Ava Logan

The trio warmed up allowing each ensemble member an opportunity to extend solos which immediately put audience in a positive mood before Dr.Logan adorned the stage. After correcting some minor feedback problems with the P.A.system, she opened her segment with the classic Duke Ellington tune, "Satin Doll". Being the professional that she is , this little "hiccup", didn't deter these seasoned veterans from the task at hand.

Ava peppered the first set with some popular show tunes, and standard jazz selections, while throughout this set leaving room for this all star ensemble to express their musical opinions, without straying away from the melody of the song. Such numbers included Gershwin's "It's Wonderful", "Aint Misbehaving", Sergio Mendez's "So Many Stars"(title of her critically acclaimed CD), Nancy Wilson's "Save Your Love For Me",Nat Cole's "Straighten Up and Fly Right", Ella's "Lullaby Birdland", "Fever", Peggy Lee's "Love Being Here With You", and "Sweet Georgia Brown" and that was just the first set.

Highlights of that set included several spell bounding solos by de la Cerna on "Save Your Love" , "Straighten Up", and "Sweet Georgia Brown". Miguel is truly an underrated keyboardist, who's also keyboardist and musical director for vocalist Dee Alexander. On this evening, he certainly was a crowd pleaser.

Watching Ava perform is such a pleasure as she interacts with the audience and often playfully entices their participation as was done with this listener during the second set while singing Nancy Wilson's classic "Guess Who I Saw Today". The crowd loved it and a slightly "embarrassed" writer also was very appreciative.

Bassist Jim Cox , steady throughout the evening, stood out during her version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Gingee". It was his usage of the bow on this mellow number that caught ones attention.

The versatile Dr.Logan even demonstrated her multilingual skills as she did verses of "I Wish You Love" in French. She concluded this second set with "Peel Me a Grape", and "Day In Day Out". Saving his best effort for last, drummer Joyce really exploded on this song bringing some audience members to their feet. He kept time brillantly all night long demonstrating why he's Ramsey Lewis's long time drummer.

When it comes to class, Ava Logan epitomizes that word. She's classy and jazzy, and on this night performed with style.

Jazz fans, don't forget to attend the Hyde Park Jazz Festival this Saturday, Sept.26th throughout Hyde Park, and on the campus of the Un. Of Chicago. For detailed information, refer to the festival's website: www.hydeparkjazzfestival.org.