If you are a fan of classic jazz from the Blue Note period of the 50s and 60s (and if you’re not, WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?!?!?) then you are going to salivate over this session by pianist Mike Bardash. He leads…
Author: George W. Harris
20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION…Cassandra Wilson: Blue Light ‘Til Dawn
Cassandra Wilson’s paradigm-shifting release from one score year ago, Blue Light ‘Til Dawn, still sounds fresh, exciting and invigorating on this remaster. Her earthy, lazy and back porch voice breathed fresh life into material back in 1994, ranging from Boomer…
David Wiatrolik: Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies
David Wiatrolik take you back in time and then back up to the moment again with his original tunes that mix pre-swing Depression era sounds with modern day themes. He has a Hot Club of France sense of delivery, as…
MR. STERN’S NEIGHBORHOOD
What’s the difference between involvement and commitment? Ask a chicken and a pig; the chicken is involved with breakfast, the pig is committed to breakfast. That is essentially the difference between most artists and Mike Stern’s passion for playing with…
BIG EARS! Free Nelson Mandoom Jazz: The Shape of Doomjazz to Come/Saxophone Giganticus, Lorenzo Feliciati & Colin Edwin: Twinscapes
Looking for something besides standards in the standard fare of horns and a rhythm section? Here are a couple releases that will make your malleus, incus and stapes work in a different way. The Free Nelson trio of Rebecca Sneddon/as,…
A BOWLFUL OF BLESSINGS
Does anything exemplify Los Angeles more than the Hollywood Bowl? OK, maybe Dodger Stadium, Pinks Hot Dogs and Tommy’s Burgers (let’s not go there with In ‘N Out). But still, a summer night taking in the sounds of the LA…
Eric Reed Quartet@Catalina’s 04.29.14
Since leaving the chair as Wynton Marsalis’ sideman, pianist Eric Reed has carved an impressive niche by celebrating the music of the masters ranging from Monk to Ellington to the Great Church Songbook. This night at Catalina’s, brought together some…
Tierney Sutton’s Joni Mitchell Project@Catalina’s 04.27.14
Vocalist Tierney Sutton has recorded tributes ranging from Sinatra to American folk music, but her latest venture into the music and worldview of Joni Mitchell seems like the perfect fit, as she showed to the appreciative crowd at Catalina’s Jazz…
Ramsey Lewis & John Pizzarelli’s Tribute to Nat King Cole@The Valley Performing Arts Center
There has essentially been only one period in American history when the most popular music was also the best, during the 30s to the 50s, and Saturday night there was a celebration of one of the chief purveyors, Nat “King”…
Carl Palmer: Decade-10th Anniversary
One of the greatest rock drummers of all time, Carl Palmer is still alive, well and hitting the sticks like he’s trying to prove something in this hard hitting concert show from 2011 that has him going back to the…