Welcome to the LAJC blog. visit our home page at www.lajazzcollective.com
Why move to a .org website? It is a largely symbolic move that reflects our anticipated transformation from a loose collection of artists into a bonafide non-profit organization. It’s a big step for us and that means we will have to step up to the challenge of becoming a viable force for jazz in the city of Los Angeles.
When creative music impresario Rocco Somazzi made the brave decision in 2008 to launch a brand new jazz festival, he asked the LAJC if we would be willing to help with the operation of one of the stages, and if we would like to pick some groups to perform. The resulting inaugural event that took place on at the Barnsdall Gallery and Theater in Hollywood, CA was a smashing success, and we were glad to have been a part of it.
Four years later, ACJF has emerged as one of the premier jazz events on the Los Angeles calendar every fall, growing from a single day to close to two weeks of shows at multiple sites, such as the intimate black box confines of Roy & Edna Disney CalArts Theatre (aka REDCAT) in the bowels of Disney Hall, the festive atmosphere of the outdoor stage at L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA), and for the first time, there will be shows at the venerable Royce Hall on the campus at UCLA.
-for a complete schedule of events at the Angel City Jazz Festvial, please go to www.angelcityjazz.com.
For the past three years, the signature event of the Angel City Jazz Festival has been at the beautiful John Anson Ford Amphitheaer, tucked away in the Hollywood Hills just across the freeway from its larger and more famous cousin, the Hollywood Bowl. This year’s show at the Ford features an outstanding lineup, with headline performances by Peter Erskine, Mark Dresser and Bobby Bradford, Ambrose Akinmunsire, and Archie Shepp. (Click here for more information on this show.)
In the spirit of proverbial icing on the cake, we are happy to announce that we have been invited once again by Rocco to contribute to the festival, with performances on the Edison Plaza just outside the main performance area at the Ford.
ACJF has also extended a 25% discount to fans and friends of the LAJC, which includes you if you are reading this! All you need to do is to buy tickets online and enter ‘LAJC’ in the discount code box when you are checking out.
Click here to order tickets to the ACJF at the Ford Amphitheater on Sunday, October 7. Be sure to enter ‘LAJC’ in the discount code box to receive your 25% discount.
Here is the schedule for LAJC artists at the Ford:
4pm: Go Shlomo
Keyboardist Adam Benjamin, of Dave Douglas and Kneebody fame, has teamed up with drummer Jason Harnell to produce one of the most original duets in LA’s modern jazz scene, mixing unpredictable artistry with ironic humor. This is a good reason to get down to the Ford a little early before the main stage shows begin at 5pm.
5:30pm: Matt Zebley
A longtime woodwind player for the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Matt Zebley has had a longer history of being a versatile jazz musician, with the ability to play with great creativity in all settings ranging from bebop to free jazz. This set should be an appropriate prelude to Arthur Blythe’s show, as Matt lists him as a significant influence on his playing and career.
7pm: Brian Swartz Trio with Larry Koonse and Darek Oles
Brian Swartz has been a mainstay on trumpet in LA for many years, playing in an infinite amount of big bands, such as the Luckman Orchestra, the Tom Harrell Big Band and his own large ensemble, which debuted to much fanfare in 2010. He has a record out entitled ‘Three’, which features Larry Koonse on guitar and Darek Oles on bass, two longtime friends and partners on so many of the best jazz recordings and groups to come out of Los Angeles. The record has been out for a number of years, so this is kind of a reunion show for this trio.
All in all, this is going to be a great day of music, and we hope you take advantage of our discount to come out and enjoy the sights and sounds.
Gavin Templeton CD Release Show
Saturday, July 28 9pm
Blue Whale
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-0908
Gavin Templeton, alto sax
Larry Koonse, guitar
Gary Fukushima, piano
Darek Oles, bass
Joe La Barbara, drums
by Gary Fukushima
A quick internet search for the word ‘asterperious’ reveals its definition as “a superior attitude in an inferior environment.” Synonyms include haughty, high-hat, and upper crust, and it was a slang term found in early African American literature and conversational use. Language blogger Arnold Zwicky has an interesting post describing the origins of the word, if anyone is interested.
artwork by Kio Griffith
Asterperious Special was the name of a B-24 Liberator bomber flown in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Among the crew was a man who would eventually have a grandson named Gavin Templeton, the Los Angeles-based alto saxophonist who in tribute to his grandfather has titled his debut album after the airplane bearing this auspicious nickname.
