By Don Heckman The right musical group, the right venue and the right book got together early last week at Catalina Bar and Grill. And the results were superlative. The group, Dave Damiani and his No Vacancy Orchestra, celebrating the Frank Sinatra 100th birthday, offered one of their high quality displays of hard swinging big… Read More Notes From the Left Coast: The Dave Damiani Big band and Catalina Bar & Grill
By Roger Crane, the Song Scout Background/Discussion Who would guess that such a lovely and enduring ballad – musically and lyrically – was written for and featured in a raucous Abbott and Costello movie, the 1942 Ride ‘em Cowboy. For jazz fans the movie holds yet another attraction. It was one of a handful of… Read More Keeping the GAS (Great American Songbook) Flame Burning: “I’ll Remember April”
by Brian Arsenault It’s on one of those Christmas song CDs I can’t find any more in a collection that is more like the bottom of an avalanche. Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Not the version when the song was introduced in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis. Judy… Read More What Judy Garland Gave You for Christmas
By Roger Crane the Song Scout When I meet jazz performers, composers and fellow music fans I often inquire as to their favorite songs. I recall that the masterful jazz pianist Dave McKenna chose “I’ll Be Around,” giving particular praise to Alec Wilders’s bridge (where his lyrics state “Goodbye again.”). Another jazz pianist, Gerry Wiggins,… Read More Keeping the GAS (Great American Songbook) Flame Alive: “It Had To Be You”
By Jane Rosenberg Entering into the gambler’s paradise that is Guys & Dolls, with its beloved songs, is like sinking into a warm bath: comforting and rejuvenating all at once. In a pared down version by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, directed by Mary Zimmerman and happily ensconced at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing… Read More Live Musical Theatre: “Guys & Dolls” at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Through December 20
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Dec. 3 – 5. (Thurs. – Sat.) The Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, presents a program of Bach and Mendelssohn. Violinist Gil Shaham is featured in a pair of Bach Concertos. The Philharmonic takes the spotlight with Mendelsohn’s Symphony No 1 and Overture for Harmoniemusik. An… Read More Picks of the Week: Dec. 2 – 6 (Wed. – Sun.) in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Chicago and New York City
By Roger Crane What is left to say about the lovely and iconic “Over the Rainbow?” Well, some basics. The music is by Harold Arlen and the lyric by E. Y. “Yip” Harburg. As many of you know, it was written for and featured in the 1939 Judy Garland movie The Wizard of Oz. The… Read More Keeping the GAS (Great American Songbook) Flame Burning: “Over the Rainbow”
by Roger Crane, the Song Scout BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION When Chelsea Clinton got married, her father, the jazz-loving Bill Clinton showed up with a recording of Frank Sinatra singing the Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields’ “The Way You Look Tonight.” This was the ex-President’s choice for the Bride-Father dance. (“Good selection, Mr. President.”) Fred Astaire introduced this lovely, warm song in the… Read More Keeping the GAS (The Great American Songbook) Flame Burning: “The Way You Look Tonight”
By Roger Crane Fellow Music Fans…. I’m an adagio-kind of guy. I love ballads – jazz ballads, country ballads, Latin ballads, any ballads. In particular I seek the great recordings, meaning the 3-way combination of… 1 – Fine Song 2 – Fine Singer 3 – Fine Arrangement/Accompaniment For example, you can find many such… Read More Roger Crane the Song Scout: Great Ballads
By James DeFrances What do you call a blues version of Tony Bennett…? Simple, call him Tony Galla. Friday night at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill Jazz etc. Galla kept the Holiday energy going as he shifted from swinging jazz tunes to soulful blues ballads and literally everything in between. Galla and his trio have been… Read More Live Music: Tony Galla at Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc.
The International Review of Music 