The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is always a beautiful venue to inhabit.  But on Friday night, it returned to the Roaring ’20s….or the “Twenties 2.0” as MC Michael Cunio reminded us. Against the stunning backdrop of this venue, flappers, pin-up girls, and zoot suits reigned supreme. What was a feast for our eyes, soon became a feast for our ears as we settled in for one of the most unique musical experiences currently available, Post Modern Jukebox.

Since 2009 PMJ has been wowing audiences with its ability to take just about any music, from Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica and The White Stripes to The Buggles, Billy Idol, and Christina Aguilera and turn it into a cornucopia of jazz, swing, ragtime, and soul. The result is sometimes haunting, sometimes toe-tapping, sometimes get out of your seat and dance, but always life-altering.

The show started off with Diva Tia Simone, who took the stage full glam in gold sequins and feathers and belted out a rousing mix of Lizzo’s “Feeling Good as Hell” / Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter”.  To quote MC Cunio, this “PG show got me thinking R rated thoughts” and that is just how Ms. Simone started it out for us.  Next up was Cunio himself, showing his incredible vocal range with “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” followed by Hanna Gill with her rendition of “The Dog Days are Over”.

Then Brielle Von Hugel took the stage and the world stopped for a moment (well, maybe it was just my world, but WOW).  Sexy and sultry, backed by JP Cook on Trombone and Chloe Feoranzo on Clarinet, I will never hear “Seven Nation Army” the same way again. Just when we had settled into some roaring 20’s tunes, Tia, Cunio, and Hannah Gill took us to church with a R&B/Gospel rendition of “I Knew You Were Trouble”. 

Fans were on the edge of their seats, some were even in the aisles dancing along with the jazzy ragtime sound when we were all blindsided by the incredible talent of Mr. Jabu Graybeal, an 18-year-old tap dancer who was captivating in his youth and mind-boggling talent. It was a special treat to see his “tap off’ against bassist and bandleader Allen Gabone which lead into a full out Star Wars tribute pitting Jabu against the other instrumentalists.  

Then our almost hometown hero Courtnie Frazier walked on stage.   The #PMJSearch2019 Winner from Jacksonville quieted things down with a sweet and touching rendition of The Outfield’s 1985 hit  “Your Love”   Her beautiful, throaty sound was reminiscent of Alana Davis and made it obvious why she was the winner.  The first half of the show closed out with The Buggles hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” belted out by Cunio with Brielle and Tia, then Chloe Feoranzo, on Clarinet AND Vocals, with a stunning rendition of Radiohead’s “No Surprises”.

After a bit of an intermission, time to top off our drinks and take in more of the amazing formalwear of our fellow patrons, we were brought back to the show by Cunio, adorned with a top hat and shiny patent leather shoes.  This time he was channeling his inner Cab Calloway with some Hi Di Ho which lead into an incredible “duet” of “Thriller” between him and Jabu (on tap).  Some magnificent covers followed including “Nothing Else Matters”, “Chasing Pavements” and “Genie in a Bottle”.

Chloe graced us again with her crisp, sweet voice and beautiful full-bodied clarinet with Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself”. It was stunning to witness her transitions from voice to clarinet without a glitch, it was like they were both the same instrument.  

As a brief interlude to the singing, Jabu was featured in Mario Tap, which, for many of us in the audience, was the soundtrack of our childhood (I mean, who doesn’t remember what it was like to first rescue the princess!).    Hannah Gill and Cunio blew us away with their harmonies and incredible chemistry with Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy followed by Brielle Von Hugel with her sweet, upbeat version of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train”, complete with our resident tap dancer playing the tambourine. Closing out the show was an incredible encore featuring ALL of the musicians singing The Rembrandt’s “I’ll be There for You” covering musical genres from the ’20s to the 90s.

I am a sucker for what I call “real” music and “real” musicians and this night was full of both.   It is mind-boggling the amount of talent that we had the privilege of witnessing on the stage. Thank you, Scott Bradlee, for having this vision so many years ago, and for continuing to stretch the boundaries of musical genres while making sure that we never forget where we came from.

Postmodern Jukebox Spring 2020

Tia Simone – Vocal
Brielle Von Hugel – Vocal
Hannah Gill – Vocal
Michael Cunio – Vocal
Adam Kubota – Bass
Logan Evan Thomas – Piano
Michael Chisnall – Guitar
Dave Tedeschi – Drums
Chloe Feoranzo – Clarinet, Tenor Sax and Vocal 
J.P. Floyd – Trombone
Jabu Graybeal- Tap, Tambourine, and Vocal