Mindi Abair's "I Can't Wait for Christmas"

With Vincent Ingala (Sax), Adam Hawley (Acoustic Guitar) and Lindsay Webster (Singer-Songwriter) at Lyric Theater in Stuart, Florida, December 15, 2022

Thursday evening was a time to escape the horrors of Elon Musk, Trump, Putin, the GOP, and Kevin McCarthy learning to speak so he can be Speaker.

We attended a great show at the Lyric Theater in Stuart, Florida hosted by the great Mindi Abair playing sax and leading her band, with stellar saxophonist Vincent Ingala, acoustic guitar player Adam Hawley and singer-songwriter Lindsay Webster together with an excellent keyboard artist, drummer and base guitar.

The program was an interesting mix of genres and styles, and of course as the title suggests, with a focus on Christmas music. The first half was a combination of traditional Christmas music together with Christmas songs done in a strong contemporary jazz mode. The second half was all contemporary jazz together with some Latin and African melodies. But all were played with a strong driving sound and great harmonies that got the audience clapping to the beat.

Mindi is a Saxophonist and two-time Grammy nominee, and as she described herself a “Christmas dork.” She has played Sax with Paul Shaffer’s band on The Late Show with David Letterman and on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. She played with Aerosmith doing solo saxophone numbers. She has received two No. 1 Spots on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album. She won in 2019 the L.A Critics Award for the Best Holliday Album for “All I Got for Christmas is the Blues.” Her lead song “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” together with the band is available on ITunes or Apple Music, whatever they call it today. Many of her other albums are there too.

Vincent Ingala plays a wide variety of instruments focusing on tenor sax and including piano, drums, guitar, bass and lead vocals. He has a new album “Fire & Desire” which I downloaded after the concert from ITunes-Apple. Vincent has a real command of his instruments and during the performance he did a lot of dancing around the stage while playing the sax. He has infectious spirit which is great for the holiday season. He has played with Dave Koz and Chris Botti. He has had multiple listings at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts (formerly smooth jazz).

Guitarist Adam Hawley is an innovative artist, composer and band leader. He was named Smooth Jazz News and JazzTrax Debut Artist of the Year. His first two albums, also on ITunes, “Double Vision” and “Just the Beginning” included six number one hits, an impressive achievement. His 2020 album is “Escape” which includes the 2020 Billboard Song of the Year, “To the Top.” His latest album is “Risin’ Up” featuring Steve Cole, Vincent Ingala, Julian Vaughn, Riley Richard and Kat Hawley. Adam has a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Southern California.

Lindsay Webster grew up in the artist community in Woodstock, NY. She pursued a medical school education but then left for music. In 2016 she recorded “Fool Me Once” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. She was crowned Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Artist of the Year for two consecutive years. She has been compared to Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

Needless to say this is a highly accomplished group of talent in Contemporary Jazz. Their rhythm and beat and overall strong performances got clapping and sing along from the audience, which were about one to two generations advanced from the artists with a few Gen Z’s thrown in. Mindi is closer to my generation, but she has more energy.

How better to celebrate the holiday season than spirited songs and tunes by highly accomplished, talented and energetic musicians.

Mindi and the band have an extensive tour schedule through February which you can find on her website: www.mindiabair.com/tour

Performances in Clearwater and Altamonte Springs, FL; San Diego; Oakland; Fresno; Tucson with Rick Braun for New Years Eve; a Smooth Jazz Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale; White Rock, Canada; Seattle, Daytona Jazz Fest; the Berks Jazz Festival in Reading, PA. and Atlanta. Details and locations are on her website.

So swing and rock with Mindi and the band. You’ll escape the worldly travails on which we spend too much time. Have a good time.

Some of Mindi’s albums are produced by “Pretty Good For a Girl Records.”