Concert Reviews (851)
Nothing beats experiencing live jazz music as its being created right in front of you. Stop here for reviews of your favorite jazz artists live and in concert.
Since 1991, Fourplay has become one of the most prolific and long-standing groups in contemporary jazz. Originally, the initial make-up of this outstanding array of musicians consisted of pianist Bob James, guitarist Lee Ritenour, bassist Nathan East and drummer Harvey Mason. But after a run of four albums, Ritenour left the band and was replaced by guitarist Larry Carlton. Although the shift in personnel was a dramatic one, the overall chemistry remaine
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The Chick Corea Elektric Band's engagement last week at Catalina Bar & Grill was, as always, a popular ticket at the Hollywood venue. The keyboardist always played to a full house at the club's previous location, and the tables were just as full at Catalina's larger, new room; the only difference is that there seemed, thankfully to be more breathing room in between them. The Elektric Band offered this crowd a lengthy and challenging suite of songs from their ambitious new Stretch/Concord release
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Historically speaking, jazz has always been about change and the pursuit of a highly evolved style of music. For well over 100 years, the genre has manifested itself into one of America's most significant art forms, yet it continues to be misunderstood and often under-rated. In the beginning, the word jazz meant controversy and in later years, bebop, cool, free as well as fusion jazz also became the topics of debate. In the latter half of the 20th century and well into the 21st century, smooth j
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If you've been making music for 30 years and you've only had one hit song you must either have the endurance of a marathon runner or you're just doggedly determined and don't know when to quit. Jay Beckenstein and his cohorts in Spryo Gyra are built for endurance. Long after jazz fusion bands like Weather Report and Return to Forever called it a day, the Beckenstein Bunch is still making great contemporary jazz like their latest release, The Deep End and hit the road to share their mus
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To paraphrase somebody 'r' other, reality makes strange bedfellows. Producer Adrian Sherwood has twiddled the knobs for some of the trippiest dub ever to emanate from the British Isles (African Headcharge, Creation Rebel, Prince Far I) and he's done production work for nominally more "pop" acts Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. And as hard for it might be to believe for anyone under 30, there was a trio of real musicians at the core of the earliest and most influential hip-hop records (Grandmaster F
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There are those artists who find a comfortable niche and work within it in for the better part of their productive lives. Others spend their careers seeking new sounds and means of expression. Which group does David Sanchez fit in? Well, consider this: his recent engagement at Boston's famed Regattabar was billed as a party celebrating the release of his latest CD Coral, but the show I saw featured compositions and arrangements that were even newer than that. The David Sanchez Quartet pla
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Me’shell Ndegeocello celebrated her birthday by presenting those in attendance with a wonderful gift. She led an amazing cast of musicians through an exotic, flawless performance. Her Brazilian percussionist set the tone at the beginning of the first tune, giving the group a world music feel. Toward the end of the set he did a remarkable solo on a hand drum. Her group also included DJ Jahee Sundance, who added another interesting element to the overall soundscape. Well-placed waves of sound and
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The story of David "Honeyboy" Edwards reads like the history of the blues itself. Born in Shaw, Mississippi in 1915, he not only witnessed such originators of the Delta blues style Charley Patton firsthand but also performed as a young man with such historic players as Robert Johnson and "Big" Joe Williams. He was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1942 and has lived in Chicago for the last forty years. With each passing year Honeyboy's pre-eminence as a living master of the f
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A night of glistening guitar-led ensembles started with the Larry Coryell Trio, featuring Mark Egan on bass and Paul Wertico on drums. They performed several tunes off their new CD, Tricycles. The title track really moved with Mark Egan setting a solid bass groove. Another selection from the new CD, Good Citizen Swallow, was also noteworthy. After highlighting tunes from the new CD, Larry Coryell broke out his octaves arsenal on the Wes Montgomery classic Bumpin’ On Sunset. Coryell commented tha
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The 17th edition of the popular Long Beach Jazz Festival closed today on a successful and funky note with a veteran-heavy lineup including Roy Ayers, George Duke and Poncho Sanchez along with saxophonist Steve Cole, soulful crooner Kem, local legend Al Williams & the Jazz Society with Niki Haris and 2004 Jazz Search winner Julie Burrell. The annual three day event once again drew over 35,000 Jazz and R&B fans from all over Los Angeles County and Southern California to Rainbow Lagoon Park overloo
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Long Beach-Here we go again. Another jazz festival is upon us. Not just any jazz festival, this is the annual Long Beach Jazz Festival. This is by far the premier jazz festival of Southern California. This is the most anticipated festival of the year. August 13th-15th was a busy weekend in Los Angeles. Think of all of the various events available to attend, such as the Watts Summer Festival, St. Andrews Place Jazz Festival, St. Elmo Village Festival, and of course the Olympic Games broadcast
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Hollywood-The 6th Annual Thurman Green Scholarship Jazz Festival was held on August 8th at the Musicians Union. A small but lively and enthusiastic crowd of lovers of jazz music gathered to hear jazz, funk, local and future legends of jazz share their passion for America’s number one art form: JAZZ. Michael Sessions Sextet kicked off the days festivities promptly at 1:00PM. This talented saxophonist is a master of all reed instruments. Backing this local legend were Steve Smith-trumpet, Ph
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Manchester concluded its 9th Jazz festival to the explosive sounds of Hans Koller Big Band. An all guns blazing eleven piece brass section supported by bass, drums and the guiding hand of Hans Koller on Fender Rhodes. Only his second visit to Manchester he brought the festival to an exciting close with an expansive, impressive sometimes explosive set. A piece jointly written with the late Stan Lacy was the highlight of the evening for me. A moving piece that echoed the great Stan Lacy with Chris
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Highlight of the Southport International Jazz festival was the appearances of Italian pianist Riccardo Zegna, who had Jazzers fumbling for superlatives after four exquisite performances. Pick of the bunch was a Saturday afternoon session featuring Riccardo and bassist Steve Berry. The pair only met shortly before the gig and, as Berry told the audience, "Riccardo knows as much English as I know Italian - not a lot". Between each strong, the duo played a hilarious lost-in-translation guessi
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Wonderful concert! Once again Little Feat has put on a fun and entertaining performance. It’s like a bunch of old friends having a party out in a farm field or at a barn. The party was a mixture of the new tunes from their latest CD, Kickin’ it at the Barn, and the old tunes that we have always kicked to. The old tunes brought us to the cool Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi Bingo Casino where instead of going to get your own beverage they bring it to you and no mosquitoes involved.
