The past few months have seen a plethora of blues rockers play through the City of Angels. Johnny Lang, Joe Bonamassa and Keith Wayne Shepherd just to name a few. Without a scintilla of doubt, the guy that is still…
Category: Concert Reviews
Steve Gadd Band@Catalina’s 01.19.17
Steve Gadd and his own version of the “Wrecking Crew” (Kevin Hays/key, Michael Landau/g, Jimmy Johnson/g, Walt Fowler/tp-fh,) thundered into Hollywood Thursday for a four night take-no-prisoners residency at Catalina Jazz Club. The crowded room was indulged with a delightful range…
Lee Ritenour@Catalina’s 01.14.17
In an interview last year with Lee Ritenour, the guitarist revealed that the secret to creating one’s own distinct sound was “to write your own material.” The legendary six string theorist demonstrated his ability to have a unique voice but…
Joe Bonamassa@Dolby Theatre 12.17.16
Whether you would prefer to live in a Red or Blue State, Joe Bonamassa showed that you can deliver a plethora of “Blues States” with his wide range of indigoes during his last concert of the year at Dolby Theatre.…
Robert Cray@Smothers Theatre 12.08.16
Robert Cray made sure that Malibu had a blue Christmas with his soulful band Thursday night at Pepperdine’s Smothers Theatre. Together with his indigo’d team of Richard Cousins/b, Les Falconer/dr and Dover Weinberg/key, Cray used his 4 guitars and richly…
Steve Coleman & Five Elements@The Blue Whale 12.05.16
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…
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…