Serpentine Jazz w/ Serpentine Arborvitae & Steve Davidowski at Monte Vista Hotel

Jazz vocalist Serpentine Arborvitae and pianist Steve Davidowski.

" I first learned of local jazz singer Serpentine Arborvitae from two very respected local jazz instrumentalists, whose enthusiasm was atypically unqualified. I finally caught Serpentine with a superb piano trio at Black Mountain's Monte Vista Hotel and got a feel for the breadth of styles and repertoire which she has mastered.

Serpentine 's talent is much wider than the limits implied by the term "jazz singer," though that is the core of her current repertoire. Her vocalizing techniques include Eastern European, Arabic ululation and Indian influences. All this is backed by a fierce emotional investment, or by a keen-witted sense of fun in the breezier songs. I.e., Serpentine brings fresh perspectives and LIFE to all these diverse songs....

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Jazz vocalist Serpentine Arborvitae and pianist Steve Davidowski.

" I first learned of local jazz singer Serpentine Arborvitae from two very respected local jazz instrumentalists, whose enthusiasm was atypically unqualified. I finally caught Serpentine with a superb piano trio at Black Mountain's Monte Vista Hotel and got a feel for the breadth of styles and repertoire which she has mastered.

Serpentine 's talent is much wider than the limits implied by the term "jazz singer," though that is the core of her current repertoire. Her vocalizing techniques include Eastern European, Arabic ululation and Indian influences. All this is backed by a fierce emotional investment, or by a keen-witted sense of fun in the breezier songs. I.e., Serpentine brings fresh perspectives and LIFE to all these diverse songs.

More recently, I've caught Serpentine 's act at the Monte Vista's 2013/14 New Year's Eve show, and her big-stage debut at the Isis Music Hall in West Asheville. Both were unforgettable occasions, on their different levels. The Monte Vista show was of course far more intimate, allowing Serpentine to banter with her audience throughout the evening. At the Isis show she knocked us out with a performance that ranged from earth shattering to wistful, and most points in-between. To sum it up, Serpentine Arborvitae is a true vocal artist, and an entertainer in the now-lost sense of the term (not in the shallow TV/celebrity sense)... you go away after her show with a sense that you've shared in a very special experience, and you keep that memory long afterward " by Bill Vindal

Steve Davidowski is a one-of-a-kind talent. Classically trained at the Eastman School of Music, Davidowski was a member of the pioneering southern jazz-rock group The Dixie Dregs in the mid-1970s. Over the years he has put his keyboard and woodwind talents to work for the likes of Vassar Clements, Jerry Reed, David Allan Coe, as well as area performers Todd Wright, Kat Williams, Firecracker Jazz Band and others. Teaming up with drummer Robin Tolleson (Hipbones, Secret B-Sides, Big Block Dodge, Patrick O’Hearn), Davidowski draws from his love of jazz, blues, gospel, Latin and Appalachian traditions, and takes listeners on an unforgettable musical journey

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