This past weekend was Capital Jazz Fest time, and if you missed it I feel sorry for you. But those of us who were there got to experience once-in-a-lifetime performances from a slew of Jazz and Soul artists on two stages of live entertainment over the course of the three-day music festival in Columbia, MD. I attended the festival on Saturday and Sunday and witnessed unforgettable showings from artists such as Leela James (pictured above) who got down and dirty like the Blues woman she is, kicked off her shoes and played in the mud with her fans and En Vogue who capped the festivities on Sunday night with a rousing, crowd-pleasing reunion singing all of their hits and looking as fabulous as ever.
I didn't get to see everyone perform, because to fully enjoy the
Capital Jazz Fest you need a clone in order to be in two places at once
since both stages always have acts that you want to see performing at
the same time. But the acts that I did see on the Soul stage impressed
me to no end. From the new school of Raheem DeVaughn, Anthony David and Mike Phillips to the old school of Gary Taylor and Peabo Bryson, this was a lip-syncing and Auto-Tune free weekend. Real
artists with real talent showed up and showed people how it's done.
If you know like I know, then start making your plans to be at the 18th Annual Capital Jazz Fest from June 4-6, 2010 from now.
Enjoy these black and white images from photographer Tafari Stevenson-Howard who captured the essence of Leela, Rahsaan Patterson, Swing Out Sister, Roy Ayers, Maysa and Caron Wheeler while they performed this weekend.
Photos: Photography by Tafari Stevenson-Howard
