One of the best evenings ever....jazz....NICE!!!!!

Tonight I attended the opening night of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. I went on my own and although I go to a few concerts on my own I was a little nervous about this as I haven't been to the Jazz festival before so i wasn't sure what the set up was. About an hour before the concert I discovered it wasn't in the location I had made up in my head.

The warm up act was a jazz singer chap from New York I think who played piano and had a good voice. I liked the first 3 songs and then suddenly as I spotted women of a certain age were getting very excitable I realised I was in some sort of Michael Buble thing....I stayed strong and tried to zone out....counting the tracks....he can't sing more than 6 surely??!

The main act Ms Dionne Warwick was superb...utterly wonderful. i felt emotionally moved by it. This was quite unexpected and I had a huge smile plastered over my face for most of the gig. What wit, acting, personality. She knew how to work the crowd, told some great stories and orchestrated the audience participation better than Tony Bennett or Jarvis Cocker ever did (and that is saying something!) She sang all the faves of mine from her back catalogue....plenty of Baccharach, some reworked old songs, a lovely Hal David tune. A fab section of Brazil inspired songs. The waters of march??? was ace. I have a fantastic shot of her thanking the audience but decided that I preferred this one. Not many people were taking pics so I didn't use my flash hence the grainy blur....but I feel it shows off her personality. She was pretty happy for someone who has just been declared bankrupt. If you ever get the chance to see her do it! I feel very grateful and privileged to see her at such a small, intimate gig :-) 2012 version of a well known song....I will have to get this album!