Home » Search Center » Results: Johnny Mandel
Results for "Johnny Mandel"
Kenny Barron/Gerry Gibbs/Ron Carter: Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio
by Dan Bilawsky
When drummer Gerry “The Thrasher" Gibbs was a youngster, growing up in California in the '70s, he idolized bassist Ron Carter and pianist Kenny Barron. Of course, neither man played his instrument of choice, but he recognized the greatness that emanated from both players and he viewed them as exemplars of what's right and good in ...
Phil Woods & the Festival Orchestra: New Celebration
by Jack Bowers
Any album with the renowned Phil Woods leading a big band (or jazz orchestra) is cause for celebration, especially so when he has written all but one of the charts and takes the bulk of the alto solos. More than fifteen years have passed since Woods last recorded with the COTA Festival Orchestra from his home ...
Gerry Gibbs: Thrasher Dream Trio
by Jack Bowers
A trio that clings together and swings together. Drummer Gerry Gibbs calls this a “dream trio," a description that seems as appropriate as any. Surely, having pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Ron Carter as teammates must seem like a dream come true for any timekeeper. To summarize the point clearly, Barron and Carter are quite simply ...
Earl MacDonald and the Creative Opportunity Workshop: Mirror of the Mind
by Edward Blanco
Not satisfied with the traditional jazz spectrum, pianist and educator Earl MacDonald explores new ways of expressing his progressive taste and with Mirror of the Mind deciding to challenge the boundaries of jazz with a unique instrumentation and sound forged by his new band, Creative Opportunity Workshop. As Director of Jazz Studies at the University of ...
Los Angeles Jazz Society 30th Anniversary Jazz Tribute Awards Oct. 27
Van Nuys, CA: It will be a family affair when the Los Angeles Jazz Society pays tribute to Latin jazz artists Sheila E., her father, Pete, and brothers Juan and Peter Michael Escovedo at the Society's 30th Anniversary Jazz Tribute Awards Dinner and Concert at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City on Sunday, Oct. 27. The dynamic ...
Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra: Artistry
by Jack Bowers
On Artistry, the Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra pays homage to one of Richmond's former employers, the legendary Stan Kenton, not by rehashing music performed by the Kenton Orchestra--no matter how forward-leaning that may have been--but rather by renovating a few themes associated with Kenton (and quite a few others that weren't) in the manner in ...
Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra: It's About Time / Scallywag / Slammin' Joe's
by Jack Bowers
Delightful discourses from Down Under, courtesy of three high-flying albums by trombonist Daryl McKenzie's intrepid Jazz Orchestra from the merry old land of Oz (more widely known as Australia). The first, It's About Time, was recorded in 2007, the others (Scallywag, Slammin' Joe's) in 2010, when the band was roughly eight years old. Yes, big-band jazz ...
Australian Allure: The Music Of Gian Slater And Christopher Hale
by Dan Bilawsky
Trying to define or pigeonhole the music and artistry of vocalist Gian Slater and bassist Christopher Hale is an exercise in futility; in fact, reductive tags like “vocalist" and “bassist" don't even really do them justice. Slater and Hale have each managed to transcend the normal parameters of their chosen instrument(s), reaching a place where they ...
Jerry Vivino and the LA/NY Jazz Trio: Half Moon Bay, CA, June 9, 2013
by Bill Leikam
Jerry Vivino and the LA/NY Jazz TrioDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CaliforniaJune 9, 2013Three top-flight jazz musicians--saxophonist/flautist Jerry Vivino (soprano, tenor, and baritone), the ever-inspiring pianist Mitchel Forman and stand-up bassist Kevin Axt (touted as being Los Angeles' busiest bassist)--presented themselves on a breezy, sunny afternoon at the Bach Dancing and ...
Swingin' on a Riff . . . Hangin' by a Thread?
by Jack Bowers
Betty and I returned to Albuquerque on Memorial Day after attending Swingin' on a Riff, the latest in a series of marvelous semi-annual events presented by Ken Poston and the Los Angeles Jazz Institute for more than twenty years at venues in and around L.A. This one was held May 23-26 at the Los Angeles Marriott ...