The music on the record runs the gamut of styles and feels, from modern straight-eighth note grooves to 3/4 waltzes, a rubato ballad and even a hard-swinging slow romp, but all the tunes are unified by a seriousness and urgency that reflects the wartime events conducted by the album’s namesake and her crew. The music is beautiful and full of detail, and it’s pretty complex stuff to boot, so I’ve been practicing…
Gavin and I have been friends for a number of years. We both went to California Institute of the Arts, at different times, but with similar profound influences on our musicianship and artistic direction. Much of this is due in part to our teachers at the school, and we were fortunate to be able to record Gavin’s music with three of the best the school has to offer, guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Darek Oles, and drummer Joe La Barbara. Even more exciting is that they have all agreed to play for Gavin’s CD release show, which will be the first time for me that I will have the chance to perform live with three of my personal heroes all at the same time. The only thing missing is a duo piano piece with David Roitstein, my piano teacher and director of the jazz program at CalArts. And don’t get me started on another bass player there, some guy named Charlie Haden. You could say that the jazz faculty at CalArts is truly asterperious, but then that would be insulting to the school and the students, so I won’t, unless the “inferior environment” you are referring to is not CalArts but Chuck E. Cheese, in which case all of us would be so totally asterperious. The last sentence you just read is the opposite of asterperious, so now is a good time to wrap this up.
In a room filled with all the world’s alto saxophone players, Gavin would be one of the asterperi*. He’s crazy good, one of the most creative and talented saxophonists in Los Angeles. I hope you can make it.
To learn more about Gavin and his music, check out his website.
*not a real word
presents
MATT OTTO QUINTET
MATT OTTO SAXOPHONE
STEVE COTTER GUITAR
GARY FUKUSHIMA KEYS
RYAN MCGILLICUDDY BASS
JASON HARNELL DRUMS
TUESDAY 5/15 @ THE JOINT
SHOW AT 8PM
1ST SET: RUGHUSKY MAFIA*
2ND SET: MATT OTTO QUINTET
$10 COVER
FRIDAY 5/18 @ BREAK THE MOLD
EXHIBIT A ART GALLERY
SHOW AT 8PM
$10 RECOMMENDED DONATION
STOP WATCHING TELEVISION
*RUGHUSKY MAFIA IS:
GARY FUKUSHIMA KEYS
GAVIN TEMPLETON SAX
DAVE TRANCHINA BASS
JENS KUROSS DRUMS
LAJC Artist Beat: Motoko Honda’s Sound Escape Project Presents: Dreams of a Flower
L.A. Bloom Festival, Thursday May 3rd
Aratani/Japan Theatre, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
by Gary Fukushima
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that flowers “are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.” As the popular music industry of the 21st century continues to degenerate into reality television parodies, where music is continually sterilized, repackaged and commoditized into a soulless, mind-numbing utility, Emerson’s beauty ray becomes harder to discern among the weeds. Art has, by definition, no other function than beauty and transmission of thought and emotion, like a Noguchi vase riddled with holes so it can never hold water (and therefore, unfit even for flowers!).
The first annual L.A. Bloom Festival in the Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles might be seen as a pushback against the threat of utilitarianism on our artistic sensibilities, with dance, sculpture, music, and of course, flowers in all their regal artistry. On Thursday evening, avant-garde pianist Motoko Honda celebrates the art of the flower with a world premiere of her composition “Dreams of a Flower”, a piece she wrote exclusively for this festival.
A gifted prodigy in her youth, Honda studied classical piano with a number of renowned instructors in her native Japan and the U.S., eventually leading her to the experimental artisan campus at California Institute of the Arts, where she discovered her passion for and exceptional ability to improvise and compose modern music. One of her mentors there, the legendary trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, has referred to Honda as the best student he has ever had, going so far as to include her in his performances, as a duo and with his vaunted Golden Quartet. Relatively unknown to mainstream music audiences, she is considered one of the elite in contemporary music circles, especially in Los Angeles, where she has performed to critical acclaim at some of the highest profiled new music shows, including the Angel City Jazz Festival at the Ford Amphitheater and at the experimental REDCAT in the bowels of Disney Hall.
Honda’s formidable technical prowess on (and inside) the piano is complemented by her intuitive imagination and an uncanny ability to hear and respond to everything being played and even what is yet to be and should be played. She has had extensive jazz piano training as well, and those sensibilities are often present, albeit cleverly disguised. Honda has the ability to play sustained epic improvisations on the piano by itself, but she also ventures further into sound experimentation by enhancing the instrument with a variety of physical and electronic treatments. It would not be a stretch to herald her as one of the greatest pure improvisers on the piano in Los Angeles.
