These Foolish Things is the perfect name for an album that comes out during a pandemic. It’s light but it also gets to the root of the idea that sometimes it’s the foolish things that make life worth living. Monday night I appreciated the levity of a night out with a consummate performer and a full band outside on open tent casually borrowing from the old school glamour of Crooner’s for Leslie Vincent’s CD release of These Foolish Things.
It was a pandemic minibreak!
Leslie’s voice sounds so natural and makes the music seem so effortless, which is difficult when you are doing music that people know and love. She hits every note you expect and a few that feel like an extra treat. The full band is amazing. Just to recap – during a pandemic, I got to see a full jazz ensemble of Leslie, George Maurer on keyboard, Mike Lauer on guitar, Pete Henning on drams, Matt McIntyre on bass, Jeff Nordquist on trumpet and Rich Manik on saxophone. Again – a minibreak in a tent by a lake with an adult beverage. Watching them perform was entertaining. The direction and connection between members and the blow-me-away solos from each.
Last night Leslie’s jazz standards brought us to a time way before COVID. They make me feel like I’m on Bewitched or what I imagine Man Men would be like. I feel like a grownup in a younger world. And Leslie sets the stage for that feeling.
Leslie is a performer. If you didn’t speak the language, you would still know when to laugh when to cry when you see her perform. Her cadence, her movement, he face says it all. She tells a story in every song. She also tells the story behind many of the songs she sings. She gives the history of the song, the songwriter or her personal experience. It adds a depth of appreciation.
It was such a nice night. I have to admit that as a mom of three daughters my favorite moment was a brief step away from jazz, when she and her Champagne Drop partner Emily Dussault sang a song inspired by 13 Going on 30 accompanied by Leslie’s ukulele.
Mostly Minnesota 