February Jazz at Charlie O's with Special Tribute Tonight

Before I get to our February news, this is just a reminder that tomorrow night, January 29th, will be dedicated to Charlie when Don Menza will do a repeat performance of the Tribute to Stan Getz that he did last January for Charlie's birthday celebration. The four saxes will be Pete Christlieb, Don Menza, Gary Foster and Gene Cipriano with Roy McCurdy, drums, Mike Melvoin, piano and Chris Conner, bass. They played for Charlie's birthday last year to a sold out house. Be sure to call the club to make a reservation for tomorrow evening. This is a special performance and not to be missed.

A special note to let you know that Charlie O's Jazz Club was once again voted one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world by Downbeat Magazine! Downbeat will be sending us a limited supply of magazines in March so please remember to ask your server for a copy in March.

February jazz performances include a special big band Sunday performance of the Ron Jones Jazz Orchestra Influence featuring Seth MacFarland on the 8th, outstanding big bands every Monday, a birthday celebration for Pete Christlieb on the 12th, the annual Charlie O's Valentine Party on the 14th, a special night of two baritone saxes (Jennifer Hall and Roger Neumann) on the 17th, a tribute to Dexter Gordon on the 18th by the CJS Quintet, a birthday party for Justo Almario on the 21st, Chuck Berghofer's outstanding trio featuring Chuck, Terry Trotter and Peter Erskine on the 26th, a CD Release Party for Bill Henderson on the 27th and all of your favorite LA musicians will be here as well.

There is a very special Sunday performance on the 8th with the Influence Jazz Orchestra lead by composter Ron Jones. This special concert event will feature Seth MacFarland who is the creator, producer of the world-wide hit TV series, Family Guy. Seth will be singing many of his favorite, classic Sinatra songs as well as songs with a comic twist. The all-star LA based Influence will have an expanded number of players for this special Charlie O's performance. We will have a $20 cash cover charge for this performance. Seating is limited so reservations are required.

Our Monday big band performances return with the Ron King Big Band on the 2nd (Ron's band performed last year at the at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia where they were a huge success and have been invited back for the festival this March by popular demand. This coming performance at Charlie Os will be the 2009 launch for the Ron King Big Band as they gear up for the biggest jazz festival in the world. The band has also performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the Manhattan Transfer to a sell-out crowd!). The remaining big bands for February include the Phil Norman Tentet on the 9th (there won't be a cover charge for the Phil Norman Tentet night); Gary Tole's Legends of Swing Band on the 16th and rounding out the month is the Frank Capp Juggernaut Big Band on the 23rd playing great Basie Band charts featuring classic hits by Neal Hefti and Sammy Nestico. Please come out to support the efforts of these great jazz musicians doing what they do best. There is a $20 cash cover charge every Monday except for the 9th. The cover charge is good for the entire evening. Reservations required for big band nights for the 8 PM performance.

Our Friday and Saturday line ups always feature outstanding guests and they perform with the John Heard Trio (John Heard (www.heardworks.com), bass; Roy McCurdy or Lorca Hart, drums, Tom Ranier, Jon Mayer, Lanny Hartley, John Beasley or Tateng Katindig, piano. Our phenomenal lineup of guests this month include Lanny Morgan on the 6th, Plas Johnson (www.plasjohnson.com) on the 7th, Don Menza on the 13th, vocalist Janis Mann (www.janismann.com) on the 14th for our special Valentine Party with prizes being given to our guests during the intermissions, Azar Lawrence (www.azarlawrence.com) on the 20th, Justo Almario on the 21st when we'll celebrate Justo's birthday, warm and wonderful Bill Henderson (CD Release Party for Bill's new CD Beautiful Memory) on the 27th, and Rickey Woodward on the 28th. Reservations are highly recommended for all Friday and Saturday performances.

The remaining Sunday line-up is the Andy Langham Trio (Andy, piano, Darek Oles, bass, Gerry Gibbs, drums) on the 1st, the Benn Clatworthy Quartet on the 15th, and the Don Menza Quartet on the 22nd with Don, Tom Ranier and Chris Conner and Steve Schaeffer.

Our Tuesday performances include the great Kate Reid Quartet (www.katereidmusic.com) (Kate, piano/vocals, Mark Visher, woodwinds, Chris Conner, bass, Steve Barnes, drums) on the 3rd, the Theo Saunders Quartet featuring Chuck Manning on the 10th, the Jennifer Hall/Roger Neumann Jazz Quintet (Jennifer and Roger both playing baritone saxes) on the 17th, and the Carl Saunders Sextet returns on the 24th with the usual suspects. Please make reservations for these Tuesday performances.

Our Wednesday guests include the Tony Inzalaco Quintet on the 4th (Tony, Benn Clatworthy, Nolan Shaheed, Theo Saunders, Chris Colangelo), the Jack Sheldon California Cool Quartet on the 11th and 25th, and a special tribute to Dexter Gordon by the CJS Quintet featuring Chuck Johnson and James Smith on the 18th. Reservations suggested for these performances - especially for Jack Sheldon's performances! Check out Jack's website at www.jacksheldon.com

The Thursday line-up features the always popular Emil Richards/Joe Porcaro Quartet (Emil, vibes, Joe, drums, Mike Land, piano, Bruce Lett, bass) on the 5th, a birthday celebration for Pete Christlieb on the 12th with Pete's Tall & Small Big Band (no cover charge for this evening); the Bruce Eskovitz Jazz Orchestra is here on the 19th, and the Chuck Berghofer Trio featuring Terry Trotter and Peter Erskine returns on the 26th. Reservations highly recommended for these Thursday performances especially for the 26th - there is never enough room for guests when this trio performs!

We are located at 13725 Victory Blvd. in Van Nuys (on Victory, just West of Woodman Avenue). Jo-Ann, Mike, Matt, Caryl, Teesee, Naomi and Sarah all look forward to seeing you in February at Charlie O's. Please be sure to keep checking our website, www.charlieos.com, for new photos, links to our musicians' websites, our monthly calendar, news and upcoming special events.

Here is a link to a very special article written by Randy Robinson of All About Jazz about Charlie O -- http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=31381

Come to Charlie O's for the best in jazz entertainment at the “ultimate jazz bar, restaurant" (Don Heckman, LA Times). Charlie O's has been voted by Downbeat magazine every year as one of the top 100 best jazz clubs in the world since 2001! “A great intimate jazz club in the valley" said Chuck Niles in the November 2003 issue of Sunset magazine. Charlie O's is where all the musicians hang and “all the best jazz players in LA are there" said Mort Sahl. Les McCann says “Charlie O's is the best jazz club in L.A. Clint Eastwood said “it's like listening to great jazz in your living room." Our sincere thanks to all of you all over the world for helping to make Charlie O's so successful! Thank you all for keeping Charlie O's dream alive. We hope to see you in February!

Jo-Ann and the Charlie O Family