Coming up next, on Thursday, August 5 - Quite an honor -- Yours truly has been invited to sing the National Anthem at the centennial celebration marking the 100th anniversary of Provincetown's Pilgrim Monument   beginning promptly at 1pm. For those that don't know (which means most of you), the Pilgrims FIRST landed on Cape Cod for a bit of time and later moved on across the bay to Plymouth, the town that gets all the credit! The Pilgrim Monument commemorates the history of the Mayflower Pilgrims, their arrival and stay in Provincetown Harbor, and the signing of the Mayflower Compact. The Governor will be there as well as many other dignitaries. Come celebrate this historic event with us.

What an incredible night at the Cape Cod Jazz Festival  on July 21 in beautiful Chatham, MA. This is a summer long concert series held on the beautiful grounds of The Wequassett Resort and Golf Club  where you can make a relaxed and stylish evening of it right on the water with a fabulous dinner and even better show (blush blush) and then head back to your divine accommodations right on the property for the night. I was joined by the magnificent Fred Boyle on piano, Chris Rathbun on bass and Bart Weisman on drums - my beloved local boys, and we blew the roof off the joint, folks. Definitely check out the other artists in the series, too - among them, my dear friend the smokey, steamy, sultry and powerful KJ Denhert  who appears August 10 (I'll be there, for sure) and the stunningly brilliant trumpeter Lou Columbo who has played with all the best out there for the last many decades. Some of you may remember we shared a stage a few years ago at The Provincetown Jazz Festival and brought the house down. A warm welcome to all the newbies we grabbed up that amazing night on July 21. Thanks for being there. We look forward to seeing you again out and about soon!

Whoa Nellie it's been steamin' hot out there, hasn't it! I've been in Maine, DC, and Wisconsin recently and no one has been spared! Every trip has been great fun, brought great crowds and great tunes -including in Madison where I headlined at the 35th annual National Women's Music Festival where all are welcome in the audience but the point of the festival's existence is to feature women artists on stage, including lots of up and coming new artists just breaking onto the scene. What a thrill and a great kick to be a seasoned veteran (Yow. How did THAT happen so fast?) and connect with the newbies jumping into the ring. Bravo, sisters! Serious kudos to the organizers and producers for keeping such a powerful event alive and providing the opportunity for artists to be heard, to connect and get exposure to new audiences. Bravo, Women in the Arts and congrats on the first 35 years! Thanks for letting me be a part of it all.

Among several exciting new artists I discovered at NWMF (see above), I had the extreme pleasure of working with extraordinary pianist Julie Bonk  who hails from Dallas, Texas. In addition to being an incredible musician she holds the distinction of being Norah Jones' piano teacher (and a better player). What a total musical 'ka-ching' that is for us both (and a sincerely kind and generous soul as well)! We met the evening we both arrived at the festival and grabbed the baby grand after the last set that night to get acquainted. Next thing you know it was 4am and venue security asked us to move along so he could lock up. What a wonderdrug that jam was! I'm still reeling! I look forward to working with Julie as much and as often as possible. Those in the audience in Madison saw the magic (4 standing O's during the set, people) and I hope you soon will, too.

There are lots of other shows still in the works including but not limited to Birdland in NYC, Seattle, LA, Kansas City, and San Francisco's fabulous Rrazz Room! We'll keep you posted here but sign up for the private email list just above to be sure to get first notice and the chance for the best seats. As always, more specifics can be found by scrolling down to the calendar below.

A general reminder, my peeps -- If you can't be with us at upcoming shows but know someone in the areas we're getting to please be sure to pass the word along. We depend on the kindness of your sharing to keep growing the Diva's following far and wide. How else will I become a household name, people?

In recent news, oh BOY were the Philly shows great fun recently. JUST what the doctor ordered. Many thanks to all who came out to make a grand evening at both full shows! Then you filled the house in Boston, MA on a school night for our return to Boston's famous Scullers Jazz Club  with the great Freddie Boyle on piano and Chris Rathbun on bass. What a blast we had. As you know, world renowned Scullers is where the DVD that got such great attention on national PBS was recorded live. Then Ogunquit, ME, Washington, DC, the midwest - all been just great, thanks to YOU!

Did you hear the BIG NEWS from our Easily Suede family? Our own Max Murray (bassist) won the 2009 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album for a CD with one of his other bands - Afro Bop Alliance.   Way to go, Maxman!!!! Very, very cool!

In other somewhat recent news:

Marking 25 years as an independent artist, producer, founder and CEO of Easily Suede Music, I am proud to announce that Dangerous Mood, the new CD recorded with my own hand picked big band, is now available. Your copies of Dangerous Mood, along with the rest of the Suede collection, can be purchased in the Suedewave.com store ! For a mail order form, please send an email to suedewave@aol.com or you can find a printable version in the store. 

As the saying goes...And now, let's get on with the show!

See you out there!

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