By Devon (Doc) Wendell There is no genre in jazz that has become as disrespected, forgotten, and dismissed as big band jazz. Generations of brainwashed lazy music dabblers often come to this warped and naïve conclusion that the entire history of jazz is made up exclusively by the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Big Band Swing: “Count Basie At Newport” (Verve)
By Don Heckman Ashland, Oregon. In a fast happening program Wednesday night, a full collection of jazz perspectives were showcased in an entertaining evening of music reaching from small groups to the Rogue Valley All-Star Big Band. Topping it off, there was the stellar presence of veteran, award-winning clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski and the briskly… Read More Live Jazz: Ken Peplowski and the Ed Dunsavage Trio in a Siskiyou Music Project Concert
Saturday, February 28, 2015 10:00 a.m. Officiated by Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III The Abyssinian Baptist Church 132 Odell Clark Place (West 138th Street between Lenox Ave. & Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.) New York, New York 10030 The services will take place on Saturday to send home our beloved Clark Terry. Clark peacefully went… Read More Funeral: For Clark Terry
By Don Heckman It’s another hot week, with a lot of venues still in the midst of their Summer hiatuses. But there’s still some fine, selective music to hear. Los Angeles – July 29. (Tues.) Amanda McBroom and George Ball. Musical theatre and cabaret star Amanda McBroom and actor/singer George Ball present a program of… Read More Picks of the Week: July 29 – Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York City, London, Paris and Tokyo
By Don Heckman The L.A. Philharmonic came up with a great celebration of the memory of Ella Fitzgerald at the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday night. The evening began with a stirring big band salute from the always-exciting Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra – an appropriate beginning, given the long association Ella had with big bands, from her early… Read More Live Jazz: “To Ella With Love” at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Patti Austin
By Don Heckman Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra have been making regular appearances in the Southland for the past few years. And it’s always a musical delight to hear this stellar assemblage of jazz artists in action. On Sunday night they took the stage at the acoustically accurate environment of the… Read More Live Jazz: Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at the Valley Performing Arts Center.
By Devon Wendell For tenor sax players, the late ‘50s and early ‘60s were a time for hard blowing, fitting in as many notes as possible within a few bars, and trying to break free from familiar patterns. Sonny Rollins was the reigning king of articulation and might on tenor sax until Coltrane’s second stay… Read More A Twist Of Doc: Hank Mobley – The Unsung Hero Of Bop.
Summer at the Ocean and a Box of Chocolates By Brian Arsenault The Michael Treni Big Band Pop-Culture Blues My favorite piece on Pop-Culture Blues is “Summer Blues.” Maybe because it’s still summer, the very heart of it. The tune begins on a languorous afternoon with a beverage — perhaps several — looking at the… Read More Record Rack: The Michael Treni Big Band, Hadiza Dockeray
By Michael Katz Jazz on the Westside found a cozy nook to curl up in Monday night, as radio station KCRW presented an Up Close event with pianist Alan Pasqua and music host Tom Schnabel at the New Roads School in Santa Monica. The goal of the evening, a one hour tour of the history… Read More Live Jazz: A Brief History Of The World (Piano Division) with Alan Pasqua and Tom Schnabel
By Don Heckman Hollywood, CA. “Let’s Give the Band A Hand” was the title for the jazz celebration at Catalina Bar & Grill Sunday night. It was right on target. The program was the annual fund-raiser for the California Jazz Foundation. And the very worthy honoree was Catalina Popescu. Both the CJF and Catalina have… Read More Live Jazz: The Arturo Sandoval Big Band Performs for the California Jazz Foundation at Catalina Bar & Grill
The International Review of Music 