In her second appearance there as a band leader, jazz singer Integriti Reeves performs two shows at Bohemian Caverns on Sunday as part of the DC Jazz Festival.
“I think [the Caverns] is a great venue,” she said. “There’s so much history, and some of the greatest musicians of the jazz idiom have played there.”
With hopes of someday joining that illustrious list, she brings to the Caverns her hand-picked band that includes Warren Wolf on piano, Eric Wheeler on bass, John Lamkin at the drums and Matvei Sigalov playing guitar and violin. Special guests include Elijah Balbed on tenor saxophone and Christie Dashiell singing back-up vocals.
| Onstage |
| Integriti Reeves |
| Where: Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th St. NW |
| When: 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: $18; 202-299-0800; bohemiancaverns.com |
Integriti is a D.C. native and a new voice on the area’s jazz scene.
Listening to her interpretive style with a song, she is both creative and ingenious, while at the same time echoing the charisma of her idol, Billie Holiday.
Since high school, music has been at the core of Integriti Reeves’ existence. At the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, from which she graduated in 2006, her concentration was classical violin. But when she had the opportunity to perform in the jazz orchestra there, she began to explore her vocal talents and quickly discovered her true calling. As a recipient of the Max Corzilius Scholarship given to jazz students while studying at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, she earned her BA in jazz studies in 2010. Today she is working on a post-graduate degree in jazz composition at Howard University.
“I write and arrange, and I am doing a lot more of that now being at Howard among amazing musicians,” Reeves noted. “At Strathmore [as] their artist in residence, I am required to do a lot more writing. But I never want to stray too far from doing the songs that I love, the classic songs.”
And what she loves are the jazz standards, to sing the music that her audiences know and have enjoyed for a long time. At Bohemian Caverns, she will perform some Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. Audiences will also hear some new arrangements of John Mayer tunes and, finally, some of her original compositions.
“I’m a little bit shy in person, but I do have something to say,” said the singer. “I hope that people will be interested in listening.”
