Review: Jazzville at Asheville Art Museum
It was the Golden Hour when I strolled into the high-windowed atrium of the Asheville Art Museum on the evening of August 15, where a woman's voice filled the space with a gorgeous rendition of "Besa Me Mucho." Bronwyn Cronin, lead vocalist of Jazzville, was dressed head-to-toe in a silver sequined pantsuit that lit up the room with the same dazzling energy as her voice.
She was accompanied by Zack Page (bass), Alan Hall (drums), and William Bares (piano) for the small yet standing-room-only crowd. Despite the relatively intimate space, Cronin’s almost liquid crescendos elicited enthusiastic applause and whoops from the audience each time the quartet approached the outro.
As for "Besa Me Mucho," I appreciated her singing the full Spanish version, forgoing the lyrical subtitles of English stanzas. This revealed early in the performance the quartet’s ethic of paying homage to their musical heritage, which they sustained throughout their two sets. At the end of the song, she greeted listeners with gratitude and invitation, opening a channel of relation that the audience gladly embraced through the entire performance. "You can plan it or jump in and see what happens," Cronin said, reflecting the spontaneous and festive spirit of jazz as a genre.
Between songs, Cronin shared commentary about her passion for live performance and informed anecdotes about jazz history, which should come as no surprise since Cronin’s bandmate Bares (piano) is a professor of music at UNCA. After introducing her bandmates, she followed "Besa Me Mucho" with a full scat version of “Ornithology” by Charlie Parker, pulling off the fast-paced phonetic, rhythmic vocals with elegance and ease, then slowed it down with Charlie Chaplin's "Smile."
As the bassist and drummer exited, Cronin seated herself for “If I Loved You” from Carousel, a slow, mournful tune accompanied only by piano. The quartet returned as they transitioned into “People Will Say We’re in Love,” an upbeat number from Oklahoma. The variety of harmony and tempo in the playlist paid homage to the eclectic, spontaneous nature of jazz, and for me, elicited even greater appreciation of this dynamic genre.
The quartet’s stage presence was graceful, joyful, impassioned, and electric. Jazzville performed with the charisma of artists who are situated precisely in their element, and who I imagine would deliver for a crowd of 1,000 the same passion and energy that they imbued this performance for 20. Cronin’s stage presence was inviting and joyful. She smiled through the entire performance, engaged personably with the audience, and even thanked the woman beside me for her "woo."
Her bandmates were no less effervescent, as Bares’s performance proved that one can indeed dance while playing piano. Page and Hall displayed equal gusto on bass and drums (respectively). Cronin’s extraordinary talent as a vocalist is enhanced by her knowledge of jazz history, as she introduced each song with a brief anecdote crediting the songwriters, the singers, and previous versions that had, in effect, informed the band’s own versions.
After the set break, I remained on the upper level for a bird's eye view of the quartet, who rounded out the second set with a spirited version of "My Favorite Things." Jazzville's performance complemented the works of art decorating the gallery halls like a soundtrack curated for the exhibits.
Following an enthusiastic applause, many listeners lingered, waiting to speak with the members of the quartet. We were a small crowd, and through the words exchanged between patrons and performers there emerged a shared feeling of gratitude. We were lucky enough to experience this intimate performance from an artist and her band, whose interplay of vocals and instrumentation danced as brightly as those silver sequins reflected on the gallery walls.
(Photo by Derek Cronin)
