21st Amendment Bar & Grill, Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street S.W. Washington, DC 2002
Stan Cooper had asked me to come out and see them a while ago, and I finally have improved my sleep to the point where I could. He had told me that it was Smooth Jazz, but Funky. For the most part, it wasn't that smooth, which I am glad for (I really don't like much Smooth Jazz).
I had trouble finding a seat at first - I had to wait for 2 guys to leave. As soon as I sat down, a guy named Elvin asked if he could also sit down. He was a regular there. He later had 2 lady friends: Tinda and Jamese join us.
Marcus Johnson Project
Marcus, Phillip, Stan, David
Picture taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich
Started around 6:15 PM.
The line up was: Marcus Johnson (keyboard), Stan Cooper (guitar), David Dyson (bass), Phillip Martin (Sax), Jason "Super Star" Holt? (drummer), Kenny Markham? (percussionist).
In my opinion, they were defined as Smooth Jazz based on the play of Phillip and to a lesser extent, Marcus. However, neither Phillip nor Marcus only played smooth. Outside, it was raining hard and was windy. There were a lot of nice solos by the different band members. Marcus mentioned how David had his own line of basses. Phillip walked around during one song during both sets. Marcus introduced a couple of the songs: 18th & M and Maxin (he said was his first song, from Lessons in Love). The first set ended around 7:12.
Elvin purchased CDs for both the ladies. When Marcus came over and autographed them, he said to me, "I hear you like GoGo."
The second set started around 7:45. Some of the songs had a Caribbean feel to them. Marcus introduced My Caddy from his upcoming album Phoenix, due out on July 17th; Marcus talked about his single on XM Radio. Elvin talked about Tinda and Jamese. He said Black women are the best, that "they will change your religion." He said I needed to get in by getting a shrimp from Jamese's cocktail. I said, "Only if she hand feeds me." He liked that; and then she did it. Marcus did a shout out to police officers at the 21st Amendment; then he said, "I still need to get mine in". When Kenny did a solo, Phillip moved a mic stand over the congas. They were done around 9:13. I definitely enjoyed it.
