While it seems you could throw a rock in any direction from an LA street corner and be guaranteed to hit an aspiring singer, finding one that has a unique and memorable style of delivery is like about as frequent…
Category: Concert Reviews
Dori Caymmi@The Edye 04.11.15
“I don’t listen to much of today’s music; it’s all made to be thrown away.” That was Dori Caymmi’s contrast of today’s pop sounds in comparison to the 1 ½ hours of timeless Brazilian music that he and his band…
Jazz Bakery’s “Moveable Feast” Presents: John Abercrombie Quartet@Musician’s Institute 04.04.15
Legendary jazz guitarist John Abercrombie opened his 1 ½ hour set at the Musician’s Institute by jokingly referred to his style of playing as “based on making mistakes and correcting them during the song.” To the listening ears of the…
Chris Potter’s Underground@The Blue Whale 03-27-15
It used to be that 99% of all jazz sax players drank from the waters of Charlie Parker, but as Chris Potter displayed with his Underground quartet at the packed Blue Whale Friday night, another Parker, namely Maceo, can also…
Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock@Granada Theatre 03.22.15
“What you think we’re gonna do…we ain’t gonna do it!” So joked Herbie Hancock as he and fellow jazz icon Chick Corea conversed with the packed Santa Barbara crowd at the acoustically adroit Granada. The Chameleon wasn’t kidding, though, as he…
Sasha’s Bloc w/ Jane Monheit@Catalina’s 03.21.15
Be it with religion, music or politics, there’s nothing like the enthusiasm of a convert, and since Russian-born bassist Alex Gershman discovered the joys of jazz, he’s been on a mission to spread the good news through his musical review…
Roberta Gambarini@Catalina’s 03.13.15
If I were God, and I could create the perfect jazz singer, what would she be? Well, I’d take the swing and clarity of Ella Fitzgerald, the sensuality of Julie London, and just for fun add the look and allure of…
Roberta Flack@Wengler Center Pepperdine 02.06.15
Sometimes, you just get so far off target in life, that you forget what the normal standard of something should be. We’re bombarded by synthetic and thunderous sounds, misogynistic and angry lyrics and nothing that is sung with a sense…
Leo Kottke@LSW Center Pepperdine 01.31.14
What better way to end Guitar Month than taking in a concert with the 12 and 6 string acoustic master Leo Kottke? He just recently performed in Santa Barbara, but the place was still packed with fans, some of them…
Steve Gadd Band@Catalina’s 01.29.15
The term “Deep Pockets” is usually a financial term, but in the case of drummer Steve Gadd, it’s a fitting description of the music that he has created over his career. Celebrating his 70th birthday, he filled up Catalina’s with…