Here, There & Everywhere: The 35th Anniversary Playboy Jazz Festival

By Don Heckman

It’s coming up to that time of year again.  Summer doesn’t really seem to spread its golden wings in Los Angeles until the annual middle of June Playboy Jazz Festival.  And the first advance word about the annual event is always presented in a mid-February press conference at the Playboy Mansion.

As it was yesterday, when producer Darlene Chan introduced the line-ups for this year’s two-day Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.  Before she began to announce the names, however, she presented the Festival’s new master of ceremonies, replacing Bill Cosby who retired from the job last summer after more than thirty years.

George Lopez

The new emcee is versatile entertainer/actor/comedian George Lopez.  Best known as the star of the ABC sitcom, George Lopez he also had his own talk show, Lopez Tonight on TBS and twice hosted the Latin Grammy Awards show.  Aiding Chan in the introduction of the Festival line-ups Lopez effectively demonstrated the intriguing combination of ebullient humor and jazz awareness that he will bring to his new role.

No mention, however, was made of the stellar Bill Cosby-led bands – the Cos of Good Music – that brought so many immensely engaging jazz ensembles to past Festivals.  Apparently Lopez will not be fronting his own Lopez of Good Music.

That said, there’s nothing to argue about with the two day line ups for the 35^th Anniversary Playboy Jazz Festival. The first problem facing producer Chan is the fundamental issue of how to fill 18,000 Hollywood Bowl seats for two consecutive days.  As I’ve mentioned in past Playboy Festival reviews, current jazz programming doesn’t have the luxury of the sort of iconic line ups – Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, etc. – that were available in the Festivals early years.

The solution – at Playboy, as well as at the Monterey, Newport, Montreal (and beyond) events – has been leaning toward diversity.  Rather than attempt to produce a pure jazz program, producers (Chan among them) are tending to stage a musical collective filled with artists from genres that fit compatibly with jazz, as well as artists who are expanding the definitions of the improvisational art.

Angelique Kidjo

Saturday’s bill, for example, includes: the extraordinary a cappella vocals of Naturally 7; the world music of Angelique Kidjo, the creative adventuring of the Robert Glasper Experiment; and the blending of Lee Ritenour’s guitar with the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band; Poncho Sanchez’s Latin jazz versions of John Coltrane classics.

Gregory Porter

And don’t forget the presence of Herbie Hancock with Naturally 7,  as well as the more traditional excursions of George Duke, singer Gregory Porter, the immensely talented young saxophonist Grace Kelly, and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Jazz Ensemble.

Sheila E.

The same, with a somewhat different slant, can be said for Sunday’s schedule, which is equally eclectic, reaching from the dynamic drumming of Sheila E. and the jamming of Trombone Shorty to the lush vocalizing of South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo chorus and the interplay of pianist ELEW with the Jazz Antiqua Dance Ensemble.  All of it again interspersed with the irresistible jazz stylings of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with a tribute to Quincy Jones on his 80th birthday, the Bob James/David Sanborn group, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet (in a tribute to their father) and the vocals of India.Arie.

Hubert Laws, Quincy Jones, Jeffrey Osborne, George Lopez, Poncho Sanchez, Herbie Hancock

There’s more, as well.  All of it entertaining.  And one can praise producer Chan for having assembled a pair of consistently rewarding programs that provide appealing music for a wide range of audience tastes, while still remaining true to the essential identity of the Playboy Jazz Festival.

Here’s the daily line-up:

Saturday, June 15, 3 p.m. – 11. p.m.

George Duke with special guest Jeffrey Osborne

Naturally 7 with special guest Herbie Hancock

Angelique Kidjo with special guest Hugh Masekela

Ole Coltrane featuring Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band with special guest James Carter

Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band with special guest Lee Ritenour

Gregory Porter

Robert Glasper Experiment

Grace Kelly Quintet with special guest Phil Woods

Pedrito Martinez Group featuring Ariacne Trujillo

The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Jazz Ensemble directed by Jason Goldman

Sunday, June 16, 3 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Sheila E.

