Vail Jazz Foundation
“If people had told me I’d be busking at this stage of my career in front of a fruit stand, no less I wouldn’t have believed them for a minute,” said jazz drummer Evan Sherman. But performing on a New York City sidewalk is exactly what this 2009 alumnus of the Vail Jazz Workshop has done to stay creative during the long months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sherman’s band was wrapping up a tour on March 11, preparing to head to New York to perform in a tribute concert at Lincoln Center to the late saxophonist Jimmy Heath, when the plans of entertainers everywhere came to a screeching halt. He was also to join the faculty of the Vail Jazz Workshop last summer, alongside fellow drummer Lewis Nash, and that got put on hold, too.
Try refreshing your browser. We need music more than ever this holiday season Back to video
Well, you can’t have a Christmas party this year (thanks, COVID) but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fill your home with beautiful holiday music. In fact, we need music more than ever. Break a chunk off the roof of the gingerbread house, grab a candy cane from the highest bough of your tree, pour yourself a rum & eggnog and slouch back on the couch to bask in the nostalgic sounds of these records. Willie Nelson – Pretty Paper (Sony/Columbia, 1979) The record is over 40 years old but I just discovered it this year. Willie sings ten Christmas classics and two originals. Producer/arranger Booker T Jones had just recorded Willie’s legendary Stardust album the previous year and returned for this project. Known for his Hammond B3 playing as leader of Booker T & the MGs, Jones lends his organ prowess to this album as well.