Connie Evingson at the Bloomington Jazz Festival

When: Sunday, August 10, 2008 • Where: Bloomington Jazz Festival (Normandale Lake Bandshell) • Who: Connie Evingson, voice; Bryan Nichols, piano; Dave Karr, saxophones, flute, and clarinet; Terry Burns, bass; Jay Epstein, drums

When I previewed this festival for MinnPost, I hoped to attend more than just Connie's set but that's all we could do. It turned out to be a perfect start to the evening: beautiful location, lovely weather, and a fine set from the singer and her band. "Nature Boy," "some Peggy Lee songs ("I Don't Know Enough About You," "Gone Fishin'"), Toots Thieleman's "Bluesette," an arrangement Connie did with Dave Karr blending "I Love Paris in the Springtime" with "It's All Right with Me," selections from her recent CD with Dave Frishberg including "Peel Me a Grape" and "My Attorney Bernie," tunes from her Swedish Hot Club CD, "Comes Love" with Karr on clarinet. Kids were running around and dancing in front of the stage. Some people in the audience were attentive, some not so much. It was Carmen's first jazz festival and she seemed to like it.


Photo of Carmen the wiener dog by Andrea Canter.