A few months back when I was dating a jazz musician, we were talking new artists and he introduced me to
Gretchen Parlato. Since then, I've been listening to her debut album non-stop. When I was saw that she was opening for
Esperanza Spalding at the
Toronto Jazz Festival, it was the impetus to check out a new city, see some music and do a dining out session with a food allergy coaching client who lives in Toronto.
The
Toronto Jazz Festival is ten days long, most concerts are free or very low cost, many outdoors, are all over the city and in small clubs. There were signs everywhere about the
Toronto Jazz Festival and upon arriving at my hotel, they had a
Toronto Jazz Festival fold-out pamphlet with all the concerts listed by club.
Gretchen and Esperanza were playing in the main stage on Thursday night. It was general seating. At 7:50pm, I walked into a packed house for a sold out show and found a seat in the third row center. Allergic Girl luck!
Gretchen Parlato's voice was in fine form even in the extreme heat wave and the additional heat of the white tent. Here are some pictures of the evening:
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| Entry to main stage at Nathan Philips |
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| Gretchen's band setting up |
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| Gretchen singing her heart out! |
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| Esperanza wails on the upright bass |
Great job,
Toronto Jazz Festival!
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