For “Dreams of a Flower”, Honda has (pardon the expression) utilized a number of artistic tools to present a multidisciplinary exposition of sound and sight, with a mini-chamber group featuring a number of avant-garde music luminaries including percussionist Alex Cline and violinist Jeff Gauthier, supplemented with modern dance and a team of visual projection artists led by Spectral GL creator Jesse Gilbert, a pioneer in creating real-time animation in response to live music. This one of a kind undertaking will undoubtedly be a signature moment for the young pianist and composer, and certainly a highlight of the entire festival. Regardless, the unpredictable improvisatory elements in Honda’s piece ensure this performance to be like no other, and at its conclusion it will fade like a once-fresh flower into the loving recesses of memory.
LAJC Residency, Part IV
Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, January 25, 8pm
8pm: Ryan Seward Group
Ryan Seward, guitar
Josh Welchez, trumpet
Gary Fukushima, keys
JP Maramba, bass
Jens Kuross, drums
9pm and 10pm: Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Jonathan Kreisberg, guitar
Will Vinson, alto sax
Joe Martin, bass
Mark Ferber, drums
Our fourth and final installment is imminent, and it’s been an incredibly exciting month of great performances by so many outstanding musicians, witnessed by so many appreciative fans. All those who came to these events are to be commended for their support and for proving that artful music can also be exciting, compelling, and, dare we say it…popular. Well, maybe not Dane Cook popular, but more like Louis C.K. popular. Okay, probably closer to Patton Oswald popular, he looks like he should play trombone or something.
Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Guitar players have been well represented throughout our residency, so it is only fitting that we finish our tenure at Blue Whale with one of the best. Jonathan Kreisberg is still in his thirties, yet he can already be considered a true veteran of the New York jazz scene, having performed with luminaries like Lee Konitz, Ari Hoenig, Joel Frahm, and Dr. Lonnie Smith, not to mention having his own successful solo career, performing worldwide with great sidemen like Larry Grenadier, Bill Stewart, Gary Versace, Aaron Goldberg, and Matt Penman. Kreisberg is a true master of the guitar and a harmonic and technical wizard, his abundant virtuosity perhaps only matched by the emotional intensity of the sound he pulls out of his Gibson. His performances are bonafide clinics for guitarists and other jazz musicians alike.
Kriesberg has five solo recordings, including the excellent Nine Stories Wide (Criss Cross 2009) with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart, and his latest release entitled Shadowless (New For Now 2011), which features pianist Henry Hey, saxophonist Will Vinson, drummer Mark Ferber, and bassist Joe Martin, all of whom (with the exception of Hey) will be joining Kreisberg on Wednesday. Vinson is widely considered to be one of the finest alto saxophonists in jazz today, with unbelievably beautiful command of his horn tempered by his knack for memorable melodic phrasing. The amazing Mark Ferber has already put in his time this month at the Blue Whale, as the house drummer for all three sets of Part I of our residency, and needs no further introduction. The hidden treat of this show will the the Blue Whale debut of bassist Joe Martin, who is one of the most sought after bassists in New York currently, with an incredible resume that documents his performances with Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder, Gilad Hekselman, Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson, and so many others. HIs latest CD Not By Chance (Anzic 2009) features an all star cast of Brad Mehldau on piano, Chris Potter on saxophone and bass clarinet, and Marcus Gilmore on drums. Overall, the band is a literal tour de force of jazz heavyweights, not to be missed.
Ryan Seward Group
Opening the evening will be a group led by a fine guitarist and composer form Los Angeles. Ryan Seward hails from Claremont, CA, and studied jazz guitar first at Citrus College in nearby Glendora, then at Berklee College of Music in Boston, as a student of guitar guru Mick Goodrick. Seward has a keen ear and an effortless facility on his instrument, and he composes music that is equally sophisticated and accessible. This relative newcomer to the local jazz scene has already established himself, working with many great LA based musicians including Joe Bagg, Jason Harnell, Tim Pleasant, Roger Shew, Matt Zebley, and Walter Smith III, to name a few. Joining Ryan on Wednesday will be trumpeter Josh Welchez, saxophonist Scott Jeppesen, pianist Gary Fukushima, drummer Jens Kuross, and bassist JP Maramba.
Our last show has yet to be played, but overall the residency has exceeded our expectations, with some incredible playing, great crowds to see every show, a nod from the local press, and a chance for old friends to reunite and new friendships to have begun among the larger jazz community. In other words, it’s been a good hang. Let’s let that hang go out with a bang this Wednesday!
