By Don Heckman Bel Air CA. There was music in the air Thursday night at Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc. Not that it was especially unusual to hear an engaging program of songs at Herb Alpert’s elegant Bel Air jazz club. But on this evening, with singer/pianist Betty Bryant displaying the full range of her remarkable skills,… Read More Live Jazz: Betty Bryant at Vibrato Jazz…etc.
By Don Heckman There was a celebratory mood in the air at Vitello’s Saturday night. And with good reason. Cheryl Bentyne – one of the four vocal stars in the Manhattan Transfer constellation – was returning to action after successfully confronting a life threatening illness. In characteristic fashion, she did it in full out, take… Read More Live Jazz: Cheryl Bentyne and Mark Winkler at Vitello’s
By Tony Gieske Graham Carter’s Stan Kenton documentary, out this month, pits the emptiness of the Kenton sound against the emptiness of the recorded interviews, and lasts two hours. It’s a DVD called Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm, Portrait of a Jazz Legend. Carter’s JazzedMedia label records such deserving artists as Irene Kral, Marvin Stamm… Read More DVD Review: “Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm: Portrait of a Jazz Legend”
By Don Heckman Dynamic. Enchanting. High spirited. Entertaining. Hard swinging. Those were just a few of the words that came to mind during Cheryl Bentyne’s appearance at Vitello’s on Thursday night. And none of them were really adequate to describe her utterly mesmerizing performance. Everyone knows Bentyne from her long tenure with the Manhattan Transfer,… Read More Live Jazz: Cheryl Bentyne at Vitello’s
The International Review of Music 