Jazz gladiator Joshua Redman brings it to Royce Hall
Ever since he came to national attention at the beginning of the 1990s, tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman has defied the narrative of the wunderkind who bears prodigious talent, then declines. He’s taken on ambitious formats, often in the company of seasoned jazz gladiators, and Redman has more than held his mud. In the face of ...
Review: a Bowl-ful of Playboy jazz
angelique kidjo, photo credit: matthew imaging The Playboy Jazz mold was set a long time ago. Saturday openers are for socializing and getting the crowd up and moving. Sunday is where the bulk of the serious jazz ensembles and features will be heard. That framework continued unabated, at the 41st anniversary edition of the Playboy ...
Alan Broadbent: fire in the residency
Alan Broadbent – Photo by Jon Frost When he left Santa Monica for New York in the fall of 2011, pianist and composer Alan Broadbent wasn’t missing out on many playing opportunities. One night a month at Vibrato wasn’t exactly stoking his pianistic fires. Chalk it up to one of the failures of this city ...
Los Angeles lore thru music & photography @ Central Library
Josh Nelson: The Sky Remains, May 4, 2019, singer Kathleen Grace out frontCentral Library downtown Los Angelesphoto courtesy of Mark Christian Miller, Corniche Entertainment A wonderful Saturday afternoon: a chance to unplug, be with people, and simply simmer in a stew of creativity, while taking in a jazz concert in the cozy confines of the ...
Jazz review: Chilly night at the Ford warmed by ‘Spring Quartet’
Spring Quartet: DeJohnette, Lovano, Spalding, Genovese For a jazz super group, the Spring Quartet is something of a phantom. Most Angeleno jazz fans had never heard of the quartet, but they all know the names of saxophonist Joe Lovano, drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Esperanza Spalding and pianist Leo Genovese. When the group performed at the ...
A grandaughter’s devotion: Mariana de Moraes at the bluewhale
Mar
19
2019
photo courtesy mariana de moraes In her upcoming performance at the Little Tokyo jazz club, bluewhale, chanteuse Mariana de Moraes is admirably fronting an evening of Brazilian samba, bossa nova, Brazilian jazz, Afro-Samba, and poetry. And she is doing more. She is honoring her grandfather, Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980) a giant of Brazilian culture history. ...
A thoughtful, joyous Kurt Elling Christmas at Segerstrom
Two years ago, jazz singer Kurt Elling released The Beautiful Day: Kurt Elling Sings Christmas. As he’s a vocalist who likes to have his way with a song to the point of redesigning it, that CD was a bit of a surprise. But for anyone familiar with Elling’s background, it made perfect sense. The son ...
Rat Pack-ish: Chris Walden Big Band at The Wallis
Chris Walden is the most ubiquitous musician you’ve never heard of, but whom you’ve heard everywhere. He’s one of the busiest of the current Hollywood composer-arrangers, and just a sampling of his recent album credits includes Michael Bublé, Jessie J., Michael Bolton, and Celine Dion. His film and TV writing is voluminous (your kids hear ...
John Scofield jazz combo at cozy Theatre Raymond Kabbaz
Oct
5
2018
John Scofield, the creative, distinctive and versatile guitarist and composer first burst on the scene playing with greats like Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Billy Cobham in the late ’70s . Possessed of a distinctive sound and stylistic diversity, Scofield is a masterful improviser whose music falls between post-bop, funk edged Jazz, and ...
Vijay Iyer/Teju Cole ‘Blind Spot’ syncopates jazz, photography, text
The intriguing image above represents the visual component for “Blind Spot,” a much-anticipated live performance soon presented by CAP UCLA at The Theatre at Ace Hotel. The collaborative effort showcases two artists at the top of their respective fields: jazz pianist/composer Vijay Iyer and writer/photographer Teju Cole. A familiar face on the covers of Downbeat ...