By Don Heckman There were only two musicians on stage Saturday night in a CAP UCLA performance at the University’s cozy Schoenberg Hall. But no more were needed. The musical encounter between pianist Fred Hersch and guitarist Julian Lage offered a definitive display of jazz improvisation at its finest. Hersch’s long, musically rich career has… Read More Live Jazz: Fred Hersch and Julian Lage at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall
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
The Most Exciting (Jazz?) Pianist On The Planet? By Norton Wright Hollywood CA. Has there ever been a jazz pianist like Jason Moran? Not Jarrett, Evans, Corea, Brubeck, Peterson — not even George Russell — not even Moran’s mentors, Jaki Byard and Thelonious Monk. As with Jackson Pollock in the visual arts, Jason Moran may… Read More Live Music: Jason Moran in a Jazz Bakery Movable Feast at the Musicians Institute
By Don Heckman There’s a long history of great jazz artists, reaching as far back as Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller, who understood the value of communicating, connecting and – yes, here’s that awful word – entertaining an audience. It’s a history that hasn’t had much impact upon recent jazz generations. When those qualities do… Read More Live Jazz: Judy Carmichael at Vitello’s
By Don Heckman Every Tuesday morning, at an hour in which jazz is rarely heard, a remarkable event takes place in Northridge, in the upper reaches of L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. At Las Hadas Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, the Johnny Vana Big Band Alumni play a program of hard-swinging, big band classics for an audience… Read More Live Jazz: The Johnny Vana Big Band Alumni at Las Hadas Mexican Restaurant and Cantina
By Tony Gieske Eric Reed had stationed the grand piano at stage left at Vitello’s Saturday night so as to give his trio members equal exposure — Ralph Penland, the drummer, at stage right and Hamilton Price, his young bassist, in the middle, next to the keyboard. It was a little bit like a surgeon… Read More Live Jazz: The Eric Reed Trio at Vitello’s
The International Review of Music 