Music Review:

The Fourth of July weekend ended on a high note with an evening of jazz gospel performed Sunday by the Jazz Chronicles at the Salem Lutheran Church of Glendale. The concert was the kickoff for the church’s Coffeehouse summer series to benefit its Mexico Mission project.

The sunset fundraiser attracted an impressively large crowd that expanded from the front doors of the church to the parking lot and sidewalk along Brand Boulevard.

Keyboardist Dave Siebels pulled the band together, aided by the Music Committee of the church. A La Crescenta resident, Siebels received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Cal State Fullerton. He is a composer, arranger, keyboardist and record producer who has arranged and produced 25 albums, scored 35 films and conducted 65 musical variety television shows, and even recording with such notable artists as Rita Coolidge, Ray Charles, BB King and extensively with Pat Boone.

Eyvonne Williams was breathtaking in voice and appearance in the opening song, “Sweeter than the Day Before.” With an awesome vocal delivery who handled the lion’s share of the evening, Williams has worked as backup singer with Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow, and can easily count up to 100 movie soundtracks on her résumé.

Her display of complete vocal confidence and command was made repeatedly evident, and certainly during her performance of “He is Our Living Savior.” Her range and delivered-upon targets were nothing shy of Grammy-winning precision.

The other members, all equally talented, were Michael George on bass, Randy Drake on drums, Ed Smart on saxophone and Buddy Nuanez on guitar. The band was as comfortably dressed as the crowd, mostly Hawaiian shirts, which seemed perfectly in line with the summer weather.

There was no shortage of head-nodding and hand-clapping during many of the songs, especially the playful sway and hop that went with “Yes Lord.”