“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…
Category: Concert Reviews
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…
Jon Anderson & Jean-Luc Ponty (or was it Jean-Luc Ponty & Jon Anderson?) Band @ Canyon Club 04.30.16
As Jon Anderson goes on tour with jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty to promote their recent album, music fans are beginning to discover who the adventurous members of the jazz/rock band Yes actually were. While the legendary band tours around the…
Cecile McLorin Salvant@Campbell Hall UCSB 04.27.16
While most vocalists make the mistake of either strictly adhering to the American Songbook or flailing away in improvisations, Cecile McLorin Salvant showed that it is possible to embrace both worlds of tradition and art as she deftly demonstrated at…
Kenny Barron Trio@Lobero Theatre 04.18.16
Kenny Barron’s trio of Kiyoshi Kitagawa/b and Johnathan Blake/dr has been together for ten years, but the legendary pianist took until now to finally record everyone together. This Monday night at The Lobero, Barron’s lyrical touch lead the team through…
Mack Avenue SuperBand@Lobero Theatre 03.31.16
“If someone told me as a kid I’d be playing with these guys, I wouldn’t have believed it” So beamed drummer Carl Allen, no lightweight of his own, as he summed up the feeling of the energy emitted from the…
Jazz Bakery’s “Moveable Feast” Presents: The Bill Laurance Project 03.21.16
If jazz is going to get a foothold in the present generation’s ipod, it is not going to be through mindless and endless cacophonic solos, but through the type of accessible yet swinging music delivered by bands like Snarky Puppy.…
Luciana Souza@The Broad Stage 03.18.16
Vocalist Luciana Souza demonstrated at The Broad Stage that Brazilian music can be presented in many hues. Up to now, most of her recordings have been of the softer pastels in watercolors with quiet chords delivered by the Romero Lubambo …
Stewart Copeland & God: Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ (1925)@The Valley Performing Arts Center 03.16.16
If you’ve had trouble getting into the Easter season this year, a trip to the Valley Performing Arts Center this past Wednesday evening would have cured your doldrums. Even Stewart Copeland, the famed drummer who composed the music for the…