I ushered tonight for a concert that I was not prepared for. It was advertised as Doc Watkins with Strings. It said he was playing with the Classical Music Institute Orchestra. There wasn't a program, but it listed Bernstein, Gershwin and Debussy.
I'm thinking classical music. Nope. It was a swinging, Sinatra-style evening with a jazz combo playing in front of a string orchestra that was probably made up of students. Everyone was excellent, and the music was out of this world. He did songs like Nat King Cole's Frim Fram Sauce, Tom Waits' Picture in a Frame, Nat Adderley, some original tunes and yes, works by Bernstein, Gershwin and Debussy.