Jazz Police - Rondi Charleston Charms at the Dakota

You have to admire personal transformations, those inner mandates that push one to follow a muse that just won’t be silent. Rondi Charleston was no stranger to jazz or vocal music throughout childhood, ultimately earning a degree from Juilliard in classical voice and singing opera…but it wasn’t “it.” So she turned around, got a degree in journalism and became an award-winning investigative reporter for ABC. Still… that wasn’t “it.” The pull of jazz and song was too strong. Yet the instinct to search to find the story remained. Today Rondi is building a career as a jazz singer, a musical storyteller, a songwriter and lyricist. All her past comes into the present when she takes the stage. As a singer, she is still growing, and growing quickly as her show at the Dakota amply demonstrated.

In the few years since her last visit to the Dakota, Rondi’s voice has evolved more rounded, more confident sound, her phrasing and timing a more personalized feel, her ever-present gift of storytelling more spell-binding. And again, she gathered a band that could easily sell out clubs and top charts on its own power—the poetic powerhouse, Lynne Arriale, on piano; music director, nimble-fingered Dave Stryker on guitar; mellow Ed Howard on bass; wide-ranging and deft Anthony Pinciotti on drums; and high-energy Mayra Casales on congas/percussion.

From the opening sunshine of “Wave” to the second set closer, “Baby Don’t Quit Now,” with her own “Telescope,” “Your Spirit Lingers” and “Land of Gallilee” in between, this was a night of nonstop delights. Casales was perhaps the surprise package; and if anyone doubted the significance of a talented percussionist in a vocalist’s ensemble, her contributions to “Land of Gallilee” should have ended speculation. Arriale and Stryker were commanding as soloists throughout, both particularly on “Telescope” and Arriale leading the way on the instrumental rendition of Blondie’s “Call Me.” But arguably, the most arresting moments came from the voice/guitar duet from South Pacific, “This Nearly Was Mine.” This night, really, was Rondi’s.