Dawn Lambeth & The Usonia Jazz Band

Last week we ventured south to the city of Lompoc to play the first concert in a summer series of jazz concerts produced by the public library. I had no idea what to expect, and was very pleasantly surprised by the attentive crowd that turned out for our concert, despite the cool weather and overlapping time with another music festival down the street. Interest had obviously been piqued by the well received jazz lectures given by Fred Friedman at the library earlier in the year.

Most of our performances tend to be of a more background music nature, and it was a lot of fun to get a chance to interact with the crowd, speak a little bit about the music, and see people actively listening and singing along. Many, many thanks to my dear friend, Clint Baker, who was able to interject plenty of amusing historical anecdotes into our performance.

To our new found friends in LomPOKE, thanks so much for the warm and enthusiastic welcome!!!

Dave and I had a great evening last Friday night, entertaining on the Papagallo yacht. If you haven’t yet been on the yacht, it’s a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, or just spend a lazy, lost afternoon. We’ve done a number of private and public events on board, and without exception they’ve been great parties. The crew is friendly and inviting, Midge is the hostess with the mostess, chef Len’s food is terrific, and Dennis is rumored to be generous at the bar. The yacht can only hold about 30 people, and so the trip always feels like an intimate private cruise.

We’ll set sail next on Sunday October 14th, from 1-4pm, and I’m on the lookout for the perfect vintage sailor dress!

We’ll be hitting all corners of the county in the next few weeks, with public performances in Shell Beach, Baywood Park, Atascadero, and San Luis. Tonight I’ll be at the Carlton hotel, and on Sunday we’ll start the day poolside at the Cliffs and finish off with cocktails at Blue. Catch all the details on our calendar.

Back in March we played for the Dazzling Diamond Ball, a benefit for the Hospice Partners of the Central Coast. I finally remembered to ask for some photos, and they were so cool I had to put them up. We were honored to be asked to perform for this prestigious fundraiser, and I loved being a part of an event planned with such care and creativity. M.C. and event designer Mark Padgett, along with Corinne Smith out did themselves transforming a vanilla banquet hall into this eye popping tropical hot spot evoking a 1940’s Havana nightclub. We dug being framed by the arch and palm trees, and Ken Wagner’s lighting set the nightclub feel. Julie Wilson captured the energy in her technicolor photos.

We don’t, unfortunately, play salsa or other authentic Cuban music, so we branched out of our regular swing repertoire to play some fun, Latin and Cuba inspired tunes from the period, including “I’ll See You In C-U-B-A”, “Besame Mucho”, “Siboney”, “Amor, Amor” “Green Eyes” and “Cuban Love Song”.

I’m kicking myself I neglected to get a photo of my outfit for the evening, a vintage Mexican hand painted skirt from the great online store Blue Velvet Vintage!

October finds Dawn and the gang entertaining throughout the county, playing for candlelight dinners, cruises of Morro Bay, and the Paso Robles Harvest Festival.

Wine lovers, get your tickets today to the Zenaida Cellar's Harvest dinner on Friday, October 19th. Spend a lovely fall evening taking in the gorgeous view at Zenaida winery. Enjoy a courtyard fire, Tapas-style dinner catered by Trumpet Vine Catering, and live music with the Usonia Jazz Band.

Fans of the hot ‘30s swing music of Django Reinhardt won‘t want to miss our free Swing in the Colony performance on Saturday, October 20th in Atascadero, when we will be joined by LA based master guitarist John Reynolds and his brother Ralf, who is one of the world’s greatest jazz washboard players. Grandsons of the silent screen star Zazu Pitts, both brothers are veterans of over 30 years of entertaining and have worked with musical greats including Cab Calloway, John Jorgensen, and the Smothers Brothers and had long residencies at Disneyland.

More info about all our upcoming events can be found on our calendar.