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India Aries’ performance at UCLA’s Royce Hall was simply amazing Thursday evening. Arie sung beautifully in her "Brown Skin," a top ten song from her first platinum CD Acoustic Soul. Arie vast musical styles can sometimes range from Neo Soul, R&B with a pop flavor and drippings of smooth jazz vibes. Arie performed an array of songs from her first CD as well as her latest platinum CD Voyage To India, which she won two Grammy Awards. "Vagina Monologue," a song Arie wrote for an u
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The evening started with an Archie Shepp composition that he wrote for his oldest daughter. After his daughter changed her name, he changed the name of the song. Beautiful and enthralling, the melody set the atmosphere and Shepp’s solo took the Iridium audience on a musical journey up toward the heavens. While the other musicians took solos, Shepp added texture and inspiration on the piano. This exchange reached its peak during Andrew Cyrille’s amazing drum solo. Shepp interspersed funky stateme
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The Royal Bank Glasgow Jazz Festival closed on Sunday 4th July with a fine performance by the Avishai Cohen Quartet. The brilliant double bassist playing with Yosvany Terry on saxophone and chekere, Mark Giuliana on drums and Sam Bar-Sheshet on piano entertained a mainly local audience to the background sound of celebrating Greek supporters in the background of the square during the closing number and a well received encore. The band played a couple of numbers from the new CD, Ascension and
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A night of outstanding music began with the Henry Grimes Quartet. His beautiful green bass caught my eye from the moment I walked in. His playing caught my ear from the moment he picked it up until he stopped playing. The quartet started out the set with more experimental compositions and moved to less dissonant material, closing with the familiar Sonny Rollins set finale Oleo. More often than not, sets of music usually flow in the opposite direction, becoming more experimental as the night goes
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Tonight’s jazz was a diet served up high in carbs; rich with the American songbook standards, easy on the ears and a swing that was as elastic as granddaddy’s pants. In JVC’s 19th year sponsoring jazz in the Big Apple, a Jazz Party for Phil Woods celebrated this jazz giant in an evening filled with many little highlights and surprises. The Kaye Playhouse Auditorium which was filled to capacity would shortly be soaked in music, energy and fun.The core band mates are pianist, Bill Charlap and J
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The 26th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival presented in co-operation with the L.A. Philharmonic Association ushered in a new era for the Historic Hollywood Bowl. The newly renovated bandshell at the Hollywood Bowl cost a hefty 24 million dollars. Ask any of the 35,000 jazz fans in attendance, they would say that it was worth every penny. An improved sound system was installed as well as a new giant screens, so that people in the nosebleed section could enjoy the entire action taken place on stage.
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After fifteen years the Old Pasadena Summer Fest moves to Brookside Park, Brookside is much larger, roomier and more accessible. The summer fest is one of the largest free jazz events in Southern California, attracting visitors in the thousands. The Playboy Jazz Fest offered plenty of live music-with various styles of jazz from traditional / contemporary smooth to Latin and Afro-Cuban-R&B and traditional blues as well. Percussionist Poncho Sanchez, blues guitarist Zac Harmon, smooth jazz
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The East coast has always been a driving force in jazz, and it was no exception on this night as award winning pianist Lenore Raphael from NYC, was joined by bassist Chris Colangelo and drummer Tim Pleasant, who both reside on the left coast, but whose musical roots are in New Jersey and New York respectively. Each combined to show an appreciative audience some hard hitting bebop sounds. Now the 'Middle' East has given us Milcho Leviev, who joined forces with this magnificent trio and all thi
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Today marks the long-awaited release of Karrin Allyson's latest CD, Wild For You. For most jazz lovers this will be the first opportunity to hear this new music, but several lucky fans here in Los Angeles were lucky enough to get a preview of her new material during her engagement at Catalina Bar & Grill in late May. Fronting a quintet consisting mainly of her long term bandmates, Ms. Allyson captivated the crowd with an enchanting mix of jazz standards, Brazilian ballads and songs from 1
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Summertime is here, regardless if you are ready for all of the good times that this season brings. This festive season officially began during Memorial Day Weekend. The weekend was celebrated in various ways: trips to Las Vegas, camping, daily trips to the beach and of course partaking in outdoor festivals. Saturday-Perhaps you were fortunate enough to attend the Old Pasadena SummerFest at Brookside Park in Pasadena. This event had something for the entire family as well for the entire community
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