Bob James/David Sanborn featuring Steve Gadd and James Genus

India.Arie

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra celebrates Quiney Jones 80^th birthday with special guests Patti Austin and Hubert Laws

Taj Mahal with the Real Thing Tuba Band

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet: A Dave Brubeck Tribute

Elew and Jazz Antiqua Dance Ensemble, Pat Taylor Artistic Director: A World Premiere Collaboration

The LAUSD Beyond the Bell Jazz Band directed by Tony White and J.B. Dyas.

Group photo by Bonnie Perkinson.  Other photos courtesy of the Playboy Jazz Festival

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Single day tickets for the Playboy Jazz Festival are available through Ticketmaster starting February 28.  (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-7878.

Live Music: 2012 in Review

By Michael Katz

Los Angeles, CA.  Looking back over the year’s worth of live performances I covered, mostly in jazz, is a bittersweet experience. There are surely enough terrific moments to fill a column, but in a city with L.A.’s diversity of talent, you can’t help wishing for more. Our club scene is struggling, with only Catalina Bar & Grill consistently booking major touring acts for extended stays. In the Valley, Vitello’s  has done a nice job of showcasing the best of our local talent and the occasional national stars, and downtown the Blue Whale has presented an intriguing mix of fresh talent and local mainstays. As for the Westside, the best news was that the light rail Metro Line finally made it to Culver City.

Now, if I could only get to Culver City.

On the concert side, the Hollywood Bowl brought lots of talent to its band shell on summer Wednesday evenings, mostly in combinations for retro theme nights, but its directors don’t  seem to trust anyone on the current scene to headline a show. UCLA Live (newly renamed the Center For The Art of Performance) presented an eclectic program that included the Mingus Dynasty septet, Bill Frisell and Hugh Masekela.

How anybody finds out about this music is another problem. (Unless, of course, you visit iRoM). Our local newspaper covers only a scant sampling of the jazz spectrum, while our jazz radio station has narrowed its daily programming range to the Old, the Dead and the Smooth.

But enough grumbling. Here’s a few of the superb performances that still resonated in my mind, months after the last note had died out.

Dee Dee Bridgewater

I never saw a full set of Dee Dee Bridgewater, but when she stepped onto the stage of the Hollywood Bowl during the Ray Charles tribute last summer, she simply took over.  She began with “Hallelujah I Love Him So,” backed up by the great Houston Person and finished with “I Got News For You,” her ringing, soulful vocals augmented by Terence Blanchard and George Duke. A few months later I caught her in the closing set of the Monterey Jazz Festival with an all-star group that featured Christian McBride, Benny Green, Ambrose Akinmusire, Lewis Nash and Chris Potter . She opened the set in a nimble duet with McBride on “Do What You Want To Do” and brought the crowd to pin drop silence with “Don’t Explain.” This group will be at the Valley Performing Art Center on January 23, so don’t miss them.

Arturo Sandoval

I saw a number of outstanding big bands this year, but the most memorable was led by Arturo Sandoval, in support of Dear Diz, his Grammy nominated CD and my favorite disc of the year. I caught them at The Federal, which hopefully will expand its presentation of jazz in 2013. Sandoval is clearly one of the world’s elite trumpet players, his tones piercing and his leadership swinging and joyful. His collection of mostly Dizzy Gillespie tunes featured sharp new arrangements, including a wonderful take on “Bee Bop” by Gordon Goodwin and a rollicking “Night In Tunisia.”

John Pisano

LA is the home of some of the world’s great guitarists, and I was lucky enough to catch a few of them live. At the top of the list is John Pisano’s Guitar Night. He keeps moving it farther away from my digs on the Westside, but I did manage to catch one of his last shows at Vitello’s with Anthony Wilson. Watching the two of them riff through two sets, testing their imaginations and dancing around familiar standards  reminded me that Guitar Night remains one of LA’s great treats.  I hereby resolve to make it out to Lucy’s 51 in Toluca Lake to see Pisano and friends in 2013.

