nothin New Haven Independent | Opius Bliss and Michelle Walker: Worth the…

Opius Bliss and Michelle Walker: Worth the Wait

Bill O’Brien Photo

Opius Bliss, featuring Michelle Walker, were scheduled to perform July 7, but Mother Nature intervened and the concert was cancelled.
Thanks to the jazz committee and Walker and the members of her group, they decided to give it a second try and agreed to a makeup concert this past Thursday. It was worth the wait.

Bill O’Brien Photo

The talented group was highly touted and over the years has opened on tours for some well-known groups such as Spyro Gyra, George Benson, Chris Botti, and Wynton Marsalis. On Thursday they opened and played for the crowd on the Green.

Bill O’Brien Photo

According to the pre-concert release for the group, What do you get when you combine a group of highly creative, improvising jazz instrumentalists with a charismatic singer that uses an artful blend of blues, bebop, swing and soul with playful rhythmic expressiveness? You get an energetic, unique and soul-stirring group known as Opius Bliss.”

Bill O’Brien Photo

Indeed. Members of the lively group besides Ms Walker included Michael O’Brien on bass; Andrew Atkinson, drums; Jason Ennis, guitar; and Steve Ide, guitar. Ide played early on with Arlo Guthrie and his bands Shenandoah” and Bluestars,” both of which were popular in the 1980s and 90s.

Bill O’Brien Photo

The Rev. Bill Keane served as the master of ceremonies.

Bill O’Brien Photo

Walker, who is based in New York City and studied classical voice at the University of Maryland, has recorded three albums to date, Slow Down,” You’ve Got a Friend,” and her latest, Love Misery” in 2015. Her seductive interludes included 50 Ways,” and Hello.” She closed her performance with the lively Love Misery” from her album of the same name. 

We heard that the Branford Jazz Series was a good stop,” said Walker. We were disappointed we couldn’t play last month so we were pleased to be able to reschedule our concert and perform tonight.”

Bill O’Brien Photo

Some folks arrived early to set up. These folks said they were at 2 p.m.

Bill O’Brien Photo

These friends met up on the green for an evening of good jazz.

Bill O’Brien Photo

Pop-up refreshments were everywhere.

Bill O’Brien Photo

Babies, too.

Bill O’Brien Photo

The series was scheduled to end last week with the Lao Tizer Concert, but both Opius Bliss and Saxtet, which was postponed on Aug. 11, agreed to come back. Here Opius Bliss takes a bow.

Saxtet will end this year’s series this Thursday. Their concert will begin at 6 p.m. instead of the usual 6:30 p.m. starting time.

###

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

There were no comments