Independent LivingA Jazzy Night for Brightmore Residents
February 6, 2019
Brightmore attended the 39th Annual Opening Night of the NC Jazz Festival this past Thursday evening at the Hotel Ballast in Downtown Wilmington! It was an evening of celebration, not only because of the amazing talent that was opening this weekend-long festival, but because we were all there to celebrate the life and memory of a Wilmington Jazz Icon, Grenoldo Frazier. Grenoldo was originally scheduled to open the evening up, however he passed away on December 29th. El Jaye Johnson and friends played an amazing tribute to Grenoldo’s memory and ended with a beautiful jazz rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” You could definitely feel the love in the room as they ended their set on that piece. The next group changed the feel immediately and took us on a trip to Rio de Janeiro as we listened to Brazilian jazz! The Jazz festival gave us all a wonderful evening of some true New Orleans sounds, to more recent funky jazz, and then finishing off with a slow samba jazz. Brightmore left feeling very excited to have seen so much talent in one room. We are looking forward to next year!