When I conjure up images of a jazz club at night, I think of dark and tony places with spotty lighting and at least four walls. First Saturday jazz at The Independent isn't like that. I don’t think I've ever attended a jazz show where the band was playing under the canopy of a renovated service station with the keyboard 20 feet from passing traffic.
But Saturday it worked. Denise Moore appeared for two sets at The Independent to a moderate-sized but appreciative crowd. The vocalist was accompanied by veteran jazz pianist Billy Marcus and energetic bassist Alejandro Arenas.
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.