Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, I had the opportunity to see some amazing jazz artists. Most of the clubs, as well as artists, have gone, but a few of both remain. Here are some places where great music…
Author: George W. Harris
Diego Rivera: West Circle
Diego Rivera displays his brawny tenor and serene soprano saxes on this latest album of his with Art Hirahara/p, Boris Kozlov/b and Rudy Royston/dr-perc. With tender s upport by K ozlov, Rivera’s straight sax glides on the sublime “Just Before…
Lynne Arriale Trio@The Grape Ventura 04.26.25
Fans of vintage jazz trio sounds were in for a treat Saturday night at The Grape Ventura, as pianist/composer Lynne Arriale is making a rare West Coast tour with her simpatico team of bassist Alon Near and drummer Alon Benjamini…
***THIS IS SWING 101****Lionel Hampton with Oscar Peterson: Classic Sessions 1953-54
If you want to know what the pulse of swing is supposed to feel like, here are 5 discs and 48 songs to let you know. Vibist Lionel Hampton, one of the forces of the Swing Era of 1935-45, teams…
David “Fathead” Newman-Ellis Marsalis-Cornell Dupree: Return To The Wide Open Spaces
Texas dry rub BBQ’d jazz is served on a hot plate for a swinging gig at Fort Worth’s Caravan of Dreams with Ray Charles sideman David “Fathead” Newman/as teamed with Ellis Marsalis/p and Cornell Dupree/g along with James Clay//ts, Leroy…
VINYL REVIVAL…Roland Kirk: Now Please Don’t You Cry, Beautiful Edith, Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Side By Side
The renaissance of vintage vinyl jazz records continues with two releases from Verve/Ume. This time around we get two historically and musically important albums Roland Kirk’s 1967 Now Please Don’t Y ou Cry, Beautiful Edith had the multi-instumentalist exploring new…
Tim Jago: Time Shift
Rich and variant sounds are created by guitarist Tim Jago, bringing in a team of Mark Small/ts, Martin Bejerano/key, Dion Kerr/b and David Chiverton/dr together for his collection of originals and covers. His tone is palpable and thick on the…
Hypercube: The Force For Good
The team of Erin Rogers/ts, Jay Sorce/eg, Andrea Lodge/p and Chris Graham/perc put together a nifty little ep of ideas. The most intriguing is an 18 minute title tune, which is an ambitious collection of variations of John Coltrane’s hard…
Domenic Cicchetti: Candy Apple
Playing keyboards and synths, composer Domenic Cicchetti creates upbeat fusions of rock and jazz that reminds one of the vintage days of Steely Dan with dashes of Chick Corea. The snappy “Jump To It” is supplied by the Formula One…
THIS IS A HARD BOP QUINTET…Clifford Brown & Max Roach: Legendary Albums 1954-56
Sure, everyone loves Miles Davis’ “classic” quintet with John Coltrane, but to be perfectly frank, the 1950s albums that I play most often of the hard bop genre are these four featured from trumpeter Clifford Brown and Max Roach. Most…