New Orleans Native Dazzles Crowd

The large crowd on the Green on Thursday was treated to another enjoyable evening of smooth jazz with the soul-searching music performed by New Orleans native Vandell Andrew.

The young alto saxophonist hails from the ​“Birthplace of Jazz.” At the age of 13, he attended a jazz summer camp where he was introduced to the trumpet. A camp teacher suggested he try the saxophone as well, and as they say, ​“the rest is history.” This couple would agree.

After Andrew and his group took the stage on Thursday to a crowd of about 700, they began their first set with the popular ​“After the Storm” the number 1 song on Andrew’s debut album, ​“Years Later.”

The song served him well. After they completed it, Andrew told the audience that although he grew up in New Orleans, he left town in 2005 and headed to Texas ​“after the storm” called Hurricane Katrina. ​“Dallas is where I live now,” he told the audience.

Andrew was joined on stage by Alex Durant on drums, Hayward Matthews on piano, and Kenji Tokunaga on bass guitar.

In addition, from his 2014 album ​“Turn it Up,” the group played several up-tempo high energy instrumental songs such as ​“On the Go” and ​“Let’s Ride.” The Monument crowd loved it.

The evening brought old friends together. Here retired teacher J Palluzzi reunited with former exchange student Patricia Zimbardi from Brazil.

Four friends loved making it a night out on the town. 

Two friends ​“cut a rug” to the music.

Paul DelGobbo of North Branford, a regular at the jazz concerts, was very impressed with the group. After the concert he said, ​“I liked this group tonight very much, the young man (Andrew) is very good. He can play.” Here Andrew takes his music out to the crowd.

He added, ​“You guys have a good track record of bringing in quality groups every week.” He then offered to make a ​“Get Jazzed” online donation to support the series.

This week’s concert, ​“Dr. Joe and Friends,” features Dr. Joseph Cardinale and his daughter Elise. The music starts at 6:30 pm.

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