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Boz Scaggs’ jazz @ Dakota

Posted on November 7th, 2008 – 2:19 AM
By Jon Bream

Seventies soul man Boz Scaggs admits that he’s not a jazz singer. But he certainly got a soldout crowd all jazzed Thursday at the Dakota Jazz Club, at the fourth and last of his shows.

The stars of the night were, quite frankly, the arrangements of keyboardist Gil Goldstein and the playing of Scaggs’ excellent combo. Boz’s familiar voice cut through the impressionistic playing like a foghorn on a foggy night in San Francisco. He doesn’t have the phrasing and technique of a jazz singer but he certainly had the women swooning, especially when he interpreted any of his pop favorites.

Slowed down and stripped of its melody, “Lowdown” sounded a bit like a Steely Dan piece. “Harbor Lights” took on different flavors like immigrants arriving on boats — a little gypsy here, a little Jamaican there, an accordion solo by Goldstein to start it, a penny wistle solo by Paul McCandless of Oregon fame to end it. Boz even did a blues number, “Baby’s Callin Me Home,” that he’d recorded with the Steve Miller Band in the late 1960s. But the best recasting was “Look What You’ve Done to Me,” which was as slowly seductive as burning embers, fueled by Scaggs’ most emotional vocal of the 80-minute set.

The well-traveled San Fran resident also did some jazz numbers, including Jobim’s “Dindi” and “Speak Low,” the title track of his brand-new and second jazz CD. “This Time The Dreams on Me,” sort of a duet with backup singer Monet, was a melodic treat.

Deserving of special recognition were keyboardist/arranger Goldstein and reedmen Bob Sheppard and McCandless (loved his solo on Norwegian flute), whose playing truly framed the tunes.

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One response to "Boz Scaggs’ jazz @ Dakota"

wiffle says:

November 7th, 2008 at 8:33 pm

1. Mostly agree with the review, althogh I found Boz’s vocals excellent all night.
2. There is no such place as “San Fran”; its usage sounds even more hayseed than “Frisco”. Please refrain in the future.
Thank you.