redneck Rivera” among visitors from across the South, has the laidback feel of Bermuda yet with enough glitz (and stratospheric beachfront property prices) to be quasi Hampton-esque.
The beach itself is quite different than the Jersey shore that I've been used to most of my life. To give you an idea of how different, consider these comparisons:
The smell 
Santa Rosa Beach – muscles baking lazily in the sun
Jersey shore – mussels rotting rancidly in the sun
The sand
Santa Rosa Beach – the color of freshly baked meringue
Jersey shore – the color of finely smashed Oreos
Water clarity
Santa Rosa Beach – you can look down and see your feet
Jersey shore – you can look down and see feet, but they're in concrete and they're not yours…
THE ASSIGNMENT
The reason for my being at Seabreeze, as it is with all the Fests that book my spinning services, was precise: provide a jazzy blend of tunes to entertain the 4,000 strong audience in-between the bands' sets (and to accompany my spin using a Roland Handsonic HPD15 Percussion Kit. LOVE THAT BOX, BABY!!!)
With a start time of 10:30 AM and an end point of 6:30 PM, it was crucial for me to correlate the flow of my music with energy expectations of the audience, as well as the weather (it was an outdoor event).
So for Saturday and Sunday, here's a sample of my playlist:
10:00 to 10:30 - morning jazz (i.e., Boz Scaggs “Lowdown Unplugged”; Amy Winehouse “Moody's Mood”; Carmen McRae & Dave Brubeck “Take Five”; Jamie Cullum “You And The Night And The Music”; George Benson “Breezin'”)
Noon to 12:30 – lunchtime jazz (i.e., Chaka Khan “Chanson Papillon”; Swing Out Sister “Stoned Soul Picnic”; Rick Braun “Shining Star”; Kim Waters “Step In The Name of Love”; Roy Ayers “Boogie Back”)
2:00 to 2:30 – funky jazzy snack (i.e., Kenny G. & David Sanborn “Pick Up The Pieces”; TOP “What Is Hip”; Douglas Cuomo “Sex And The City”; Roberto Marrero “Feel Like Makin' Love”; Maze “Before I Let Go”)
4:00 to 4:30 – early bird special (Jazz Warriors “Chameleon”; Ronny Jordan “So What”; MFSB “Love Is The Message”; Patrice Rushen “Number One”; Us3 “Cantaloop”)
6:00 to 6:30 – cocktail jazz + amped up sounds for the final act (Ramsey Lewis Trio “The In Crowd”; Van Morrison “Moondance”; Paul Hardcastle “Rainforest”; The New Swing Sextet “Honeybee”; Poncho Sanchez & Ray Charles “Mary Ann”)
The crowd was definitely there to groove, and their reaction to my between-set soundtrack was off the hook (especially among the sizeable ATL contingent)! Massive impromptu electric slide parties, couples kicking beautifully choreographed step routines, and a whole lot of to-the-beat head nodding were in full effect, and it was a truly lovely site to behold.
MASHIN' WITH THE MIND-STER
I had the opportunity to introduce myself to Mindi Abair right before she was about to hit the stage for her set. We had been swapping e-mails for around a year, so it was about time that had a chance to say hello in person.
In between munches of authentic Southern barbecue (the folks at Seabreeze hooked up a MAD yummy spread for the performers) we exchanged a bit of groove philosophy. The conversation went a little something like this:
Mindi A: Rafe.
Rafe G: Mmfff. (I was still eating the barbecue)
Mindi A: Wanna do a duet or something on stage?
Rafe G. Rtprqff? (still eating)
Mindi A. I dunno. Like you spin a cool groove or two and I'll riff along.
Rafe G. Tplhtf? Gggdtqcx? (still…)
Mindi A. Sure! Sounds great. Let's do it.
Rafe G. Plftthnmng. (almost done)
Mindi A. Right! Yeah! Exactly. I'm feelin' ya dood.
After the first song of her set, Mindi called over to me from the main stage (I was doing my thing on a small stage of my own near the audience).
“Hey Rafe G! I'm really diggin' those sounds you're spinning. Why don't you kick a hot beat and let me jump on in!”
(Or something like that. I had one last wedge of barbecue in my mouth and I wasn't paying total attention to the specifics of her invitation to jam.)
I reached into my CD folder and pulled out a handful of tasty tracks that had enough holes and space in their arrangements for Mindi to get loose, including AWB “Cut The Cake”, Soul II Soul “Back To Life”, Gil Scott-Heron “The Bottle”, and Unwrapped All Stars “Rappers Delight”. Over my quick cuts and tight transitions on the 1's and 2's, Mindi ripped – and I mean RIPPED – a slammin' sax solo. I grabbed the mic and tossed in some old school call-and-response chants ( “yo baby, yo baby, yo”/”go Mindi, go Mindi, go!”), and the ocean of Seabreezers belted Ms. A with a whooping wave of adoration.
We didn't get to chat about our jam afterwards (she had to hit the road), but via e, we promised to do it again soon at another big event.
WEATHERING THE WEATHER
The fest just missed getting drenched by a huge storm on Saturday, 4/14, and the windy tail–end of the same storm made Sunday, 4/15 a tad frosty, but overall, we were blessed with enough sunshine for the show to go on pretty much as scheduled. (The storm that missed us traveled north and morphed into the Nor'easter that flooded the tri-state area on that same weekend.)
I had a magnificent time at Seabreeze and I urge all CD101.9'ers to experience the spectacular pleasures that the area offers (not to mention the jumpin' jazzfest that throws down every April!).
(Don't worry, Jersey shore: there's still a special place in my heart and my nostrils for ya…)
Next stop for the Groove Boutique™ road show: the Capital Jazzfest in DC, June 2 and 3! More inside stories, anecdotes, and backstage scoop on that fun fest to come!
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