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…
Category: Concert Reviews
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…
Tony DeSare@Pepperdine Smothers Theatre 10.07.16
I’m not going to publicly degrade any artist, but after watching a solo concert by Tony DeSare, I have to ask you in all honesty, why are people (and maybe even YOU) listening to that guy who’s last name rhymes…
Brad Mehldau & Joshua Redman (or was it Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau)@ The Broad Stage 10.02.16
Now household worlds in the jazz scene, pianist Brad Mehldau and saxist Josh Redman have played with each other in a variety of concert and studio settings over the years. This reunion of sorts, documented on their luminous album Nearness,…
The Time Jumpers@Smothers Theatre 09.30.16
There’s nothing like a Western Swing band to show what’s wrong with both today’s Country Music and Jazz. As violinist Kenny Sears said at the beginning of the show, “We’re called the Time Jumpers because we play music that is…
David Sanborn & Dave Koz@Fred Kavli Theatre 08.21.16
Back in the day, Thousand Oaks used to be used as the background scenes for scores of TV and movie Westerns. On Sunday night at the Fred Kavli Theatre, Dave Koz and David Sanborn re-lived those golden moments with an…
Gipsy Kings & Galen Weston@The Greek Theatre 08.20.16
Under the stars, with guitars, guitars guitars… Acoustic or electric; six or twelve strings, nylon or wire, strummed or picked, the Greek had it for you Saturday night. Opening up the evening was Canadian guitarist Galen Weston delivering material from…