By Michael Katz It’s 5:30 Friday night; a light breeze cools off a balmy mid-September evening at the Monterey Fairgrounds. The line of folks waiting to get in snakes all the way down the street, almost to the rear gate. Inside, a few of us scrivener types sit at picnic tables, observing the calm. In… Read More DAY ONE, 60th Monterey Jazz Festival
by Michael Katz The 60th Anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival takes place September 15-17, featuring 100th birthday salutes to Ella, Dizzy and Thelonius – and yes, if referring to those giants by their first names infers a name-dropping familiarity, that is what a personal 20 year history attending the MJF fosters. It’s a vibe,… Read More Monterey Jazz Festival 60th Anniversary Preview
by Faith Frenz Singers need words and music. But arrangements are the secret to a good song and what distinguishes the singer. A good example is Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. Catalina –the Doyen of jazz for LA — has always welcomed and supported the jazz community to help showcase their aspirations and satisfy the Los… Read More CD Release: Sylvia Brooks “The Arrangement” at Catalina Jazz Club, June 7
By Michael Katz For the multitudes of jazz fans on the West Coast and beyond, the third weekend of September is the highlight of the year. The 59th annual Monterey Jazz Festival was a perfect antidote to the ever-acrimonious political miasma we find ourselves in. An oasis of joy and spirituality, MJF 59 was three… Read More Monterey Jazz Festival 2016
By Don Heckman The Siskiyou Music Project presented another of its engaging events recently in the woodland setting of Ashland’s Old Siskiyou Barn. The stars of this colorful evening of vocal and piano jazz featured singer Nancy Harms and the Jeremy Siskind Trio. In the world of music overflowing with songstresses, the unique talents of… Read More Live Jazz: Nancy Harms and the Jeremy Siskind Trio perform at Ashland Oregon’s Old Siskiyou Barn
By Michael Katz Most of us long-time jazz fans remember the first jazz album we ever bought – not a gift or a hand-me-down, but the first time we actually pulled soiled, hard-earned bills from our pocket at a neighborhood record store and greedily pawed the cellophane off an LP. For me, it wasn’t Coltrane… Read More Quincy Jones Tribute and Monterey Jazz Festival 59 Preview
By Don Heckman Ashland, Oregon. The immortal music of the great French Gypsy guitarist/composer Django Reinhardt was in the air Wednesday at a seemingly unlikely location – the Belle Fiore Winery. But it’s second floor open air restaurant, with vistas of rolling vineyards in all directions, was the perfect setting for some classic Django jazz.… Read More Live Jazz: “Pearl of Django” at the Belle Fiore Winery
By Don Heckman So many artists, so many dreams…so much to hear…The post office box fills every day with envelopes packaging their songs, their music, their dreams of being heard. Since the advent of social media, DIY recording and CD production,CD Baby and self promotion and distribution, the avalanche of requests to be seen and… Read More CD Review: Jonathan Karrant’s “On and On”
Musical Theatre: The Wallis and Cody Lassen production of Merrily We Roll Along Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by George Furth Directed by Michael Arden November 22 – December 18, 2016 Michael Arden directs this rarely staged Stephen Sondheim musical. Merrily We Roll Along travels backwards in time to navigate the bumpy history… Read More Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills Announces 2016/17 Season
By Don Heckman The right musical group, the right venue and the right book got together early last week at Catalina Bar and Grill. And the results were superlative. The group, Dave Damiani and his No Vacancy Orchestra, celebrating the Frank Sinatra 100th birthday, offered one of their high quality displays of hard swinging big… Read More Notes From the Left Coast: The Dave Damiani Big band and Catalina Bar & Grill
The International Review of Music 