Another Wednesday night brought another boisterous crowd and another round of compelling music. Thanks again to those who made it last week and especially to those of you who made it out for both Wednesdays. Why quit now, keep coming! There are worse habit-forming activities that one could engage in besides spending a late weeknight listening to good players. Emails and blogging come to mind for some reason…
The webcast worked like a charm this week, and it’s all archived on our streaming page. We’re also getting some great press, from the LA Times and the LA Weekly!
Without further ado, this Wednesday’s shows:
David Valdez Group
Saxophonist David Valdez has been living in Portland, Oregon for nearly a dozen years but prior to that he certainly got around, from his hometown of San Francisco to Santa Cruz, off to college in Boston, back to the Bay Area, over to New York, and finally settling in Portland, yet constantly on the move with tours in places like Japan, Holland, Prague, and Istanbul. In his travels, Valdez has performed with an impressive list of players, including Larry Grenadier, Ben Monder, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ari Hoenig, Donny McCaslin, and Matt Otto, who joins him on this show. Valdez also has another home, albeit an online one. His blog, Casa Valdez Studios is an impressive resource for improvisers and saxophone players, with links to scores of solo transcriptions and technical horn advice, and featuring interesting articles of his own and from around the jazz blogosphere. Valdez’s band includes the aforementioned Matt Otto on tenor sax, along with expert guitarist Jamie Rosenn, international bassist JP Maramba, and introducing the talented Tina Raymond on drums, whose brush work alone is worth the price of admission.
Mike Scott Trio
One of the main objectives of the Los Angeles Collective is to provide a forum for artists to display their original music, with the hope of encouraging those artists to write and record more music. With the majority of the jazz gigs everywhere being restaurant gigs where the music is an ambient distraction, it becomes hard to justify spending a lot of time working on original pieces that might never find an audience. There is an extraordinay amount of love and care that goes into an record, and that effort should be rewarded with a chance to present it to the public, which is why we are happy to have guitarist Mike Scott perform music from his latest album, Fallen Peach (2011 Jazz Collective Records), A review of this stellar album can be found by clicking here, but in summary the recording is reflective of Scott’s heartfelt and positive demeanor, with compelling compositions that are beautifully executed. The two other players on Mike’s album will also be performing with Mike on Wednesday, with innovative drummer Jason Harnell providing timely rhythm and organist Joe Bagg (who performed with Anthony Wilson two weeks ago) doing things on the organ that make him the gold standard of organ playing.
The Music on Thelonious Monk (featuring Gilad Hekselman)
We are fortunate to add an amazing guitarist to the final band of the evening. Gilad Hekselman won the 2005 Gibson Montreux International Guitar Competition, thus launching the young virtuoso to jazz stardom, with performances with Chris Potter, Mark Turner, John Scofield, Ari Hoenig and many others, including his own trio with bassist Joe Martin and drummer Marcus Gilmore, who form the nucleus of his latest trio album Hearts Wide Open (2011 Le Chant Du Monde). He will be performing his music at the Blue Whale over the weekend, but in what could be a kind of teaser for that show he has agreed to sit in on a set of Monk tunes in a band that features Matt Otto on saxophone, along with Gary Fukushima on piano, the savvy and always enjoyable Tim Pleasant on drums, and Hekselman’s former New School colleague Dave Robaire on bass, who is himself a bonafide star in LA since moving back from New York a few years ago. It will be a rare treat to hear a young master interpret music by one of the great masters of jazz history.
It’s been very heartening to see so many people out at the Whale, not just for our shows but in general for all the great music that has been going on. A shout out to jazz rocker bassist Tim Lefevbre and his great series that is also ongoing every Thursday in January at Blue Whale. One often hears something along the lines of “this town’s not big enough for all of us,” but in a city of 9.9 million people that statement sounds rather ridiculous (unless you mean “all of us” to refer to “all 9.9 million of us,” in which case, yes.) Just go see Tim’s shows, but see ours too!
LAJC Residency at Blue Whale, Part II,
Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA, Wednesday, January 11, 8pm
Leonard Thompson/Matt Otto duo (CD release)
Ariel Alexander Group
Matt Otto Quintet
Many thanks to everyone who made it out to see Part I of our residency last Wednesday. It was a tremendous success, with a line out the door of expectant fans of the many talented individuals featured that night. It was inspired playing by everyone, buoyed by the crowd of appreciative fans who seemed to hang on every note. Many thanks to Alan, Mark, Anthony, Chuck, Larry, Darek, Tony, Josh, Joe, and Matt for putting on a great show. If anyone’s interested, we managed to video archive two of the three sets which you can see here.
