06/01/2024
The Atlanta Music Club concluded their 2023-2024 concert season with a wonderful concert at the home of Dave and Melissa Pope in Brookhaven on Sunday, May 19th. The first half of the concert featured the distinguished Atlanta based trumpeter and vocalist, Joe Gransden in a duo with accomplished pianist Kenny Banks Sr. The duo performed a variety of tunes including tracks from their recently released recording, “The Art of The Song”. They opened the set with Cole Porter’s “What is This Thing Called Love” followed by Johnny Richards’ “Young at Heart”, and EJ Swan’s “When Your Lover Has Gone”. The duo also performed an impromptu blues which Gransden dubbed “The Jenny Ham Blues” in honor of the esteemed outgoing AMC President, Jenny Ham. They also covered Paul Barbarin’s “Bourbon Street Parade” and a ballad version of Michel Legrand’s “I Will Wait for You”. Joe and Kenny perform regularly in the Atlanta area as well as throughout the Southeast at venues such as Middle C Jazz Club in Charlotte and The Jazz Corner in Hilton Head.
The second half of the concert featured the The Joe Gransden Quartet with Atlanta bassist Neal Starkey and drummer Dave Pope. The Quartet performed several jazz classics including Nat Simon’s “Poinciana”, Marvin Fisher’s “When Sunny Gets Blue”, and an upbeat version of Henry Mancini’s “Days of Wine and Roses”. Gransden paid another tribute to AMC’s President, Jenny Ham with Jimmy Van-Huesen’s “Nancy (With the Laughing Face)” substituting the name “Jenny” for “Nancy”. The concert was standing room only and another example of the great performances sponsored by the Atlanta Music Club. We would like to extend a special thanks to Jenny for commitment and support of these Jazz performances during her tenure.