It’s fitting that the final drummer/bandleader that came into town this past month would be Steve Gadd, as at 78, the elder statesman delivered a 90 minute set that set that showed that he is still the standard bearer of…
Category: Concert Reviews
Simon Phillips Protocol V@The Baked Potato 04.15.23
Phillips’ Protocol V consists of Ernest Tibbs/b, Alex Sill/g, Jacob Scesney/sax and Dennis Hamm/key, who you wouldn’t have known just joined the team this week unless the leader had mentioned it. The band was tighter than Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime…
Wynton Marsalis Septet@Granada Theatre 04.05.23
“I just want to play well enough for you to invite me back” So joked jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, returning from a tour in Asia to continue his 40 year relationship with the UCSB Arts and Lectures Department. Marsalis has…
Steve Smith’s Vital Information@Catalina’s 03.25.23
And we haven’t even talked about the reason he’s in town this week at Catalina’s with his incarnation of Vital Information with bassist Janek Gwizdala and pianist/keyboardist Manuel Valera. Time has flown with his band, as this tour has Smith…
Charles Lloyd 85th Birthday Celebration @ The Soraya 03.18.23
Celebration was truly in the air for Charles Lloyd’s presentation of two of his three recent trio recordings, for as soon as the jazz legend stepped on stage, the audience spontaneously sang “ Happy Birthday” to him. The rest of…
Charles Ruggiero Plays Monk@The Baked Potato 03.15.23
If you want to get a sense of modern jazz history, an excellent place to start would be to hit the Baked Potato the third Wednesday of every month, and drummer Charles Ruggiero will give a Master Class workshop on…
Maria Schneider Orchestra @ Broad Stage 03.03.23
Let’s just all start off by admitting that there simply aren’t a lot of big band concerts that… Have accordion and guitar players, and not doing French songs Put poems to orchestrations Use Morse Code as messages in the rhythm…
Eric Johnson @ The Majestic Ventura 02.22.23
The loss of guitar icon Jeff Beck reminds us all of the dearth of six stringers who resist resting on their laurels and continue to advance their musical craft, hopping their loyal fans will join with them in the journey.…
Samara Joy@The Annenberg Theater 02.19.23
If you are looking for a stock tip, you might want to check in with Mark Davis and Tracy Conrad, who had the prescience of booking vocalist Samara Joy 18 months ago, way before she won two Grammys for New…
Stick Men@The Baked Potato 02.18.23
You know a band can be labeled “progressive” when two of the three members have to create their own custom instruments in order to play their music. Such is the case of Stick Men, with King Crimson alumnus Tony…