The 67-piece Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, the only ensemble of its kind in the country, will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a special concert featuring Academy and Grammy Award winning composer, arranger and pianist, Dave Grusin this Friday evening.
Grusin has composed for such films as Fabulous Baker Boys, Havana, On Golden Pond, Tootsie, Milagro Beanfield War and Heaven Can Wait and, famously, The Graduate. 
The concert includes the world premiere of “Symphonic Captain’s Journey” by Grammy Award winning guitarist and composer Lee Ritenour.
The SJO, which blends two great musical worlds, jazz and classical is headed up by music directors George Duke and Mitch Glickman, and comprises Los Angeles’ finest jazz soloists and studio musicians. Since 2002, the SJO has commissioned and premiered seven new symphonic jazz works and performed 6 world premieres.
Symphonic Jazz Orchestra (SJO) | Marsee Auditorium El Camino College Center for the Arts | Torrance | Friday Nov 9
This was an amazing night for jazz. Dave Grusin confirmed what everyone already knows–there is a reason he has scored so many movies and won so many awards. The maestro still is one of the most talented pianists/composers/conductors around, even at 78 years old. He played several selections solo, with Lee Rittenour, and with the large, exhuberant (if not always technically sharp) jazz orchestra. Under his conducting, the jazz orchestra seemed tighter and more responsive. Our favorite set came from his Academy Award winning score from the Milagro Beanfield Wars. The audience comprised a who’s-who of the LA jazz scene, including KKJZ’s Bubba Jackson, Gordon Goodwin, David Benoit, Bill Cunliffe…probably more we just don’t recognize. With the Streisand concert a few miles away at the Bowl, one may conclude that the jazz giants in attendance at the Grusin concert must have known that something special would be happening. And it did.