October 21, 2016 Any chance to hear Meters bassist George Porter, Jr. in the southland is a treat, and he brought a little Maple Leaf with him for a generous two-setter at The Mint billed as a celebration of Porter, Jr. with special guests. GPJ was flanked by drummer Terrence Houston and Michael Lemmler on […]
September 16-18, 2016 KAABOO is an art and food festival with a serious music problem – a weekend away with a killer soundtrack. With a year to percolate since last year’s inaugural, KAABOO again flashed musical diversity, tasty cuisine, artisanal liquids, five-story art, good humor and an abundance of creature comforts around the historic Del […]
July 29-31, 2016 Newport Jazz. Coltrane’s last performance. History that reaches back to 1954. And, yes, the oldest annual jazz festival in North America is still under the stewardship of founder George Wein for one last year. Newport, along with the Monterey Jazz Festival on the West Coast in September, stands taller than the rest […]
Yeah, it’s been a year of musical losses. But, Prince, the day before Jazz Fest 47 got underway? WTF? From the glyph etched in the blue above the Fair Grounds the first weekend, to the Treme second line the Monday following, to My Morning Jacket’s howling “Purple Rain” finish second Friday, Jazz Fest did […]
Jim Brock Photography’s image of Jon Cleary from the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is featured in this week’s Gambit, New Orleans largest alternative weekly publication. Check out the digital edition here.
March 4, 2016 It seems many established acts are getting more artistically liberated in the deep end of their careers, or is that just me? Whether it’s an unusual union (David Crosby and Snarky Puppy come to mind in the moment), reaching way back into an early catalog, or running through entire albums from first […]
February 25, 2016 Some serious stringing occurred at The Troubadour last week courtesy of another nice Bluegrass Situation Presents double bill of the globe trotting Della Mae first on before the Infamous Stringdusters. The women of Della Mae’s resumes are top flight and they pulled no punches during their hourish set. Oh, and did I […]
February 9, 2016 Fat Tuesday in Los Angeles is hard to discern from any other day of the year in this sun spoilt metropolis. Once you get past the pre-packaged king cakes in Whole Foods, there are limited options to channel any decent Mardi Gras energy. Fortunately, the Center for the Art of Performance (CAP) […]
October 3, 2015 Yup, we got an LA Bluegrass Situation on our hands, and with Way Over Yonder a goner and a tinge of real time Hardly Strictly Bluegrass envy, that 10-hour hang at the Greek on a balmy Fall day couldn’t be any more welcome round these parts. Ed Helms, who co-founded BGS, and […]
September 17-20, 2015 With summer and festival season coming to a close, in steps KAABOO, a 3-day inaugural event held a sea breeze away from the Pacific at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The brain child of Denver based Bryan Gordon and a huge supporting cast, the fest offered a broad spectrum musical experience mixed with […]