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 Michael Katz If you have never seen Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band in a Small, Close Room, it is an experience I would heartily recommend. For sheer excitement, it is about the closest thing to actually being in the band – if you are a musician or just an air saxophone player, you will… Read More Live Jazz: Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band at Vitello’s
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – June 5. (Tues.) “And Then She Wrote.” Peter Marshall, Carol Welsman, Calabria Foti. Five time Emmy Award-winning Marshall (Yes, he sings, too) is joined by the lovely singer/instrumentalists Welsman and Foti in an evening of great standards written by women. Vitello’s. (818) 769-0905. – June 5. (Tues.) Corliss Dale… Read More Picks of the Week: June 5 – 10
By Don Heckman The performance by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band at Vitello’s Friday night was a hearty reminder of the decades when big bands were the stars of popular music. Some of those bands – Count Basie, Duke Ellington – were firmly rooted in jazz. Others – Sammy Kaye, Guy Lombardo – played music… Read More Live Jazz: Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band at Vitello’s
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Jan. 31. (Tues.) Anthony Wilson. He’s had a lot of visibility the past few years backing Diana Krall, but Wilson’s a certified jazz star in his own right – as a performer, a composer and a band leader. This time out, he gets back to basics with guitarist and… Read More Picks of the Week: Jan. 31 – Feb. 5
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 Gordon Goodwin is one bandleader who really knows how to fill a room. I don’t know why his band looked so big. He doesn’t have strings or French horns or anything. But it seemed to fill half the upstairs room at Vitello’s Monday. I guess it’s just kind of a phat band,… Read More Live Jazz: The Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band at Vitello’s
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Oct. 25. (Mon.) Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. Los Angeles has a full crop of big bands, performing with some (if still not enough) frequency. And the Big Phat band is one of the best, collectively and individually. Hearing them at Vitello’s is like having them perform for your… Read More Picks of the Week: Oct. 25 – 31
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Aug. 25. (Tues.) Placido Domingo and Yo-Yo Ma and the L.A. Philharmonic. What a combination. Domingo conducts Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Symphony No. 5 and Ma plays Dvorak’s controversial, but compelling, Cello Concerto. Hollywood Bowl (323) 850- 2000. – Aug. 25. (Tues.) Dana Bronson. Singer/pianst Bronson usually performs in cabaret and… Read More Picks of the Week: August 25 – 30
The International Review of Music 