Francine Reed
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
September 22, 2020
The Reed family are jazz legends in Arizona, inductees into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Francine Reed, the youngest of seven, lived out of state for many years, some of which she spent touring with Lyle Lovett.
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She was on the schedule to be reviewed in the Jazz Lounge at The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts last Spring when Covid hit.
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She has also appeared at The Nash in downtown Phoenix, but not in 2020.
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So it was a welcomed opportunity to tune into her recent on-line concert which mixes jazz, blues, and the Great American Songbook. After opening with Sam Cook’s 1962 “Bring It on Home to Me,” she offered the classic “Too Close for Comfort” (Bach/Weiss/Holofcener, from the 1956 musical Mr. Wonderful).
Nicole Pesce is probably Arizona’s premiere pianist, certainly at the top of the list for our genre. She commanded two keyboards, the acoustic grand with her right hand and a synthesizer on top of the piano with her left. Although not visible to the virtual audience, it sounded as though there were about 10 people in the live audience which was plenty to feed the energy and call and response of Reed’s style. She is, along with everything else, totally loose and relaxed on stage. Dowell Davis (percussion) set a nice bossa nova rhythm to “Watch What Happens” (Legrand/Gimbel/Demy) as producer, Renee Patrick, gave us some nice close-ups during Reed’s vocal. Reed dedicated the blues to Patrick in “Send Me Someone to Love” (Percy Mayfield). Pesce added some organ, and the audience got into it, which gave it all the feel of a southern revival.
Reed showed off her comic chops with a couple numbers: “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” (Stick McGhee) and “I’m a Handful” (Marvin Taylor). She struck a perfect balance between sex, and personal experience on “Me Too” (Meghan Trainor).
Reed introduced her only guest artist “Big” (in age and size) brother Michael. His “Wonderful World” (Douglas/Weiss) was slow and mellow and provided a great counter moment.
“Just in Time” (Styne/Comden/Green) and a medley of “Summertime” (Gershwin) and “Fever” (Cooley/Blackwell) brought the show to its peak. No one snaps her fingers with more feeling than Reed. Her voice is pure jazz. She throws in her own lyrics when inspired and is not shy about scatting. Virtual concerts on Facebook allow for audience comments. One writer quipped, “This is real jazz, not that fake stuff.”
Reed brought the energy back to center and sat for the first time on “Someone to Watch Over Me” (the Gershwins) with just Pesce on acoustic piano. One comment I read referred to Pesce as “A Goddess” and I cannot argue. If Reed has a signature song, its “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues,” (Ida Cox), which is available on recording. The trio closed out the cabaret with “Let the Good Times Roll” (Theard/Moore).
Virtual performance is not easy. It requires good material, talent, and energy but also the right space and mix of sound, lights, and video. This concert went live with no pre-recording, and they pulled it off on Facebook as though we were back in a club in the pre-Covid days.
