All That Jazz

This weekend we have been lucky enough to go to not one but two great concerts. On Friday night we went to the magnificent Chicago Theatre to see one of my favourite jazz musicians Chris Botti. The theatre is huge, the interior was used for the movie Chicago, but we managed to get seats so close to the front that we could have been in an intimate jazz club.
The very best part was right at the end, where the sound system was switched off, the lights dimmed, and all you could hear was One For My Baby, played by trumpet and piano. It was just like being transported back to the 50s. Instantly you felt like you were in a little bar in a Chicago backstreet.
Last night, something different. An opportunity to see an old hero of mine that is so much easier living here in the U.S. - Neil Sedaka. This was a very simple performance, just him, his piano and a some old film of him from the early sixties. The atmosphere may not have been as electric as the previous evening, but it was still unbelievable to finally get to hear him perform live.
We've been very lucky this month alone to hear two great songwriters perform.
Writing lyrics has been an ambition of mine for a while. I have plagiarised many existing songs over the years for various school/university productions, my favourite being in an updated version of Cinderella. You haven't heard Chatanooga Choo Choo, until you hear my version, which begins, "Pardon me dear, are you the girl who dropped the Choo shoe?"
Yesterday morning my ambition came true, when the composer of the show I am directing at my local temple, agreed to use my lyrics for a much more serious anthem to be sung by the children of Israel as they cross the Red Sea. I must admit I felt quite emotional about it.
Of course the audience will be asleep by the time we get to that bit, but I quite like it....