Dori Caymmi

Meanwhile, there were other great guitarists, including Dori Caymmi presenting a night of Brazilian music at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, in what we hope is a prequel to the new Jazz Bakery, still in the planning stages next door. For jazz deprived Westsiders, it cannot come soon enough.  Pat Metheny played two sets at the Monterey Jazz Festival, my favorite being a trio performance with bassist McBride and percussionist Jack DeJohnette.  And then there was Mimi Fox, who we don’t hear nearly enough of, doing a lovely Saturday matinee duet at MJF with flutist Ali Ryerson.

Mads Tolling

As usual there were some unheralded performers that caught my attention. Here’s to a couple of fiddlers: Sara Watkins and Mads Tolling. Watkins, late of Nickel Creek, shone during an LA performance of Prairie Home Companion, dueting with host Garrison Keillor on “Let It Be Me” as they strolled through the crowd, and later burning it up in a fiddle showdown with Richard Kriehn. Tolling, a veteran of the Turtle Island Quartet, fronted his own group on Sunday afternoon at the Garden Stage at MJF. Whether plucking in tandem with his guitarist or racing through a tribute to Jean Luc Ponty, Tolling was a revelation. His live CD, A Celebration of Jean Luc Ponty, was another of my favorite discs.

Monterey, as usual, had lots of highlights for me, including some wonderful trio work by pianist Mulgrew Miller, a rousing vocal performance by Gregory Porter and a Cal Tjader tribute led by pianist Michael Wolff, featuring Warren Wolf on vibes.

Luciana Souza

And finally, there was Luciana Souza, opening the season at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, singing warm renditions from her two CDs that would later be nominated for Grammys, Duos 3 and The Book of Chet.

So what are my resolutions for 2013? For one, I resolve to catch Gustavo Dudamel leading the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl. For another, I resolve to brave the traffic (and the absence of chairs) at the Blue Whale and see what is happening downtown. And finally, it is long past time for me to get to New York and check out the great jazz scene there. Perhaps if we can avoid the fiscal cliff, I can get some federal funding for a trip East. Sort of a reverse Lewis and Clark Expedition culminating in a week or so in the Big Apple. I plan to get it tacked on to an appropriations bill. I’m sure no one will notice.

Happy New Year to all.

To read more iRoM reviews and posts by Michael Katz click HERE.

Click HERE to visit Michael Katz’s personal blog, Katz of the Day.

Arturo Sandoval and John Pisano photos by Bob Barry. 

Picks of the Week: Sept. 11 – 16

By Don Heckman

Los Angeles

Sarah Chang

- Sept. 11. (Tues.)  Sarah Chang. A gifted child prodigy, violinist Chang has matured into a superb interpretive artist. In this far-reaching program, she performs a suite from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Bramwell Tovey.  Also on the bill – works by Copland and Gershwin.  The Hollywood Bowl.    (323) 850-2000.

- Sept. 12. (Wed.)  Dave Matthews Band.  Hollywood Bowl. Twenty years after singer/songwriter/guitarist formed the Band, the Grammy-winning ensemble continues to produce fascinating music – most recently in the just released CD Away From the World.   The Hollywood Bowl.    (323) 850-2000.

- Sept. 13. (Thurs.)  Patrick Berrogain’s Hot Club Combo.  The hard swinging sounds and rhythms of Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz are alive and well in the hands of Berrogain’s Hot Club.  Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc.    (310) 474-9400.

Itzhak Perlman

- Sept. 13. (Thurs.)  Itzhak Perlman plays Tchaikovsky. The final classical concert of the 2012 Bowl season climaxes, appropriately, with the incomparable Perlman, performing the irresistible Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Bramwell Tovey.  Call it a winning combination.  The Hollywood Bowl.  The Hollywood Bowl.   (323) 850-2000.

