Elle Varner Chicago Concert reviews
Incredible energy and talent!
Under the stars, what a great summer evening! Dave Koz and Brian Culbertson set the musical tone for the show, incredibly talented not only on musical instruments but as truly show people. Following the dynamite production of Koz and Culbertson, Elle Varner came on. Outside of all being great jazz musicians, this was all these performers had in common. Although Elle Varner is such a talented musician, songwriter/arranger, and vocalist, her monotone monologues about put this late-night crowd to sleep. Stage presence is not her strong suit. There seemed to be a few inside jokes and something going on between the guitarist and herself. She would tend to mumble. Nevertheless, I waited eagerly for her ballads, wish there were more as we had many jazz sets from Koz and Culbertson. For jazz lovers, I would still recommend this event. They had great communication with their audience.