Monday, August 13, 2012

Fuse The Sounds


It was a jazzy, sultry Sunday afternoon in Lake Forest. The vibe was definitely jumping yesterday evening in this cozy, classy and fun pub called Our Place.  Divalicious, a three-singer group from Orange County who (close friends who have a grand respect for one another) were the big number on the bill. This audio delicacy of a trio decided to put together this extravagant night to share the stage at Our Place.

I have to say that last night was a blast!  I met some real cool people ... the owners, Tammy and Sally, their family and friends and so many of the wonderful regulars who frequent there. I ordered a Guinness and sat back to enjoy the smooth and sassy sounds of Gail Chasin, Kris Shelton and Karen Gallinger.  Gentlemen Ron Levy on piano and John Lecce on drums was the perfect magic musical mix for Divalicious. Levy’s invigorating solos wooed the crowd. Yeah man, that cat can jam.  Let’s not overlook John Lecce.  This dude is slick on drums.  I tell you what, John’s rolls and Ron’s playing made me put on my nasty face just letting the rhythm roll over the room. Kinda like when you’re listening to James Brown - which I have to say was way cool hearing the DJ spin it as I left the club last night.

It was exhilarating to see so many people get excited over the performances like this. The music was great and each singer had a unique way about them...

Gail Chasin - boy what a lady. This classy girl took the stage and everyone’s hearts. Angelic yet thunder-rolling-voiced Chasin soothed the souls ending with a song written to the tune of the National Anthem penned by Stephen Longfellow Fiske (yes, he’s related to the poet Longfellow) but with words of uniting the world in love called , The World Anthem. The howling coming from everyone standing and clapping were euphoric. Gail’s performance was simply wonderful. I never heard a singer with range, grace and power in a voice like Gail’s.

Kris Shelton, who I had the honor of meeting along with her husband Robert at one of Gail gigs, was simply delicious.  This blonde angel very lushly let out her songs and wow, did she move the crowd.  Shelton sang Irving Berlin’s “The Best Thing for You Would Be Me,” and I was taken away by her soft sweet delivery.
The ever cool Karen Gallinger totally whipped the scales of early jazz with her spectacular performance doing Eddy’s Arnolds 1955 hit “You Don’t Know Me”.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. Karen’s art of emoting makes her completely dazzle.  I can’t wait to see her perform again.

At one of Divalicious's breaks they invited the great Chuck Ousley to sit in to do a few numbers and boy, what a class act he is. The evening was an exquisite collaboration of music greats, manifesting in the totally packed room which brought the customers of Our Place out of their chairs up on to their feet in total appreciation

Tammy and Sally who were once just thinking of buying this hot spot are now showing off their hard work and talent which has created a friendly environment with great spirits, good food, nice people and fun entertainment. If fun, excitement and relaxation can all be placed into one thing, it would be at Our Place!

                                           
                                                                                                                                           By: Cris Blakk


2 comments:

  1. Great Article. I even have a song of Gail's on one of my CDs. The Title of her song is "Gypsy Heart". If I knew how to attach her song here I would. I'm pretty lame at computers, but her song is great. All I did was get the musicians for her and recorded and mix it. She wrote with two of ˙´r friends. It turned out terrif. Ifyou want a copy of it, email me at damongypsy@gmail.com and I'll send it to you.

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  2. Damon, I have not received the notification for this post. Please forgive me. Thank you for commenting, I was just telling Gail how this post was the Eudaimonia's 1st and it has the most hits.

    Blessings

    Chris

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