- Sept. 13. (Thurs.)  Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. “Music and Story” The LACO’s first “Westside Connection” of the new season features writer Mark Salzman in a musical narrative piece describing the way Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3 (here performed by Andrew Shulman) relieved his struggles with writers’ block.  The Broad Stage.  (213) 622-7001.

- Sept. 13. (Thurs.)  Sons of Etta.  A celebration of the life and music of the great Etta James.  Featured performers include Thelma Jones, saxophonist/harmonica player Jimmy Z and Donto James – the Grammy-winning son of James and the leader of her Roots Band. Catalina Bar & Grill.   (323) 466-2210.

- Sept. 14. (Fri.)  Sascha’s Bloc Band.  A stirring evening of music tinged with an Eastern European flavor, while reaching out to encompass gypsy jazz, contemporary jazz, flamenco, swing, blues and country.  Vitello’s.    (818) 769-0905.

Fiona Apple

- Sept. 14. (Fri.)  Fiona Apple. The Grammy winning singer/songwriter celebrates the release of The Idler Wheel…, her first album in seven years.  The Greek Theatre.    (323) 665-5857.

- Sept. 14. (Fri.)  Joe Bagg Organ 4.  Keyboardist Bagg brings some ear-opening new ideas to the traditional organ jazz trio, with the enthusiastic aid of trumpeter Ron Stout, guitarist Jamie Rosenn and drummer Ryan Doyle.  The eminently listenable duo of pianist Jeff Colella and pianist Putter Smith open the evening.  Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc.    (310) 474-9400.

- Sept. 14 – 16. (Fri. – Sun.)  Brian Setzer Orchestra.  The Fireworks Finale.  The Grammy winning rockabilly swingster leads his big band, aided by conductor Thomas Wilkins and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in a glorious, season-topping grand finale.  The Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl.    (323) 850-2000.

- Sept. 16. (Sun.)  Phil Norman Tentet.  Swinging West Coast jazz of the ‘50s is alive, well, and completely contemporary in the arrangements and the playing of Norman’s talented Tentet.  Vitello’s.  (818) 769-0905.

San Francisco

- Sept 14 – 16. (Fri. – Sun.)  John Scofield Trio.  Guitarist Scofield’s eclectic musical path has now arrived at a classic musical encounter with a pair of gifted musical associates – bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bill Stewart. Yoshi’s Oakland.    (510) 238-9200.

Seattle

Pat Metheny

- Sept. 13 – 16. (Thurs. – Sun.)  The Pat Metheny Unity Band.  Ever on the lookout for new ideas, guitarist Metheny now finds inspiration in an older instrumentation – the jazz quartet, with the stellar aid of Chris Potter, saxophones, Ben Williams, bass and Antonio Sanchez, drums.  Jazz Alley.  (206) 441-9729.

Chicago

- Sept. 13 – 16. (Thurs. – Sun.)  Mulgrew Miller Trio.  Everybody’s a-list pianist, Miller – active as a musician and an educator – steps into the spotlight to display his invigorating improvisational style.  Jazz Showcase.    (312) 360-0234.

Boston

- Sept. 13 & 14. (Thurs. & Fri.)  Joe Lovano “Us Five.”  Saxophonist Lovano’s new band is overflowing with talent: Grammy-winning bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding, pianist James Weidman, and drummers Francisco Mela and Otis Brown III.  Scullers.    (617) 562-4111.

New York

- Sept. 11. (Tues.)  Roz Corral and Judi Silvano.  A pair of the jazz vocal art’s most adventurous practitioners share the stage with equally venturesome accompanists – Alan Broadbent and Boris Kozlov with Corral, and Frank Kimbrough and Ben Allison with Silvano.  Expect to experience some compelling musical surprises.  Cornelia St. Cafe.   (212) 989-9319.

