Nothing is impossible... (When you are jazz & blues SUPER HERO like Allen Kanovsky!)

Submitted by Al Kanovsky 7/22/13

if you want it bad enough----and are willing to work hard enough. So it is for Ms. Lourdes Valentin. Born in The Bronx, with Puerto Rican heritage, she new early on that she wanted to perform. In her early teens she started to sing and had an earnest interest in history. Broadway is steeped in musical history. About 4 years ago was the first time I saw Lourdes. She was working with Anthony Corrado(multi-instrumentalist). She and Anthony were playing backed by tracks. There is something about me that just doesn't like tracks. When I spoke with Anthony and Lourdes, I let them know how I felt about their backing and how if you were serious about JAZZ that it had to be listened to and played live. I have followed both their careers over the last few years. Neither of them perform with tracks any longer. Last night, at Blue Jeans Blues, Lourdes surrounded her self with a stellar rhythm section.  Mike Orta(piano), Orlando Machado(drums) and her former guitar teacher Ranses Colon on bass. It was an important night for Lourdes. They were shooting and recording the session.

Ms. Valentin lived up to expectations. Her program is titled "JAZZ Meets Broadway". She started with a swinging "All of Me" which in mid-song transposed to A Latin influenced rhythm. You know what I say about the 'clave'. A bossa based "Put on a Happy Face" followed by a JAZZy "On a Clear Day". Staying with JAZZ and paying homage to Billie Holiday, Lourdes added a little funk to "God Bless the Child. Going back to Broadway she did "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" and the, picking up her guitar and singing in Espanol, sang  "CaraMia"=Love Me, in a Paso tempo. I loved her rendition of "Afro-blue" which reflected all of her rich heritage. The 'clave' took hold again with "Close Your Eyes" and Luz, Mike's beautiful girl friend agreed to dance with me. Dancing 'salsa' with a gorgeous Latina is as close to Heaven as I think I will ever get. Lourdes invited Shay Eishen up to the drum kit doing a 2d line "Counting Your Blessings. In the audience were Babette, my pals Bill, Mike Murk, "Dancing Mark", Sista Mary Beth, Piano Bob and Richie. Lourdes has a deep rooted faith in the Lord and it showed when she sang "Wade in the Water". They closed the set with "If I Only Had a Brain", Orlando doing a cheer invoking solo on the tune. Sunday night audiences, facing a workday Monday have the unfortunate habit of leaving around 10PM. I say unforunate because the 2d set is when the bands really begin to "get into it".  Last night proved my point. Just before starting the set, Lourdes had guitarist Adan Ciulet accompany her on the lovely tune "He Touched Me". The whole band continued with "Night & Day", "Nature Boy", and "Summertime". Again her faith came forward and she sang an original composition titled "My Heart is Changing". I truly believe that every church, that has a choir, should get a copy of this chart to do on Sunday. She invited Luz up to the stage. If you think dancing with Luz is pleasurable, then you have to hear her sing a Latin love song. I don't really understand a lot of Spanish but I do understand a lot about love. Her voice knows a lot about love as well. The band played "Que S'as" and I danced with Luz until I was out of breath. The 2d set ended with "Ooh-ooh-ooh" at a tempo much too fast for me to even thinking of doing another one with Luz. A friend of Mike Orta, Frank, a solo guitarist joined us and during the break. We had an interesting conversation about 'back then'. My 'back then' is a lot further 'back then' than their 'back then'. We talked about musicians and club-owners. What was said about musicians was mostly good. What was said about club-owners was mostly bad. Including stories of padlocked doors on pay day. A short final set. "Fly Me to the Moon" and "In Other Words". All of us took a long time saying "Good night". I am thinking about The Funky Biscuit tonight. If only to let Dave Shelley know about how he ended my romance with that tall, drop dead gorgeous gal, before it began. I don't know----some guys-----      

Al's Disclaimer:

A short note: The reason I write this is because I love music and words. I do not book acts. I do not promote acts. I do not accept invitations to review artists. I go to venues of my own choice. When and where is not influenced by anything other than who I would like to hear that night or day. If I don't like what I hear, I won't write about it. When I like it I let you all know. I never mention a name without asking permission. "Pardon me, Miss. Would you like to dance?"       

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