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About three quarters of the way through her concert, alto sax prodigy Grace Kelly mentions to the audience that her concerts are “like roller coaster rides.” “It’s just because I love so many types of music,” Kelly says.

If she had only played the forty minutes after making that statement, audience members at the Salem State University recital hall would have ridden the wildest musical coaster ever, hearing everything from free-form jazz, to Great American Songbook standards, and original compositions so complex that any sense of harmony and time was lost. As a finale, she played a funked-out version of the Gershwins’ Summertime. Since that tune has been performed a million times by everyone (including myself) in just about every style, I was anxious to hear what she could do with it.

She didn’t disappoint. Funky it was, with a screaming bepop-style jam style at the end, trading fours with trumpet player Jason Palmer, while her trio rocked behind her.

It’s not hard to hear that Kelly has the experience to play a full concert of any one style.

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