Beverly Jensen Lights Up Lavender Restaurant

Beverly Jensen Leys

Ken Steele

Thom McMorris

This past Friday night, April 1, 2011, we dined at Lavender Restaurant to enjoy their great food and the even greater sounds from Beverly Jensen. As I mentioned before, we have heard Beverly sing a song or two at other entertainment venues we visited.  However, we did not want to miss the chance to hear her headline her own show. Beverly was joined by the wonderful pianist, Herb Mickman who traveled from LA just to play for Beverly.  We sat outside in the patio area even though the temperature at 6:30 pm was still in the 90's. But the heat did not stop Beverly from performing some of the greatest songs ever written in the Great American Songbook.  One of the first songs she sung was the song I rank as my personal favorite of all times;  the great Hoagy Carmichael & Ned Washington chestnut "The Nearness of You". This song was written in 1937 and never gets old.  I loved the way Beverly sang this song, with her soft and silky voice with great attention to the emotion the lyrics express.  A truly a wonderful display of great singing talent.  Next she covered several absolutely great evergreens, "Spring Is Here", "Spring Can Really Hang You Up" and slow tempo "That's All".  I liked the way she sang "Teach Me Tonight" and Beverly did teach us all how well she can sing.  One other number really moved me, the Gershwin classic, "Someone To Watch Over Me".  If you closed your eyes during this song, one could easily hear the soft and lush sounds of Ella Fitzgerald coming from Beverly. If you have a voice as mellow and soft as Ella's, nothing can top that. Thanks for the great evening of music, Beverly!

We also had two guest singers who came up from the audience, Ken Steele and Thom McMorris.  I have heard both of these gentlemen sing before and I was delighted to hear them again. They are both accomplished, professional singers and were welcomed by the many music lovers that were at Lavender to hear Beverly.  It is sometimes hard to explain to people who ask me "why I like spending time in the desert". I think singers like Beverly, Ken and Thom are the answer.  This is where the talented musicians hang out in the winter.  I am renaming the Coachella Valley as "The Winter Home Of Jazz".