Alto saxist, composer and educator Steve Coleman made his residential return to the Blue Whale for a fortnight of evening music with his Five Elements band. His long term teammates of Jonathan Finlayson/tp, Anthony Tidd/b and Sean Rickman/dr may not…
Category: Concert Reviews
Jonny Lang w/ Reeve Carney@Canyon Club 12.02.16
The blues come in various shades, and two rich oil canvases were covered at The Canyon Club Friday night. Reeve Carney opened things up as a one man band of indigo. His 45 minute set mixed his earnest and wide…
Ron Carter Trio@Catalina’s 11.30.16
Ron Carter’s trio with guitarist Russell Malone has turned into one of the most impressive small groups since its beginnings 20 years ago. Pianist Donald Vega’s replacement of the late Mulgrew Miller didn’t even drop a stitch, as the team…
Cal Arts Jazz Faculty All Stars@The Blue Whale 11.19.16
The state of jazz education was shown to be in excellent hands at the Blue Whale Saturday night, as faculty members David Roitstein/p, Larry Koonse/g, Joe La Barbera/dr and Jonathan Richards/b presented a timeless workshop of swinging modern sounds. Larry…
Diego El Cigala@The Luckman 11.18.16
The gypsy spirit of Diego El Cigala has lead him to discover and interpret musical latin lovers ranging from tango, flamenco, Andalusian and Cuban. This time around, the Grammy winning soul brought the salsa music from his latest album Indestructible…
John Mayall@ Canyon Club 11.17.16
American music at her deepest roots were cultivated at the Canyon Club a week before Thanksgiving. Mark MacKay opened the evening with a rich quilt of acoustic guitars and bass supporting his homespun voice through a collection of covers and…
John Pisano’s Guitar Night@Viva Cantina 11.15.16
As guitar legend John Pisano joked, “Django Reinhardt would not have worked in a Mexican restaurant!” But what does it matter in Los Angeles, as Pisano brought a band together that delivered a fitting tribute to the famous Belgian artist,…
Rez Abbasi & Junction@The Blue Whale 10.29.16
The Pakistan bred and East Coast fed guitarist Rez Abbasi may have been jesting when he stated at the beginning of the 70 minute set “We’re going to play a lot of Rush tonight”, but the energy emitted by the…
Joey Alexander@The Broad Stage 10.15.16
“Let no one despise your yor, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” St. Paul to Timothy 4:12 When a 13 year old becomes the poster child for…
Wynton Marsalis with JALCO and the CSUN “A” Band@Valley Performing Arts Center 10.08.16
The past, present and future of jazz was delivered at the VPAC Gala Event Saturday night. In opposition to today’s political scene, conductor and director Matt Harris pointed to positive days ahead as he lead the CSUN “A” Band through…