Look, I know y’all don’t check for jazz, but I must hip y’all to what is in the running for my favorite concert of 2018. Ferguson native Marcus Baylor and his wife, Jean Baylor, were nominated for two Grammy Awards thanks to their album “The Journey” – and if the Academy voters had seen them in action at The Bistro last weekend, they would have won by a landslide. I feel like out of full transparency that I should let y’all know that I was so obsessed with Jean’s former group Zhane, that I wore finger waves and sang along to the cassette single of “Hey Mr. DJ” as it bumped through my Sony Walkman until it was mysteriously vandalized by a heartless soul who ripped the tape out and stomped it. However, my adoration of The Baylor Project is on the strength of their current album and that glorious live show that effortlessly blended R&B, jazz and gospel too! I heard it was packed all four nights – as it should have been. I love to see the chemistry between Marcus and Jean! Oh, and that “Laugh and Move On” duet between Jean and the saxophone player took my breath away. And that tapered natural she was rocking, was everything – but how could her hair game be anything but cutting edge when she rocked a big chop back in ’96?