- Sept. 11 – 15.  (Tues. – Sat.)  The Dave Liebman Group. NEA Jazz Master Liebman continues to set the contemporary jazz pace on the soprano saxophone, while adding in some impressive flute and tenor saxophone playing, as well.  Birdland.    (212) 581-3080.

Randy Brecker

- Sept. 11 – 16. (Tues. – Sun.)  The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion.  A revival of one of the jazz world’s great fraternal ensembles, in memory of the incomparable Michael Brecker.  With Randy Brecker, trumpet, Mike Stern, guitar, Rodney Holmes, drums, Ada Rovati, saxophone, George Whitty, keyboards, Will Lee, bass and Oli Rockberger, vocals and keyboards.  The Blue Note.   (212) 475-8592.

- Sept. 13 – 16. (Thurs. – Sun.)  Oliver Lake.  The veteran alto saxophonist performs in three very different musical settings.  On Thurs. with the Oliver Lake Organ Quartet; on Fri. with the Oliver Lake Big Band; on Sat. and Sun. with the Oliver Lake Trio (with Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and speial guest Geri Allen).  Jazz Standard.    (212) 576-2232.

London

Frank Sinatra Jr.

- Sept. 13 – 15. (Thurs. – Sat.)  Frank Sinatra, Jr.  The entertainment world is filled with Sinatra tributes and imitators.  But no one comes closer to the original than #1 son, Frank Sinatra, Jr.  Hearing his familiar vocal timbre and well-crafted phrasing in the Sinatra classics is an experience to remember.  Ronnie Scott’s.     (0) 20 7539 0747.

Milan

- Sept. 12. (Wed.)  Benny Golson. Saxophonist Golson has composed some memorable jazz classics, among them “I Remember Clifford,” “Killer Joe,” “Whisper Not,” “Along Came Betty” and more.  Here’s a chance to hear them from the originator. The Blue Note Milano.  02.69016888.

Tokyo

- Sept. 11 &o 12. (Tues. & Wed.)  Joe Sample.  Keyboardist and one of the founders of the Jazz Crusaders, performs selections from his new album, Creole Joe Band.  Blue Note Tokyo.    03-5485-0088.

Live Music at the Hollywood Bowl: Herbie Hancock and “Celebrating Peace”

By Don Heckman

It’s good to see Herbie Hancock occasionally step away from his office job as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Creative Chair for Jazz and take a seat, instead, at a keyboard.  His official presence in a jazz advisory capacity has certainly had salutary effects upon the Phil’s perception of jazz.  But so, too, has the adventurous music he’s brought to his performances.  As he did Wednesday night at the Hollywood Bowl.

Herbie Hancock

Hancock’s action-packed history as an iconic jazz artist embraces legendary musical associations (most notably with Miles Davis) as well as his own equally memorable and influential outings on albums such as Future Shock, Dis is Da Drum, Possibilities, River: the Joni Letters among dozens of others.  And one of his common themes – reaching back to “Watermelon Man” at the start of his career – has been to balance his boundary-less jazz explorations with continuing forays across stylistic genres.

Herbie Hancock and the Celebrating Peace Band

On Wednesday this tendency was manifest in the eight player ensemble Hancock organized to perform a collection of works focused on the principal of “Celebrating Peace.”

Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter

The group’s orientation reached from the solid jazz credentials of Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassists Dave Holland and Marcus Miller and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana to the tabla playing of Zakir Hussain, the sound design keyboard work of George Whitty and the vocals of pop soul singer Andy Vargas and versatile tenor Kalil Wilson.  Topping it off – special guest, veteran rock guitarist Carlos Santana.

