Jazz It Up

Friday afternoon, a capella group Retrocity gave a free performance at the Toronto Jazz Festival. Their set was definitely Michael Jackson inspired with Human Nature, Man In a Mirror, Rock With You (appropriately arranged as "Swing With You"), as well as snippets in several medleys. But they didn't neglect other 80s acts including Kate Bush (Cloud Busting), Toto (Africa), Queen (Killer Queen), and the Police (Synchronicity II, King of Pain). There were even some guilty pleasures such as Easy Lover, I Feel For You, and One Night In Bangkok. In a nod to the festival, in addition to Swing With You they performed a gospel and a jazz number.

It wasn't typical Jazz repertoire, but the crowd ate it up especially the Sesame Street Pinball song as well as a Sesame Street medley that started with the Sesame Street theme and then incorporated other children's shows (Mr. Rogers Neighborhood) as well as songs relating to streets and cities. With two standing ovations, and 2 encore calls, they went 15 minutes over their allotted 75-minute set time. But on such a sunny afternoon, no one was looking at their watch.