SoCal Jazz
Sometimes poignant.... sometimes humorous....always about jazz. The musings of a lifetime jazz listener in stories, concert reviews, profiles, interviews, and more.
Eric Reed Quartet, Pan African People's Arkestra and Pharoah Sanders / Joey DeFrancesco Tribute Band

by Chuck Koton
Eric Reed Quartet Sam FirstLos Angeles, CA June 9, 2023 This spring's weather was unseasonably cool, but the jazz scene has been hot in California! In June, master pianist Eric Reed brought his quartet, including tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore, bassist Mike Gurrola and drummer Reggie Quinerly to Sam First, a cozy jazz club just east of Los Angeles International Airport. The band opened with a composition of Moore's titled 623 C Street," which, according to Mr Reed, ...
read moreJeff Richman: Fresh & Formidable Fusion Pioneer

by Jim Worsley
When the name Jeff Richman enters the conversation, there is a good chance you have nested deeply into the fusion guitarist rabbit hole. Richman recently released his eighteenth studio album XYZ (Blue Canoe, 2023), to go along with six gorgeously respectful tribute records. Now 71, the Berklee College of Music grad, has etched his name in fusion history. His career, which includes composing, arranging, playing, teaching, and writing for television and movies, dates back to the late 1970's. After cutting ...
read moreSam First Records: Live Jazz on Vinyl

by Jim Worsley
Four short years ago I had the pleasure of attending and putting pen to paper (well, not literally anymore) about Sam First, jny: Los Angeles' hottest new jazz, haunt, which had made a splash on the city's jazz scene. Subsequent visits further validated the hip vibe of modernism combined with vintage jazz. To say that the formula has worked is quite the understatement. The atmosphere and acoustics allow jazz to be presented and heard the way it was meant to ...
read moreThe Music of Thelonious Monk: John Beasley's MONK'estra Live

by Jim Worsley
If you are familiar with John Beasley's MONK'estra, then you may understand my excitement level at the prospects of seeing and hearing his music in a live show. The brilliance of Thelonious Monk's compositions propelled by the power and sass of big band swagger. This recent performance took place at The Barclay Performing Arts Center on the campus of UC Irvine. The city of Irvine is located on the south end of Orange County, about forty miles south of Los ...
read moreThe Weckl/Kennedy Project: Live at The Catalina Jazz Club

by Jim Worsley
If you are a fan of fusion, you likely know that Tom Kennedy and Dave Weckl started playing together in their early teens. Recently, Weckl reminisced about that glorious time in their lives, while on stage at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. Yes, it was the Weckl/Kennedy Project playing the finale of a three-night engagement. The quartet also includes tenor and soprano saxophonist Bob Franceschini and keyboardist Stu Mindeman. Weckl's fond memories were of a young trio learning, pushing ...
read moreDennis Chambers: Heartbeats and Backbeats

by Jim Worsley
We all know that Dennis Chambers is among the world's greatest drummers. In a spontaneous conversation, the gentleman proved to be as kind and generous as he is with his backbeats and grooves. He spoke candidly about the life threatening battles he has faced. Spanning from intense to humorous, Chambers opened up on his medical ordeals, the road back to health, and getting back behind his kit. And oh yes, we talked about music. Led Zeppelin might seem ...
read moreLukasz Pawlik: Making Long Distance Connections

by Jim Worsley
It would come as no surprise if the last name Pawlik is familiar to you. Grammy-winning jazz composer and pianist Wlodek Pawlik, from Poland, has been a vital part of the jazz community for many years now. As it turns out, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. His son, Lukasz Pawlik, is a multitalented multi-instrumentalist who has surely raised the fusion bar of intelligence and melodic sensibilities. His cast on Long Distance Connections (Summit Records, 2021) ...
read moreHiromi: Dancing and Smiling With Every Note

by Jim Worsley
Few musicians have impacted the jazz and music world with the zeal and character of Hiromi. She paints on the finest palette, on par with the finest wine or richest chocolate. Her ambitious and superlative skills as a pianist are matched by the complexities and sheer genius of her compositions. Whether flying solo, in trio, quartet, and beyond, Hiromi brings her vibrance and innate chemistry to all that she touches. Now there are strings attached...to her bold new record. Hiromi ...
read moreDolby ATMOS: Now HEAR This

by Jim Worsley
I almost entitled this A Vacation For Your Ears." Seemed a bit wordy, although surely accurate. An invitation to Studio1LA from owners and masters of immersive engineering Karma Auger (yes he is Brian Auger's son) and Erich Gobel (pictured left to right, respectively) was accepted with high expectations. Auger, the drummer, and Gobel, the guitarist, bring a musician's vibe and outlook to their projects. The thought of twelve separate channels being filtered into twelve separate speakers has a way of ...
read morePasqua, Erskine, and Oles: The Art of the Jazz Trio

by Jim Worsley
"We've known each other and have been playing together for fifty years now," was proudly, if even more sentimentally, reminisced by pianist Alan Pasqua in reference to drummer Peter Erskine to an intimate and appreciative audience at Sam First in Los Angeles during a recent performance. Bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz, who has been part of the mix for a mere" twenty years, rounded out this stellar and superbly connected trio. Pasqua's warm hearted moment also included a remembrance of the late ...
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