Back in the 70s, when they were a fledging band with a couple hits under their collective belts, Steely Dan founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen joked that they started a rock group because they “weren’t good enough to be jazz…
Category: Concert Reviews
The Cookers@Catalina’s 08.18.13
It’s difficult to find any jazz groups that stick around together for longer than a single tour, so when the group of jazz vets called The Cookers came into town, fans of advanced hard bop felt like they were getting…
Gretchen Parlato & Taylor Eigsti@The Blue Whale 08.17.13
The real test whether a vocalist has the “veritas” for performance has to be in the context of duets with a pianist. All come to that challenge sooner or later, and at this point in her career, Gretchen Parlato showed…
Arturo Sandoval’s Big Band@Catalina’s 08.02.13
If you’re a fan of the trumpet, you got an ear full of some of the brassiest sounds this side of the angel Gabriel this Friday night at Catalina’s. 9 time Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval fronted his sizzling Big Band…
Kathleen Grace w/ Anthony Wilson@The Blue Whale
What exactly constitutes a “jazz singer”? If it’s improvisation and scat singing, then Billie Holiday doesn’t even qualify. Is it in the song selection? Norah Jones writes her own stuff, and Peggy Lee went from Benny Goodman to “Fever” within…
Booker T Jones@The El Rey 06.25.13
The format of the soulful Hammond master Booker T Jones hasn’t changed much in the past 2 score years since his days with the MGs when his band backed the likes of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and Eddie Floyd…
Pavlo@The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre 06.23.13
There wasn’t a natural blond in the audience for this 4 hour concert featuring some of the best Mediterranean music you’ll ever hear this side of a church picnic. There were so many Armenians and Greeks in the audience for…
Jazz Bakery’s Moveable Feast Presents: Giacomo Gates@Kirk Douglas Theatre 06.22.13
Vocalist Giacomo Gates came to town this weekend to justify my disdain (or at least indifference) to singers like Michael Buble’. As the people-pleasing pop performer delivers a show that is as polished as his nails, in a perfectly generic…
Sacha’s Bloc@Catalina’s 06.20.13
You get the hint that something special is in the air at Catalina’s when a) the show starts RIGHT ON TIME (this is a jazz club?!?) and b) the set begins with a guy having his back facing you (no,…
Lisa Hilton@Catalina’s 05.16.13
This past month has been filled with trios coming through LA. From Brad Mehldau & The Bad Plus to Jason Moran, as well as Bill Cunliffe and Emily Bear, it seems like paradise for fans of intimate jazz. So, do…