Home » Search Center » Results: Johnny Mandel
Results for "Johnny Mandel"
Ginger Berglund and Scott Whitfield: Solitary Moon
by Nicholas F. Mondello
The canon gifted us by composer Johnny Mandel, whether film scores, television themes or individual compositions, is bathed in distinctive melodic beauty. And, both memorable and lesser-known Mandel selections offer lyrics from some of the greatest wordsmiths of our time--Johnny Mercer, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Dave Frishberg, and others. Thus the material presented in Solitary Moon ...
Stan Kenton Alumni Band: Road Scholars
by Jack Bowers
Road Scholars? A clever title indeed, but these gentlemen (and three ladies) are more akin to “road maestros," an appraisal that is abundantly clear from A to Z on this latest recording by trumpeter Mike Vax's turbo-charged Stan Kenton Alumni Band, taped at various concerts during the band's 2013 spring tour, a two-week, three-thousand-mile odyssey that ...
Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio
by Chris M. Slawecki
Drummer, composer and bandleader Gerry Gibbs--son of renown vibes player and bandleader Terry Gibbs--grew up playing with musical legends from jazz traditionalists such as Clark Terry and James Moody, to Gary Bartz and Sam Rivers and other more adventurous conceptualists, to Parliament-Funkadelic and other artists who skirt the fringes in between. Gibbs' exceptionally dexterous work with ...
Vámanos – Let’s Go!
by Chris M. Slawecki
As jazz continues to indelibly leave imprints on music all over the globe, this column explores everything from classic 1960s and '70 singles from Peru to contemporary updates of traditional blues from Turkey and Greece. Vámanos--let's go! Ҫiğdem Aslan Mortissa Asphalt Tango 2013 Ҫiğdem Aslan was born in the ...
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 ...
