Friday night in Healdsburg is becoming a hot time in the old town on a regular basis, but this Friday night was different. It was a celebration.
With two sold-out programs about a block apart from one another, the Healdsburg Jazz Festival's opening night was a success by every measurable term. The music was top-notch and swinging, the crowds were happy and pleased, and the venues were acoustically sound (so to speak).
This last was particularly true of the new Healdsburg Shed, where the five-piece John Heard Quartet explored the bluesy, multi-national, New Orleans roots of jazz with sophistication, and finesse.
As good as the band was, and they were terrific, the welcome surprise was the acoustic clarity of the high-ceilinged room, open on two sides to the elements on the balmy spring night.
Because of this, the interplay between the musicians - John Heard on standup bass, Akira Tana on drums to his right, Kenneth Nash on percussion to his left, and saxophonist Dayna Stephens at stage front and center - became paramount, not incidental. You could hear the softest taps Nash made on his African drums, the overtones of the plucked bass. All the while the evening breeze refreshed the enthusiastic audience.
On Healsburg Ave., a hop, skip and jump away, the Frisco Jazz Band fulfilled the Dixieland dreams of the packed house, who were rewarded with free loaves of bread from the Coasteaux Bakery.
To stay abreast of the on-going Healdsburg Jazz Festival, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/healdsburgjazzfestival.
