By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Dec. 3. (Wed.) Corky Hale and Eloise Laws. Pianist/harpist and all around music master Hale gets together with the engaging, Laws family vocalist Eloise for an evening of prime time music making. Her appropriate title for the evening is “Sisters! A Salute to the Great Women of Jazz, featuring… Read More Picks of the Week: December 1 – 7 in L.A. and Beyond
By Don Heckman The first cold night of the summer at the Hollywood Bowl made for a chilly celebration last Wednesday of the life and music of Louis Armstrong. Fortunately, with Dr. John, Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Blind Boys From Alabama and an all-star line-up of jazz trumpeters there was plenty of heat on stage,… Read More Live Jazz: Dr. John, Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Arturo Sandoval, Marcus Belgrave and Wendell Brunious Celebrate the Life and Music of Louis Armstrong at the Hollywood Bowl
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – July 31. (Wed.) Props to Pops: Dr. John’s Tribute to Louis Armstrong. An entertaining blend of old and new jazz, tinged with a New Orleans touch. Featured guests include Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terence Blanchard, Arturo Sandoval and more. The Hollywood Bowl. (323) 850-2000. – July 31. (Wed.) Tom Ranier… Read More Picks of the Week: July 30 – Aug 4
By Devon Wendell I was saddened when I learned that Hugh McCracken passed away of leukemia yesterday – March 28th, 2013 – in New York City. While working at Donald Fagen’s recording studio in New York in the 90s, I was constantly surrounded by the top session musicians of the world on a constant basis,… Read More An Appreciation: Hugh McCracken — A Fond Remembrance
By the iRoM Staff Los Angeles – Jan. 31. (Thurs.) The Don Williams Group. Percussionist Williams, a busy studio musician (not the country singer), takes a break to lead an all-star collective featuring saxophonist Bob Sheppard, trumpeter Carl Saunders, trombonist Bill Reichenbach, pianist Christian Jacob and bassist Dave Stone. Vitello’s. (818) 769-0905. – Jan. 31.… Read More Picks of the Week: Jan. 30 – Feb. 3
By Don Heckman Los Angeles * * * * * * HIGHLIGHT * * * * * * The 34th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival: Saturday and Sunday, June 16 & 17 The Playboy Jazz Festival umbrella seems to get bigger year by year. And this year is no exception, with a program that reaches into… Read More Picks of the Week: June 12 – 17
David Basse Uptown (Cafe Pacific Records) By Brian Arsenault Uptown opens with another (yawn) jazz ode to Manhattan which is made more curious by the fact that David Basse is the acknowledged “leader” of the Kansas City jazz scene. In fact, two of the first three tracks are New York-centric which would be a little… Read More CD Review: David Basse’s “Uptown”
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Sept. 7. (Wed.) Quincy Jones Band featuring the Global Gumbo All-Stars and Friends. No one knows how to put together an evening of immensely entertaining music as well as Quincy Jones. And he’s assembled one of his characteristically spectacular programs for an event that easily promises to be one… Read More Picks of the Week: Sept 5 – 11
By Devon Wendell The death of Joseph William “Pinetop” Perkins on Monday March 21, 2011 marks the end of an era of true, original Mississippi Delta blues pianists. Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi and was nicknamed “Pinetop” for his highly regarded renderings of Pinetop Smith’s 1928 classic Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie. Eventually, he recorded it… Read More An Appreciation: Pinetop Perkins, R.I.P.
“Mesmerized by the Funk” By Michael Katz When Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack) walks onstage at the Santa Monica Pier Thursday night, the late boomerhood patrons up front, who have arrived early with their portable chairs and staked out a turf where they can sit and listen in comfort, rise as one. Mesmerized by the… Read More Live New Orleans Music: Dr. John at the Santa Monica Pier (2 views)
The International Review of Music 