Soul Jazz Revival

My family is very into jazz, mostly because my younger brother plays the saxophone and forces my parents to listen to his jazz cds in the car, during dinner, and drags them to jazz concerts around the Capital Region...ok, so maybe he doesn't exactly FORCE them to do these things, but when I'm involved its definitely not by will. However, I have come to appreciate jazz and what local musicians do, even if I don't particularly enjoy it on a regular basis.
My brother's saxophone teacher Keith Pray is the leader of various jazz groups that perform throughout the Capital Region, and I thought that covering one of his events would not only show my appreciation for what he does...but it was the only interesting thing going on in Albany last weekend. =)
Spill'n the Beans, the venue where this event was taking place is the cutest, warmest, most delicious coffeehouse I've been to in a long time. Aesthetically its adorable, the comfortable chairs and random decorations make me feel like I'm in a grandmother's living room. The staff is attentive and friendly, and the owner was so so so nice. The food was amazing and the 1/2 of my dad's coffee that I drank 'for him' was way better than Jazzman's and Starbucks.
I actually enjoyed the show. The music wasn't traditional jazz but more soulful. Some of the songs I knew and others just had a sound to them that was captivating even to someone who isn't a jazz fan. Keith is always friendly and was very open and excited to help me in any way he could. The other members of the group were just as nice, especially the drummer. He wanted me to take a photoshoot of him to include with my article...I told him another time.
It was a little difficult to talk to people in the audience because during the show it was too loud to hear the person sitting next to you and I didn't want to disturb people. After the sets were over, a lot of people left so I basically interviewed all the ones that were left. I didn't stay for the entire show because it was over 3 hours long, but the reactions I got from people were pretty much the same: they loved the show and its venue. The contacts I did get gave me great quotes and actually held stimulating and interesting conversations with me. It wasn't awkward to approach people to talk, it was actually felt kind of powerful because I was back in my hometown (sort of) where I'm comfortable and everybody seemed very receptive to the fact that I was completing an assignment for college. Writing the actual story was a little harder because I didn't know what angle I wanted to use and I got severe writer's block and was very unfocused for awhile and got distracted by Spider Solitaire...but overall I think it ended up coming out just fine.

NEWS IDEAS:

Keith Pray leads a very interesting life, he's an educator, a musician, a recording artist, a father, a husband...i think it would cool to find out more about his life and do a mini profile on him.

Troy Night Out is meant to help rejuvenate and bring culture back into Historic Downtown Troy...why does Troy need to be revitalized? It could be interesting to explore this concept and perhaps dig up some good stories.

Comparing the nightlife of Troy to the night life of Albany to the night life of Saratoga could be interesting because they have 3 distinct feels but @ the same time, many similarities...