One of the things we did for our 10th anniversary was head over to the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center to watch a great show called ‘The Beats of NYC: A Jazz Journey Through Dance, Rhythm and Rhyme‘. Put together by music director Ali Jackson, it was an ambitious mix of jazz, gospel, spoken word, African rhythms, modern dance, interpretive dance and tap dance that explored a number of elements that influenced jazz, and especially the blues, as we know it today. And it worked spectacularly.

Tanu called it the best musical show she has ever been to. I wouldn’t go quite that far (I’m still partial to ‘Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk‘ that introduced me to the great Savion Glover), but it is up in my top 4 or 5. The setting was especially intimate for us because we were in the very front row in the center, and that was on the floor where they were performing (no stage). So we were literally inches away from the performers. And you could feel their power and energy as they thundered away, especially the tap crew. I have never really appreciated spoken word, but I loved the performances here, especially the powerful “New Orleans” as performed by Jessica Care Moore. The Senegalese dance was cute and especially appropriate for our anniversary. And the solo performed by Ali Jackson himself was superb.

I hope Ali takes this show on the road, because it was truly wonderful, and it would be great if others could experience it as well. Truly an evening we won’t forget.