Zakir Hussain

The result of all this creative firepower, coming at the music from different directions, tended to be atmospheric, rather than rhythmically and emotionally gripping in a traditional jazz sense.  But there were high points in the creation of that continually unfolding atmosphere.  Among them, a cover version – featuring Vargas – of Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us”; a pyrotechnic drum exchange between Blackman Santana and Hussain in which each player used their unique talents to find common ground with the other – an intriguing approach to fusion; and Hancock’s sophisticated use of electronic devices, including the filtering of sound through his articulated vocal control.

Carlos Santana, Cindy Blackman Santana and Marcus Miller

Add to that the insertion of speech segments from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the opening work, which also combined elements of “Ode to Joy” and “Afro Blue”; stellar bass work, from the stinging electric accents of Miller to the rich acoustic playing of Holland; and the off-center solo encounters between Shorter’s saxophone and Santana’s guitar – not exactly a musical relationship made in heaven, despite their individual mastery.

So give Hancock a “B” for effort, the grade impacted by the unevenness of both the writing and the playing.  Starting with a potentially workable concept/title – “Celebrating Peace” – the evening’s scattered, often fascinating, musical elements never quite came together with enough focus to bring the concept to life.  Nonetheless, let’s hope that, in the coming season, Hancock continues to offer more piano-time to L.A. Phil audiences.

Photos by Bonnie Perkinson. 

Live Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl: Diana Krall and the Los Angeles Philharmonic

By Don Heckman

Diana Krall

Diana Krall just keeps getting better.  She strolled across the stage at the Hollywood Bowl Saturday night with all the confident panache of the major musical star she has become.

What a difference from the Diana I knew nearly two decades ago.  The Diana who then sometimes remarked about her recurrent fantasy that she might trip on the hem of her gown and fall to the stage if she took more than two steps away from the safety of her piano bench.

But that’s all gone now.  Saturday night’s Diana, a musical gem in the elegant setting of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by her close friend Alan Broadbent, positively glowed in a performance embracing the full range of music – vocal, instrumental and both – that her art now possesses.

In addition to the Philharmonic, she was also in the company of her regular creative associates, guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Kariem Riggins.  Together and individually they played with the full range of swing, subtlety and sophistication that Krall’s interpretations demand, with Wilson’s soloing serving as both a catalyst and a counter to her vocals.

In her early years, Krall’s singing often seemed driven by the rhythms and the flow of her piano playing rather than the lyrics of a song.  Since then, she has become a convincing musical story teller, finding the heart and expressing the inner meanings of songs via the phrasing and rhythms of jazz.

The Diana Krall Quartet

Those qualities were especially apparent in her renderings of “I Just Found Out About Love,” “Let’s Face the Music” (including the verse), “I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face” and Gordon Jenkins’ emotionally rich “Goodbye,” done as an encore with the Philharmonic.  Add to that her atmospheric version of Jobim’s bossa nova classic, “Corcovado” and a pair of briskly swinging takes on “Fly Me To The Moon” and “Pick Yourself Up.”  Her unexpected shift, at one point, into a delightful version of the Beatle’s “Come Together,” suggested a whole new area of repertoire for her to explore

Anthony Wilson

And there was a lot more: Wilson’s soloing on “Love Letters,” “I Was Doing All Right” and “Cheek To Cheek”; Hurst’s bass solo on “Do It Again”; and Riggins’ sturdy, propulsive drumming throughout.

The orchestral arrangements performed by the Philharmonic were mostly provided by Broadbent and German arranger Claus Ogerman – settings exquisitely designed to provide rich texture for Krall’s voice while capturing the mood and the meaning of a song.  Broadbent also opened the performance with several of his own impressive works for orchestra.

Four years ago, I reviewed a Krall concert at the Hollywood Bowl with virtually all the same participants (except for drummer Riggins).  I had a carp or two to make then about some of her vocal tonal qualities.  But no more.  Her work now is admirable in every aspect.  A mature, imaginative and assured musical artist, she has accomplished the rare feat of balancing  multi-layered creativity with an abundant capacity to entertain and illuminate.

Photos by Bonnie Perkinson.