I noticed that as well. The first time he did it, I was like WITW?? Then he kept doing it! Donka Donk is right and he swings his sax over his head! LOL! The music was ok. Pretty much 'cookie cutter' smooth jazz but he had an excellent band, as most of the artists do! I think because it was more 'funk' based is why it went over well in Norfolk. Surprisingly, Ken Navarro got a pretty good reception without benefit of any 'funk' like tunes. He had Jaye Rowe and Tommy Kennedy in the band and as always, Tommy went off on one of his 'speed' solos that everyone goes nuts over!

The assumption that artists have to play down to the audience in order to "go over" is the sorry state of affairs that far too many "smooth" jazz musicians have lowered themselves too. When damcing saxophonists and cookie cutter music are what constitutes a successful performance,well..what can I say? The audience gets exactly what it deserves. But as far as I'm concerned, when a musician takes the low musical road, they are an entertainer, not an artist and their future and the longevity of their music is limited.

My memory of my show at Norfolk Jazz festival was that we played from the heart and dug deep into the music. It felt great and the audeince got it big time and I sold and signed CDs for 90 minutes after the show. It has been my expereince over and over again that audiences from all georgraphies and demographics react very positively to music created from the heart and soul. And they relate to it in a deep and meaningful way.

One final thought - making music is not a popularity contest. And a quiet audience at rapt attention is just as powerful as a loud, dancing one.

Good points, Ken! I thoroughly enjoyed your portion of the show! Quality music! And thank you for talking with me and signing my cd's!

If I go see Boney or the Ripps again, it will be if they play in a a smaller venue. There were times when I was sitting in the audience, with Russ and the rest of the band, and even Boney appearing as tiny ants on the stage, it was more like listening to a CD.

I think Jumbo-trons would've made the experience more connecting, although I expect they are very expensive, and perhaps that's why.

But at $24.00 a ticket, it was still a good night out.

Also, they were in fact billed as co-headliners in many of the radio announcements I heard driving back and forth to work over the promotional period -- in spite of what the print said. (I spend about 5 hours a week listening to the local radio station, so I heard this several times)


We're fortunate here in Orlando -- major artists come to the Plaza theatre which is only 20 minutes from my home, and the seating is proably less than a thousand people. Boney actual came into the audience and walked across the armchair seats in an empty row as part of the concert -- with security nervously following him. There's something about being close to them when they are playing that intensifies the experience -- when they are WAY up there, you lose something.