By Don Heckman The glorious voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale announced the coming arrival of Christmas in a brilliantly celebratory fashion Sunday night at Walt Disney Hall. Appropriately, the program was dedicated to the works of a pair of the Baroque era’s most gifted composers – Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach. The… Read More Live Music: The Los Angeles Master Chorale at Disney Hall
By Don Heckman On the way home from Disney Hall Sunday, the traffic on the 101 magically – and unexpectedly — opened up, and we suddenly realized we could reach Vitello’s just in time to catch the second set by the Ron Jones Jazz Influence Orchestra. Call it an unusual sequence – from the Christmas… Read More Live Jazz: The Ron Jones Jazz Influence Orchestra with April Williams at Vitello’s
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Oct. 2. (Tues.) An Evening with Emmylou Harris and Her Red Dirt Boys. Grammy winning country music icon Harris possesses one of the pop/country world’s finest voices. Hopefully she’ll apply it to some of the memorable songs from her catalog of classics. CAP UCLA Royce Hall. (310) 825-2101.… Read More Picks of the Week: Oct. 2 – 7
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Feb. 7. (Tues.) Misha Piatigorsky and Sketchy Black Dog. Winner of the 2004 Thelonious Monk Composers’ Competition, Piatigorsky applies his adventurous composition and piano playing skills within the offbeat string quartet sounds of the Sketchy Black Dog. Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc. http://www.vibratogrilljazz.com (310) 474-9400. – Feb. 7. (Tues.) Guitar Night. … Read More Picks of the Week: Feb. 6 – 12
By Don Heckman Who would have thought that Tuesday night’s Disney Hall performance by jazz guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli would wind up in a singalong with the entire audience joining in on “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” The answer is anyone who’s ever seen Pizzarelli, his trio, and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey, in… Read More Live Jazz: John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey at Disney Hall
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Dec. 12. (Mon.) Handel’s Messiah Singalong. It’s an annual delight for anyone who’s ever sung in a choir – and even those who haven’t – to share in the magic of Handel’s classic. The L.A. Master Chorale leads the way. Disney Hall. (323) 850-2000. – Dec. 13 (Tues.) The… Read More Picks of the Week: Dec. 12 – 18
By Don Heckman It wasn’t clear what to expect at Ravi Shankar’s Disney Hall concert Thursday night. There had been two previous cancellations, and the venerable Indian artist turned 91 in April. His musicians took the stage first – a pair of percussionists, another sitar player, a flutist, a tanpura player and a Shankar assistant. … Read More Live Music: Ravi Shankar at Disney Concert Hall
By Tony Gieske Something about Sonny Rollins’ playing Sunday night at Walt Disney Concert Hall started me thinking about the downside of his output. His shuffling gait and his rickety posture made me wonder how he could play so fast and throw in so many notes, and then it came to me that he must … Read More Live Jazz: Sonny Rollins at Disney Hall
By Don Heckman Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion tour arrived at Disney Hall Monday night. And one couldn’t have asked for a more amiable setting than Frank Gehry’s architecturally unique performance space. The stage was filled with the Orchestrion’s clusters and stacks of instruments – from a grand piano, marimbas and acoustic guitars to cymbals, percussion and… Read More Live Jazz: Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion at Disney Hall
By Don Heckman The combination of Al Jarreau and Dee Dee Bridgewater, performing at Disney Hall Sunday night on the same stage was an inspired booking. One could make a good case for the event as a rare display of brilliant jazz singing at the highest level. The only missing element, in fact, was the… Read More Live Jazz; Dee Dee Bridgewater and Al Jarreau at Disney Concert Hall
The International Review of Music 