Over at the Tongue N Groove, Edmonton keyboardist/ vocalist Jenie Thai played to an intimate and enraptured audience, July 2.

She beamed ear-to-ear and danced in place behind her keyboard, playing boogie woogie and jazz tinged blues on her keyboard, which she had set to a beautiful organ/ electric piano sound. She delivered soulful vocals and scatted a little in between lines.

 She played a variety of originals as well as old blues tunes and even covered Serena Ryder’s “Melancholy blues,” almost nailing Ryder’s inimitable warble.

 She observed she had never played to such a quiet and attentive crowd before. I enjoyed her quirky lyrics and sense of humour, not to mention watching her dance, I was impressed with her vocal range, but more-so by her keyboard playing skills.

 She ended “with a song I wrote a couple days ago,” called “Michigan,” which was another soulful blues number.