"We are lucky," Al Kanovsky admits publically.

Submitted by Al Kanovsky, 7/15/12

The same week that had a supposedly "Black Friday" had the date 7/11. Talk about lucky!!! If you wanted to, you could have had a FREE drink (soft) at 7/11. Or if you wanted to get really lucky (forget the wise cracks---oops) you could have taken Thirty Third St.for a ride. Mid-week afternoons, cabaret star, Glenda Grainger is at Blue Jeans Blues. Glenda sings the Great American Songbook in a straight forward lounge style. I was pleasantly surprised when she opened the second set with an up-tempo "Sentimental Journey". JAZZ riffs improvised, and all. Later on she did "Night and Day" displaying her JAZZ chops again. Glenda said she would love to do more of it. Go-Glenda-Go. The night at BJB's belongs to Danny Burger. Wednesday is his "Showcase" night. Danny invites all of South Florida’s best JAZZ artists to perform. This night it was Wendy Pedersens turn to shine, and she did!!! The dynamics of her performance from ballads, to blues, to scat and standards is more entertaining than anyone can expect. Danny on drums played brushes on "Too Late Now" a perfect accompaniment to Wendy's rendition. She showed her versatility and range by singing two completely diverse songs, "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz and "Caravan" the great JAZZ standard. Her voice is similar in tone, to a finely played alto sax. I like to say that Wendy has a license to jam. And Jam she does. Danny showed his sense of touch playing brushes behind Wendy's "Too Late Now”. The bandstand group was unusual as to make-up. Wendy and Mike Orta(piano) graduated from UofM in the same year. Young Josh Allen (upright bass) and exceptional, recently graduated from UofM and Danny Burger (grandfather Time) attended TSHOK and is still matriculating (whatever that means). I sat her down during the break (not easy to do) and asked about how she met and married her husband, Julio. This, so I could tell more wonderful stories about love and JAZZ and how it brings people together. Remember Brenda and Joe? Okay!! Wendy met Julio Hernandez (sometimes called Hernandersen) while they were on the road in a band together.  Friendship and musical mutual admiration brought them closer together. That last sentence should have read, "He was Latin, dark, handsome and muy romantico. She was young, very pretty and loved the way he caressed the neck on his bass." That closeness begat Love that begat Marriage that begat Children. I use biblical terminology because Julio and Wendy's two sons have biblical names. One from the Old Testament and one from the New. David and Luke. Their careers sometimes keep them apart but not from their love of each other and their music. Julio plays bass guitar. He travels with a host of big name bands and does lots of local studio work. Wendy is also a member of "Mad Romance". Catch her whenever or wherever you can. She'll have you clappin' and tappin'