by Don Heckman Everyone knows Terry Gibbs, knows of him, or has heard him play his swinging vibraphone. He has played with and outlived most of the jazz greats of the past 50 or more years. The swinging music that comes from those mallets is a groove that defies category Gibbs’ continuing preservation of the… Read More New CD Release: Terry Gibbs 92 Years Young, Jammin’ at the Gibbs House
Roger Crane, the Song Scout Introduction Some songs, of course, are obscure because they should be but, for each of those there are many others that are worthy of more attention. For the fourth entry in this occasional series I will address Alec Wilder’s 1941 “Moon and Sand.” By most accounts the multi-faceted Wilder was… Read More Obscure but Worthy: Looking at Revivable Songs, “Moon and Sand”
By Brian Arsenault Haruki Murakami has been criticized in his home Japan for being too western a writer. And I suppose some western readers find him too Japanese in his syntax and sensibilities. Readers of a certain age, though, at least will remember the principle of universality. Faulkner’s rural south could speak to a yankee… Read More Brian Arsenault Takes On: “Men Without Women”
By Don Heckman The first time I saw and heard Eliane Elias in action I fell in love. Always a devotee of Brazilian jazz, I found the combination of Eliane’s captivating musical imagination and her rhythmic grooves flowing with an irresistible energy . Dance of Time is an album that demands a full body experience… Read More New CD release: Eliane Elias “Dance of Time”
By Roger Crane, the Song Scout Introduction For the third entry in this “Obscure but Worthy” song series I present “Early Autumn” which is, thanks to the Stan Getz memorable recording, perhaps not too obscure among jazz fans. But, although the song with Johnny Mercer lyrics is noted abroad, it is comparatively little known in… Read More Obscure but Worthy: Looking at Revivable Songs, “Early Autumn”
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 Jane Rosenberg In Matthew Bourne’s 1991 dance, Town and Country, everything we Yanks love about the Brits and Masterpiece Theatre – from afternoon tea to riding to hounds to Noel Coward-esque sophistication – is presented in spades and tied up with a ribbon for our viewing pleasure. Next to Bourne’s vaudevillian tongue and cheek… Read More Ballet: Matthew Bourne’s “Early Adventures” at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
By Roger Crane, the Song Scout Background/Discussion A piano bar (not many of those anymore), a few booths and some concealing drapes between plaster pillars with a big white piano in the center. Dix and Laurel (Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame), seated on stools around the piano, are directly across from the singer-pianist, Hadda Brooks,… Read More Keeping the GAS (Great American Songbook) Flame Burning: “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You”
By Don Heckman Los Angeles has long been a center for world class jazz, dating back to the early 20th century. And Mark Winkler’s sparkling new album, The Company I keep, affirms that West Coast jazz, in all its splendid forms, is alive and well. It’s no surprise that singer/songwriter Winkler has produced another classic… Read More “The Company I Keep”: a new CD release by Mark Winkler
By Brian Arsenault Has always seemed to me that George Harrison had the most interesting post Beatles artistic career of the Fab Four. John, who was taken from us way too young, had drifted into his particular brand of social commentary mixed with Yoko’s avant garde silliness. But what the heck, he loved her. Still,… Read More Brian Arsenualt Takes On: ” I . Me . Mine ” George Harrison
The International Review of Music 