By Roger Crane, the Song Scout “Peerless Jazz Singing” Many a New Day is Karrin Allyson’s fourteenth CD, one more in a string of topflight jazz vocal albums. In this era of the singer-songwriter, it is almost obligatory to compose one’s own material. But Allyson seemingly accepts that the gift of composing is a separate… Read More CD Review: Karrin Allyson’s “Many A New Day”
By Don Heckman The 2013 jazz season at the Hollywood Bowl reached a peak Wednesday night with an 80th birthday celebration for saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter. The participants featured, of course, Shorter himself, playing in duo with his close friend and creative associate Herbie Hancock, with his own quartet, and with the woodwind ensemble the Imani… Read More Live Music: Wayne Shorter 80th Birthday Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl
By Michael Katz For those of us in love with the Monterey Jazz Festival, the longest six months of the year are the time between the final note of the last Sunday night show at the fairgrounds and the April 1 announcement of artists for the next MJF. That wait ended Monday morning with the… Read More Preview: The Monterey Jazz Festival 56
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Jan. 16. (Wed.) Eloise Laws. A member of the musically prominent Laws family (Hubert, Ronnie and Debra among others) Eloise Laws makes a rare live performance in the Southland. Her warm and expressive vocals are backed by members of the Laws family and their talented friends. Catalina Bar &… Read More Picks of the Week: Jan. 15 – 20
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Sept. 21. (Tues.) Further. Featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. The music of the Grateful dead still lives, as Lesh and Weir, with an all star band take the classics “further” out. The Greek Theatre. (323) 665-3125. – Sept. 21. (Tues.) John Pisano’s Guitar Night. Pisano teams up for… Read More Picks of the Week: Sept. 20 – 26
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – April 12 & 13. (Mon. & Tues.) Miles Evans Band. Trumpeter Evans, named after Miles Davis, is the son of equally legendary arranger Gil Evans. His current mission, he says, is to explore, with his eight piece band, the music that had been planned for an Evans/Jimi Hendrix collaboration… Read More Picks of the Week: April 12 – 18
Fahir Atakoglu Faces & Places (Far & Here) By Fernando Gonzalez For many, the term globalization has had — often with good reason — a sinister connotation. But in jazz, globalization has come largely to mean glocalization, a much healthier mix of global and local, at its best. What has come into view in recent… Read More Jazz CD Review: Fahir Atakoglu “Faces & Places”
By Fernando Gonzalez Panama City, Panama. The 7th Panama Jazz Festival, celebrated in Panama City January 11-16, concluded Saturday with a free, outdoor concert at Plaza Catedral, in front of the historic cathedral in Old Panama City. What started only a few years ago as a Quixotic adventure by Panamanian pianist, Grammy winner and educator… Read More Live Jazz: The 7th Panama Jazz Festival
Don Heckman Los Angeles – Jan. 6. (Wed.) John Proulx Trio. Singer/pianist Proulx will no doubt blend his swinging instrumental work with vocal selections from his recent tribute to Chet Baker, Baker’s Dozen. With Kendall Kay, drums and Kevin Axt, bass. Charlie O’s. (818) 989-3110. – Jan. 7. (Thurs.) The Gil Evans Band led by… Read More Picks of the Week: Jan 5 – 10
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Oct. 7 & 8. (Wed. & Thurs.) The Stanley Clarke Trio with Hiromi and Lenny White. They initially seemed an unlikely musical combination – the Return to Forever team of Clarke and White, with the adventurous jazz fusion pianist Hiromi. But the blend has turned out to be remarkably… Read More Picks of the Week: Oct. 5 – 11
The International Review of Music 