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 Don Heckman Trumpeter Chris Botti has moved, over the past decade, from visibility in the smooth jazz genre – an identity that never really seemed quite right for him – to international prominence as a versatile jazz artist with a unique style of his own. Described by his record company, no doubt accurately, as… Read More Q & A: Chris Botti
By Michael Katz Monterey, California. Saturday at the Monterey Jazz Festival was a journey through eras, river basins, continents, climate zones, you name it. Mostly the volume was turned up, but if you navigated carefully, you could find some quiet pools for reflection amidst the soul, funk and a respectable helping of jazz, too. For… Read More Live Jazz: The 54th Monterey Jazz Festival — Saturday
By Don Heckman On Monday night at Vitello’s, Sue Raney gave an unofficial seminar in the art of song. A seminar, that is, that illustrated by example, not by textbooks. And the key word was “art.” Because Raney’s remarkable vocal skills were completely at the service of her creatively illuminating interpretations of material from the… Read More Live Music: Sue Raney and Alan Broadbent at Vitello’s
The International Review of Music 