Drummer extraordinaire Winard Harper led his jazz band the Winard Harper Sextet through two hours of great music, that featured standards and original compositions—and that was just the first set. Playing before an appreciative audience at West Broadway’s The Jazz Cellar in Vancouver, the sextet was nothing short of marvelous, and after each solo performance, the patrons applauded them....

Denmark’s Christina and Carsten Dahl make sweet music together—in more than one way, for the couple are a dynamic jazz duo, and they are also husband and wife. Denmark’s first couple of jazz possesses a love for one another that is evident on stage, yet it does not come across as syrupy. Their respect for one another as musicians...

Another good reason...

I learned a new definition for breathless on August 5th. Breathless, at least in my vocabulary can now be defined as twenty-three year old Vancouver jazz pianist Amanda Tosoff who performed at The Cellar Restaurant and Jazz Club on West Broadway in Vancouver, Canada. Tosoff played to a standing room only crowd, who responded throughout the evening with spontaneous...

Canadian blues rocker David Gogo opened his set at Vancouver’s Yale Hotel on Granville Street with his massive hit “Skeleton Key,” which found a home on the airwaves and in the hearts of numerous blues fans in the United States and Canada. His fans certainly cannot complain about getting their money’s worth as Gogo is one of the hardest...

Toronto jazz singer Larra Skye one of the few independent artists to strike a national distribution deal (HMV), performed two outstanding sets at The Cellar Restaurant and Jazz Club in Vancouver Canada on July 28. She was backed by an ensemble consisting of Brad Turner (keys), Jon Bentley (tenor saxophone), Darren Radtke (upright acoustic bass) and drummer Bernie Arai....

Thirty-four years ago a Vietnam war veteran by the name of Bill Homans lay in an army hospital bed and taught himself how to play upside-down slide guitar using a triangle pick cut from a rusty coffee can top and used an army issued Zippo lighter as the slide. On Tuesday July 24th at Vancouver Canada’s Yale Hotel, a...

At ninety-two years of age, Les Paul continues to play to a packed house every Monday night at the Iridium in New York City.  Locals and tourists line up on Broadway to a get a glimpse of the Wizard from Waukesha.  A Wisconsin native myself, I am particularly proud of his many accomplishments.  His impact on the history and...

On a Friday in mid-February, for about three hours, instead of the insufferable wind chills of, usually, 10 above zero, it was 90 degrees in Chicago.  The heat was emanating from a performance at Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom.  The performance was labeled an evening of Mardi Gras music from New Orleans with Dr. John headlining and guest artist Donald...

The 12th Annual Vision Festival took place from Tuesday, June 19 thru Sunday June 24th, 2007 and featured a smörgåsbord of the world’s greatest improvisers.  As inspiring as it is unique, the festival showcases artists who have built their reputations courageously on their own terms.  To celebrate all of these visionaries under one roof is a testament to the...

What a fabulous way to spend a Saturday afternoon, enjoying the music of the nineteen piece Prime Time Big Band and the luscious vocals of Shari Chaskin at the Ironwood Stage and Grill. Having interviewed Chaskin only two days before I thought it would be a good idea to catch her gig, never expecting that on a warm June...

There is something hypnotic about how the lone light over the entrance to the courtyard...

Three of the greatest entertainers on the live music scene today, are not necessarily household names, but their talent as artists is long-standing and much-appreciated by ‘those in the know’ in the music biz. Johnny Pennino is known as the Sax King of New Orleans, and rightly so! He is deservedly in the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, and is one...

It’s always a great pleasure to see blues harp (harmonica) great David Rotundo in concert. Rotundo’s type of blues is the real deal -- the healing blues that makes the real blues go away. Such was a recent warm June night at the beginning of the summer for this writer, and a cheering packed house at Southside Johnny’s .....

Smooth jazz guitarist Norman Brown opened the act billed as Summer Storm at the 32nd annual The Harrah’s Rincon Smooth Jazz 98.1 Gaslamp Festival in San Diego, The one day festival held on May 26, featured numerous musicians and singers performing on two stages located in the city’s downtown core from mid afternoon until late evening. Brown was joined...

The Café opened six years ago, somewhat...

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