In addition to its developing reputation for booking high quality national and international acts, the Rrazz Room is extending invitations to first rate local performers as well. It doesn't get much finer than jazz/blues vocalist Jamie Davis and his backing quartet who plays two more Mondays in November and should not be missed.

Performing extensively with the Count Basie Orchestra, Davis has been dubbed the "chocolate baritone" and is considered a jazz legend in the Bay Area. With a voice reminiscent of Lou Rawls and Joe Williams, Davis romanticizes slower ballads like the Latin-infused "Besame Mucho" and Rodgers and Hart's "My Romance," turning them into silky smooth delectables, and swings through Nat King Cole's "That's All" and "I've Got the World on a String." There's great comfort in the magical jazz formula — verse, chorus, instrumental breaks, closing vocals — and the quartet of jazz luminaries drives the set to transcendent heights. Pianist Murray Low and tenor saxophonist Charles McNeal contribute beautiful jazz and blues lead solos backed by bassist Aaron Germaine and drummer Deszon Clairborne's steady and assured backbeat.

The set featured a mix of jazz, swing, ballad, blues and pop: Duke Ellington (the opener, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"), Cole Porter ("Night and Day"), Stevie Wonder ("Isn't She Lovely") and Louis Armstrong ("What a Wonderful World"). My personal favorite was their take on Theolonius Monk's "Straight No Chaser" which included amazing instrumental solo work and some fine scatting by Davis. If you enjoy great male jazz vocalists and sublime jazz instrumentalists you should make your way to San Francisco's new performance jewel and catch Jamie Davis live.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
October 27, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org