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Article: Live Review

Chris Oatts’ Pretty Big Band at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
June 7, 2024

Chris Oatts' Pretty Big Band Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA May 28, 2024 The nonet, a nine-member ensemble which enables features of both small group and big band arranging and playing, has probably deserved greater use than it has seen in jazz over the years. Among the ...

Article: Live Review

Pete Malinverni Trio Celebrating Leonard Bernstein at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
May 28, 2024

Pete Malinverni Trio Celebrating Leonard Bernstein Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA May 18, 2024 In 2022, pianist Pete Malinverni released a trio recording, On the Town: Pete Malinverni Plays Leonard Bernstein (Planet Arts Recordings). Just last year, Bradley Cooper's biopic about Leonard Bernstein, Maestro (Netflix, ...

Article: Live Review

Tony Miceli Quintet at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
April 12, 2024

Tony Miceli Quintet Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA April 5, 2024 Vibraphonist Tony Miceli has a way of drawing talent around him like a magnet. Of course, it's because of his exceptional musicianship, but he also has a knack for creating interesting situations for playing. This time, he ...

Article: Live Review

George Colligan Quartet at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
April 3, 2024

George Colligan Quartet Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia. PA March 29, 2024 Chris Hove of All About Jazz once wrote that pianist and multi-instrumentalist George Colligan is “one of the best kept secrets in jazz." It's not clear why he is such a secret, since. as saxophonist Don ...

Article: Live Review

Joey Alexander Trio at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
March 13, 2024

Joey Alexander Trio Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA March 8, 2024 All musical genres, and specifically jazz, have produced any number of musicians who blossomed in childhood and already in their teens were performing and competitive with the masters. The greatest historical example of course was Wolfgang Amadeus ...

Article: Live Review

Joe Block Christmas Extravaganza at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
December 25, 2023

Joe Block Christmas Extravaganza Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA December 17, 2023 Pianist Joe Block is a remarkable pianist and band leader born and bred in Philadelphia and its suburbs. He is a graduate of both Juilliard and Columbia, was mentored by legendary pianists like Tom Lawton ...

Article: Live Review

Mary Ellen Desmond: Comfort and Joy 2023

by Victor L. Schermer
December 16, 2023

Mary Ellen Desmond and Friends Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany Philadelphia, PA December 10, 2023 This was the twentieth consecutive year that Mary Ellen Desmond has led her “Comfort and Joy" holiday concert in the sanctuary of Philadelphia's Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany. The ...

Article: Film Review

Maestro: The Leonard Bernstein Story

by Victor L. Schermer
November 11, 2023

Bradley Cooper Maestro Netflix 2023 This film is what might be called a romantic biopic about “maestro" (and household word) Leonard Bernstein's life and work and his loving but troubled relationship with his wife, the Costa Rican/ Chilean pianist and actor Felicia Montealegre. Yet it has the power and ...

Article: Interview

Bobby Zankel: The Inside Story of 'A Change of Destiny'

by Victor L. Schermer
September 21, 2023

Saxophonist, bandleader, composer and arranger Bobby Zankel has been making jazz in many ways with diverse cohorts for over a half-century. He has found his own way to create music that is both advanced and very listenable at the same time. He is loved and revered by the many musicians who have performed with him and ...

Article: Live Review

Miguel Zenon and Luis Perdomo at Solar Myth

by Victor L. Schermer
August 28, 2023

Miguel Zenon and Luis Perdomo Ars Nova Workshop Solar Myth Philadelphia, PA August 23, 2023 This magnificent performance, by two of the finest Latin-based jazz musicians around today, blew the lid off a “myth" about a seemingly funky-grungy club called Solar Myth. The club's exotic name ...