It seems that guitarist Al Di Meola can’t stop relighting the fuse to fusion, and justifiably so. Billing this tour as the “Elegant Gypsy Meets Romantic Warrior”, the jazz-rock pioneer keeps the candle lit in the window as he makes…
Category: Concert Reviews
Pharoah Sanders w/ Harold Mabern Trio @ Catalina’s 06.10.16
This is why I love jazz… I get to the club early to meet tenor sax legend Pharoah Sanders in order to get a “set list” from him for this review. He’s in his room sitting and fingering his sax…
Cyrille Aimee Quintet @The Blue Whale 06.09.16
The first time I heard vocalist Cyrille Aimee on an album, I thought she was from the Midwest, as her diction, dialect and sense of swing seemed to have come right out of the Kay Starr-Mildred Bailey school of hot…
Julian Lage Trio @ The Blue Whale 06.04.16
Guitarist Julian wage has displayed his wares in a variety of settings over the years in LA. He teamed up with his own trio a few years ago, did a duet gig with Nels Cline, another one with pianist with…
Leon Russell, Booker T Jones, Jo-El Sonnier &Kelly’s Lot@The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival 05.29.16
Forget the Playboy Jazz Festival; the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues fest beats the older and richer sister. This is coming from a jazzer, yet still, pound for pound and dollar for dollar, I have more fun here than in…
Freddy Cole Quartet@Dakota 05.23.16
There are certain jazz artists that when you see them, you’ll think, “Even my friends that hate jazz would like this.” Then, you have artists like Freddy Cole, who, even if your friend hates LIFE, he would like an evening…
Alfredo Rodriguez Quartet@The Blue Whale 05.17.16
At the Blue Whale Tuesday night, pianist Alfredo Rodriguez demonstrated that there is a vast difference between “Cuban music” and music played by a Cuban. Instead of replicating sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club or Ricky Ricardo, the pianist/composer…
Take 6@Smothers Theatre Pepperdine 05.14.16
“Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with the Lord in your heart” Ephesians 5:19 If you wanted a hint of heaven, even the beaches at Malibu paled in comparison to the sounds…
Brian Bromberg’s Full Circle Acoustic Band@ Catalina’s 05.13.16
Somehow, bassist Brian Bromberg has been always labeled under the “smooth jazz” category. Well, if Bromberg proved anything Friday night with his Full Circle Acoustic Band, it’s that there’s a world of difference between “smooth” jazz and “jazz that’s played…
Bill Charlap Trio@Catalina’s 05.06.16
There aren’t many mainstream jazz pianists around anymore; they all seem to have gone to either the dark side of dissonance or to meditative navel gazing. Bill Charlap with his long time trio of Peter Washington/b and Kenny Washington/dr keep…