SFJAZZ presents the Acoustic Duo featuring Jenny Scheinman and Myra Melford
Joe Henderson Lab
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
Early Show, 7:00 PM, Friday, September 8, 2017

[7:02 PM lights down, announcements from Maya Finlay, band out]

1. [7:05 PM] Shalagaster ♥
2. [7:12 PM] (unidentified blues from the Shalagaster CD)
3. [7:19 PM] That's Delight
4. [7:23 PM] I'm With Her
5. [7:32 PM] (unidentified tune from the Here on Earth CD)
6. [7:37 PM] July 10th in 3/4 ‡♥ »
7. [7:42 PM] 13 days ‡♥
8. [7:47 PM] the Strawberry
9. [7:52 PM] Rowan ♥
10. [7:57 PM] (new tune, tentatively titled Peaceful One) ‡
    [set ends 8:05 PM; bows, then off in a minute or two]

• Myra Melford: piano, ♥ harmonium;
• Jenny Scheinman: violin, ‡ octave violin.

As the first show in my season's choices from SFJAZZ, I was really looking forward to this event, and wow, was it great! Myra and Jenny cast their spell across the room from the very start, and swept us away into another realm. It's hard to be distracted by the petty cares and anxieties of daily life when you can step into an illuminated space of purity and light spun from the heartstrings of musical masters such as these. If only that feeling could be built to last…

Sadly, while I noticed Jenny switching instruments during the first half of the show, I didn't really catch on that they were different until midway through. Turns out that about half the tunes were performed on an instrument she described as an octave violin, tuned an octave lower than a conventional violin through use of special heavy gauge strings. Darol Anger penned a magazine article in 1992 talking about his discovery and use of this instrument – it's a good read if you're interested!

The set was super fun, and while I would have liked to stay for the late show like my friends Jim and Joan – ain't nothing wrong with taking a second helping of bliss, right? – but knowing that Saturday was going to be a very busy day helped me decide that one set was enough for tonight.

As usual, Maya had the sound dialed in just perfectly: full and loud, but without being obtrusively amplified. Kudos to her for doing such a great job in that department!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!