Concerts – Between the Lines and Dots

16 Mar

The Washington Women In Jazz Festival and a Tribute to Betty Carter

Jessica Boykin-Settles2 CommentsConcerts, Uncategorized

The year has flown by and The Washington Women In Jazz Festival is here again! Founded and curated by the amazing, wonderful, talented, hard-working Amy Bormet! Man..there really are not enough words to describe how wonderful I think she is! I have been extremely honored to be a part of this festival for the last three years. This year, I get to sing on a showcase with an AMAZING rhythm section made up of some of the swinging-est, foxiest, hard-hitting women...EVER! Amy Bormet on piano, Karine Chapdelaine on bass and Lydia Lewis on drums. And to add to the madness...I…

11 Nov

I’m Back!

Jessica Boykin-Settles2 CommentsConcerts, Jazz Vocalist, Uncategorized

It's been waaaayyyy too long since my last post...SORRY! Some other things needed my full attention and I am ashamed to say that I have not been practicing as I should due to those other things. I also caught the bug that was going around and was not able to get out of bed for a whole week! Anyway...enough with the excuses. Here's a quick rundown of what I've seen, heard and done since my last post: October 18th - My hubby (along with a fine group of musicians: Thad Wilson, trumpet; Steve Synk, bass; Terence Arnett, drums) did a…

07 Oct

Beds, Breakfasts and Improvised Music

Jessica Boykin-Settles0 CommentsConcerts, TravelBaltimore, MD, Michael Formanek, Rachael's Dowry, Windup Space

Hi All, The hubby and I are just back from a fantastic weekend in Baltimore, MD. We went up to hear bassist Michael Formanek's ensemble perform at the very funky, very hip Windup Space on W. North Avenue. My husband surprised me with an overnight stay in THE most beautiful and welcoming bed and breakfast. It's called Rachael's Dowry and is owned and operated by the most adorable brother and sister team ever! Norman and Tish have this thing on lock! The house is gorgeous, the food is amazing and the ambience is very relaxed. There are many delicate things around the…

29 Sep

Brian Settles and Central Union Grace the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Jessica Boykin-Settles0 CommentsConcerts, UncategorizedBrian Settles, Corcoran Holt, Jeremy Carlstedt, Kennedy Center, Millennium Stage, Neil Podgurski, Secret Handshake

Last night, Brian had the awesome opportunity to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Millennium Stage series. It was a great honor to be invited and Brian, Neil Podgurski (piano), Corcoran Holt (bass) and Jeremy Carlstedt (drums) showed off! They performed tunes from the CD release Secret Handshake. Here is a link to the archived performance: http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5177&type=A

26 Sep

Music tHERapy, Steve Coleman, Izze Apple Soda and Other Various and Sundry Things

Jessica Boykin-Settles0 CommentsConcerts, Practicing, Practicing Jazz Singing, UncategorizedAnne Peckham, Atlas Theater, Charlie Parker, false vocal folds, Ornithology, Seth Riggs, speech level singing, Steve Coleman, vocal warmup

Started this session with vocal warm-ups from the Anne Peckham's The Contemporary Singer. Even after getting through the Beginning Warm-up for all voices and the first warm-up for high voices, I still didn't feel warm or agile, my intonation was not on point and I was not getting the smooth transitions all the way through my range. My false vocal folds are also acting really lazy and I'm going to have to go back to my exercises for moving them off to the sides and from on top of my true vocal folds. At this point, because I was sounding…