Life is a lot like jazz…

This post is sponsored by the Philadelphia Jazz Festival; all opinions are my own.

…it’s best when you improvise. – George Gershwin

A quote by a legend we can all agree on. Jazz music actually came into my life unexpectedly when I was younger. Long story short – I wanted to sing so badly in my grade school choir/have a solo in our annual school show, but never had the chance until 7th grade (because I was truly a terrible singer). I was finally allowed to sing (thank you to our music teacher) All That Jazz from Chicago for our school show, and actually found my voice through jazz. From there, I sang Julie London and Billie Holiday in voice lessons, and my love of jazz grew. BUT enough about me, let’s get into the incredible musicians featured in this post…

On a lovely Philadelphia evening, my friends and I checked out the Philadelphia Jazz Festival which was having an show at South Restaurant and enjoyed some great music and Southern hospitality. It was such a fun way to spend an evening, and was definitely something new for all of us. And how fitting it was for us to celebrate jazz the day after Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday.

We entered the South Jazz Parlor and checked out their incredible Southern menu. Our meal – from drinks, appetizers, to entrées – was, for lack of a much better word, amazing. South, we will be seeing each other again very soon. Very special shout out to Kamerin for being the best waiter ever.

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Our meal was the perfect appetizer, if you will, for the beautiful music we were about to hear. Steve Turre and The Captain Big Black Band entered the stage and absolutely killed. Steve Turre plays jazz on *shells* yes, shells!

Watching these musicians play was mesmerizing. Even if you’re not a huge jazz fan, you can appreciate just how intricate this music is, and how intelligent, creative, and freakin’ talented these musicians are.

I hope that you’ll check out the Jazz Festival, whether it’s for a night out with friends or for a little something different on date night. It was an intimate, yet very exciting evening. There are plenty of shows to check out this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including a tribute to Nina Simone.

Thank you Philadelphia Jazz Festival for a fantastic night!