Bradley Fair Summer Jazz Concert Series

Joseph Vincelli

JOSEPH VINCELLI
Bradley Fair Summer Jazz Concert Series/Smoky Hill River Festival
© Lydia Lowe  6/7-8/2012

     On Thursday, June 7, one of my favorite performers, Joseph Vincelli kicked off the the Bradley Fair Summer Jazz Concert Series in Wichita, KS.  Then on Friday, June 8, he was off to Salina to perform at The Smoky Hill River Festival.  What a treat!  

     The first time I heard Vincelli in concert, he was at Bradley Fair.  I happened to mention this to him when I got a chance to talk to him, and he said that he started doing concerts at Bradley Fair twelve years ago.  He was excited and looking forward to playing the next few days in Salina at the river festival.  It’s become somewhat of a circuit for him and a given that he’ll do both.  That’s been going on now for about three years.

     Vincelli did several performances during the four-day festival.  I happened to catch two of them.  It was refreshing to see that he changed up his performance each time he played.  Adding in new songs and changing the order of the songs that he played from one performance to another.  Vincelli is noted for his saxophone but he also played the flute as well, and it was lovely.  He roams the crowd during his performances and really works the music for all it's worth.

     This year, Vincelli once again roamed around the grounds of the festival for impromptu performances.  I was walking around and would hear that saxophone and the next thing I knew, there he was under a tree, just playing away.  This year he had planned to roam the festival only and was not scheduled to play on any stages, but a last minute cancellation opened up Stage II and he filled the time.  Unfortunately his band didn’t make the trip, but he played along with his tracks and they served as his back-up band.  It was a wonderful bonus.

     Joseph Vincelli has a new CD out, "The Invitation", and it is available on his website.  Check it out and if you get a chance to hear him perform live, make sure that you do.  He is awesome to hear and see in person.