By Norton Wright Los Angeles, CA. It was SHOWTIME at Disney Hall on Saturday night as Gordon Goodwin’s 18-piece Big Phat Band performed like an inextinguishable stick of dynamite, exploding number after number in its featured hour-long set marking KJazz Radio’s third annual benefit concert. The recipient of the 2015 GRAMMY Award for “Best Large… Read More Live Jazz: Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band At Walt Disney Concert Hall
Review by Michael Katz Photos by Bonnie Perkinson Hollywood CA. One happy problem with an eight hour music fest that runs uninterrupted through the shifting temperatures of a near-summer’s day at the Hollywood Bowl is a lineup so strong you don’t want to leave your seat. That was the occasion on Saturday, Day 1 of… Read More Live Jazz: The 35th Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, Day #1
By Don Heckman Studio City, CA. John Beasley described the 18 piece ensemble he brought to Vitello’s Wednesday night as a MONK’estra. He also called it “A Big Modern Jazz Band.” Both labels were right on target for this performance. First, the great majority of the program was dedicated to the music of Thelonious Monk. … Read More Live Jazz: The John Beasley MONK-estra Upstairs at Vitello’s
By Don Heckman Studio City, CA. Sometimes a music reviewer just has to do a lot in a single night – often unexpectedly. As I did on Friday. Even though it hadn’t actually started out that way. My schedule for the evening originally included a stop at Vitello’s to hear the Bill Cunliffe big band… Read More Live Jazz: A Busy Friday Night at Vitello’s and the Out Take Bistro
By Don Heckman The wide stage at Catalina Bar & Grill was overflowing Friday night with a big jazz band featuring some of the Southland’s finest players. But the focus of the performance — repeated on Saturday night — was clearly centered on the band’s leader – the incomparable Arturo Sandoval. The first set had… Read More Live Jazz: Arturo Sandoval at Catalina Bar & Grill
By Michael Katz In 1970, when I started collecting jazz albums, one of my first was Quincy Jones’ Walking In Space. I’d heard the title tune from the show Hair on the radio, along with the killer version of Benny Golson’s “Killer Joe.” I’d recognized many of the soloists: Hubert Laws, Freddie Hubbard, Toots Thielemans.… Read More Live Music: Quincy Jones’ Global Gumbo All Stars at the Hollywood Bowl
By Michael Katz The infectious beat of Cuban music has been part of the greater American consciousness since the post-World War II era. Desi Arnaz’s band came into our homes every week in the fifties and sounds from Havana were frequently heard in clubs from Miami to New York. Despite Fidel Castro’s repressive regime and… Read More Live Latin Jazz: Arturo Sandoval, Natalie Cole, Omara Portuondo, the Buena Vista Social Club and Ninety Miles at the Hollywood Bowl
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – April 11. (Mon.) Cabaret Cares. A Song For Japan. A benefit performance to aid the stricken populace of Japan features cabaret artists Andrea Marcovicci, Daisy Eagan, Lee Lessack, Sharon McNight and others. Catalina Bar & Grill. (323) 466-2210. . – April 12. (Tues.) John Pisano’s Guitar Night. With Sid… Read More Picks of the Week: April 11 – 17
By Tony Gieske The great Bill Holman writes all his own charts, as we know. So the bounty being bestowed from the bandstand at Vitello’s Monday night had mostly to do with the creative stovetop of the silver-haired bandleader drinking it all in as he stood a few feet away amid the tables. Watching his… Read More The Bill Holman Big Band at Vitello’s
By Tony Gieske “Aurora” was not named after Aurore Dupin, Baronne Dudevant, better known as George Sand, as one would no doubt expect. No, it was in fact a richly imagined jump tune by Patrick Williams, of whom we all know who that is. Since his flawless, boisterous and wonderfully precise band, which even had… Read More Live Jazz: The Patrick Williams Big Band at Vitello’s
The International Review of Music 