The house was packed at Catalina’s Thursday night, filled with fans and Middle School Band students to see how guitarist Mike Stern’s playing skills were affected since his hand and shoulder injury last year. Teamed with all stars Dave Weckl/dr,…
Category: Concert Reviews
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band@ Catalina’s 12.11.17
Going to a Christmas Concert by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band is like celebrating the Holiday with your hip uncle; you know you’re going to get something unexpected, but you’re going to like it. Goodwin and company didn’t disappoint, as…
Gregory Porter@The Ace Hotel 12.06.17
“There was a boy A very strange enchanted boy” At the Ace Hotel, Gregory Porter showed why, since bursting onto the scene seven years ago, he has become the important lynchpin of male vocalists. Teamed with his band of Chip…
Anat Cohen Tentet@Valley Performing Arts Center 11.30.17
This past year, Israeli-born clarinetist Anat Cohen has released 2 Brazilian albums, and earlier this the 2 Grammy nominated lady year toured in order to present the alluring Mediterranean sounds from those discs. Returning to LA after just over 6…
Tedeschi Trucks Band@The Arlington Theatre 11.07.17
Is there a more wide ranging American band than the one lead by the husband and wife team of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi? During the 90 minute concert, they and their mix and match entourage delivered material that satisfied…
Yotam Silberstein@The Blue Whale 11.03.17
Yotam Silberstein represents what I call “The New Mainstream” in jazz. As evidenced by his recent release The Village and his swinging set at The Blue Whale Friday night, the guitarist/composer shows allegiance to the tradition of jazz, but with…
Joe Bonamassa@The Arlington Theatre
In a recent interview, Joe Bonamassa mentioned that within the first 30 seconds of a performance, he can tell whether the crowd is going to connect with him to urge it on. The packed house passed the half minute rule…
Stanley Clarke@The Broad Stage 10.14.17
Since his fully committed return to the jazz scene 10 years ago, Stanley Clarke has wisely walked the fine line of being faithful to his legion of long term fans with albums and concerts featuring reunions with Return to Forever,…
Carl Verheyen@The Baked Potato 10.12.17
While guitarist and vocalist Carl Verheyen is best known for his work with Supertramp, he also pumps a bleeding blues heart, exampled by his latest album Essential Blues and demonstrated during his sizzling set Friday night with some of LA’s…
Lizz Wright@Smothers Theatre 10.12.17
Throughout her almost 20 years of performing, vocalist Lizz Wright has brought her sorghum-toned voice to modern R&B with nuances of her church upbringing. But on this performance which focused on material from her latest album Grace, she has stripped…