Jazz performers out of Richmond, Virginia, came to perform in Florence on Feb. 1 at the FMU Performing Arts Center (PAC) Black Box Theater.
Headlining the show was Desiree Roots, who provided the vocals for the performance. Accompanying Roots was Richmond pianist W. Weldon Hill and a bassist and drummer. Together, they made up a jazz and blues ensemble for the community.
The Black Box Theater was full of attendees, as there were no vacant seats. Despite the room being at maximum capacity, the acoustics in the room worked well with the jazz music.
At the beginning of the show, Roots talked about her struggles growing up. She told the audience that no matter how tough times are, they need to keep holding on. Of the songs performed, one was about this very topic.
Throughout the jazz concert, Roots interacted frequently with the audience members. She mentioned the love she has for different jazz artists and the audience reacted positively with applause when she mentioned certain names. Roots said that for Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday anniversary, she wanted to perform one of Fitzgerald’s songs.
Roots told the audience that while she performed the song at Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday anniversary, someone in the audience was supposed to critique her. She shared how nervous she was about it at the time and then mentioned that the critic actually said something positive about her. After that story, she sang Fitzgerald’s song and received roaring applause from the audience.
In the middle of the show, Roots talked about her love for European classical music. She mentioned that years ago, while she was in college, her boyfriend at the time said that she should stick to either jazz or European classical. However, Roots wanted to prove that both European classical and jazz can mix well together. So, she wrote a song that had a mixture of both genres.
Her voice exemplified the range and emotions necessary to pull off such a strange mix of genres. After the show, audience members spoke about how they wished there was more of this genre mix present throughout the show.
At the end of the performance, Roots made a customizable song and named it “The Francis Marion Blues.” She asked the audience if they wanted it to be a happy or sad blues song to reflect the community. The audience collectively decided the best reflection would be a happy song.
Roots asked four audience members what was one thing that made them happy. The first audience member said dancing made him happy, the second said family made her happy, the third said music made him happy and the fourth simply said pizza.
The night ended with this song about dancing, family, music and pizza. Roots asked the previous audience members to come up and sing the new song with her, ending the show in a fun way for the audience. After her performance, Roots received one last roaring applause.
For more information on upcoming PAC events, one can visit their website or their page on the official FMU website.