Event:
Dianne Reeves & Fourplay
8 p.m.
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
$45 to $125 plus applicable fees
Photo gallery of Dianne Reeves in Atlanta
The weather in Atlanta has been uncertain lately, but what thing you can bet on Thursday is a great show with jazz songstress Dianne Reeves, who performs Thursday at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
The multi-Grammy winner is on tour after the release of her praise-worthy “Beautiful Life”, her first album in five years.
Why did she keep fans waiting so long?
“It didn’t seem like five years,” said Reeves. “There was a lot going on.”
She spent some of that time touring and worked on the female-empowering “Sing the Truth!” project with Angelique Kidjo and Lizz Wright.
She also lost her beloved mother, Vada Swanson. “I’m doing OK,” she said. “My mother was really amazing and left me with a whole lot of treasures. I miss her terribly.”
Sharing the night is renowned modern jazz group, Fourplay, which will release "Silver" later this month on Heads Up, a division of Concord Music Group. The group consists of Nathan East, Bob James, Chuck Loeb and Harvey Mason.
“Beautiful Life,”, which won the 2015 Grammy for Best Jazz Album, is a wonderful mix of jazz with a splash of pop and Latin flavor. It includes covers of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You.”
Reeves loves the vibes she gets from Atlanta audiences.
“I love it,” she said. “Every time I come, it’s always very positive and I leave lifted because it feels like family.”
Appearing with Reeves are Peter Martin on piano, Romero Lumambo on guitar, Reginal Veal on bass and Terreon Gully on drums. Gully of Atlanta “is probably one of the most creative people on stage,” said Reeves. “I love him. He just accompanies so beautifully. Where I go, he goes. I really love him as a drummer.”
The stage is her “sacred space” where there is freedom and no inhibitions. “I tell people it’s my playground,” she said.
