On any stormy, gray faux spring Sunday, nothing beats the blahs like going to hear some live music. And live it is at The Northside Café on Boyd Acres Road with jazz from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m on most Sundays.
It’s mellow, easy swinging jazz under the guidance of local master guitarist Robert Lee Hoover with Lisa Dae on vocals, Aaron Moore on bass, and this past Sunday, Rod Norman, sitting in on drums.
The group plays mostly standards and passes on being flashy while delivering solid straight ahead playing. Nowhere is this more evident than in Dae’s vocals. She relies on a beautiful voice and avoids all the modern girl singer pyrotechnics from excessive vibrato to straining for high notes as if they’re necessary to make a song live.
Hoover is a wonder, a smooth player who when he’s not playing jazz of blues to perfection, he teaches guitar at the Cascade School of Music. If ever a player looked the part of the well-traveled session/club musician, Hoover is it.
So come Sunday, head over to the Northside for good music, quaffs and eats. It sure beats staring at gray skies.