Part II is just a few days away, and here are the groups:
Leonard Thomposon/Matt Otto Duo
Pianist Leonard Thompson grew up listening to jazz via his father Rex, a well known jazz pianist in Orange County, and eventually followed in his dad’s footsteps, after a brief flirtation in college with becoming a geologist. Sexy rocks couldn’t pull him away from his true love, and now he has consummated that relationship with the ultimate vow of moving to New York, where he has been living and playing for years now. He is an intensely musical and creatively thoughtful pianist who manages to avoid the temptation to overplay simply to keep pace with a current world of visceral virtuosos. His avoidance of the dark side probably has kept him under the radar in terms of notoriety but is nonetheless a hidden gem of a musician well worth the discovery. His collaborators over the years include San Francisco saxophone legend Harvey Wainapel, Pacific Northwest guitar standout Justin Morell, New York vocalist Madeline Peyroux, and his longtime friend, saxophonist Matt Otto, which whom he will be playing with for this set. Otto, who in his youth played with Leonard’s father Rex, had featured the junior Thompson in his own band up until Leonard decided to move to New York. They have recorded a number of projects together, including their most recent release, entitled Anima (Jazz Collective Records 2011), a beautiful series of duets exquisitely recorded at a church near Matt’s home in Kansas City. Their set will of course feature music from this album. Matt and Leonard, through their years of playing together, have an intimate knowledge of each others’ musical choices, and the mind reading will be on display for all to see on Wednesday.
Ariel Alexander Group
Having recently completed her degree at the University of Southern California, Dr. Ariel Alexander is one of the fresher faces to have completed the grueling slog, escaping the asylum with her diploma and all her amazing musical and mental faculties intact, the best years of her life ahead of her. She is an exceptional alto saxophone player, able to perform intricate and nimble calisthenics on her horn with an absurd ease of execution. Her young career has already put her in good company among an elite class of musical stars, having performed with luminaries ranging from Stevie Wonder to Steve Miller, in various settings such as the Kennedy Center in D.C. and on television as part of the vaunted “Great Performances” series on PBS. Ariel’s most recent project is an electric band featuring brilliant guitarist and her devoted husband Dr. Jon Bremen, pianist and musical improvisational and compositional genius Vardan Ovsepian, noted pop/rock drummer Chaun Horton (who can be seen on tour with the likes of Macy Gray, Natasha Bedingfield, and Colbie Caillat), and bassist extraordinaire Tim Lefebvre, whose recent expatriation to L.A. from NY has managed to disrupt the space-time continuum of jazz in this city with his innovative electronica bass approach and the endless cycle of incredible musician friends out from New York at his behest. This band is probably going to be white-hot, so those planning to go need to do whatever needs to be done to prepare for that.
Matt Otto Quintet
Followers of our blog and subscribers of our emails have undoubtedly read, heard, or have already known about Matt for the entirety of the existence of the Los Angeles Jazz Collective. Some things most people already know about Mr. Otto:
-Matt is a really good saxophone player
-Matt co-founded the LAJC
-Matt moved to Kansas City and is doing great there, thank you very much
Here’s some things that aren’t as commonly known:
-Matt has a cat named Leon
-Matt used to be a vegan but now he loves ribs
-Kansas City is in Missouri, not Kansas
These days whenever Matt comes back to L.A. it’s always a notable event. For this set he is getting his old band back together, featuring the amazing and clever Jason Harnell on drums, who is able to accomplish the rare feat of playing increasingly complex systems of rhythm that are inexplicably easy to follow, a trait that makes Jason one of the best accompanists among his peers in this city. Joining Harnell is bassist Ryan McGillicuddy, as of late has been the sideman of choice for pianistic standouts Russell Ferrante, Bill Cunliffe, Tamir Hendelman, the aforementioned Ovsepian, and pianist Gary Fukushima, who took over for the New York-bound Thompson in Otto’s band several years ago, just in time to see Matt also split town. Too bad for Gary. Matt’s regular guitarist, Steve Cotter, will be on tour with the great organist Joey DeFrancesco, so in his place we have the more than capable Jamie Rosenn, another longtime friend of Matt’s, both collaborators in another notable group (along with drummer Harnell), JoEleSs ShOe. Matt’s skill as a composer of jazz is unmatched, his melodies and harmonies intersect with each other in crystalline structural forms that also serve to cradle a vulnerable lyricism that is evident in all his writing. It’s great music, and it’s also rare music, with very few documented performances and no recordings of the full band. Hopefully both of those items will be remedied in the coming year…
A recent feature that we have been trying to add to our festivals is the ability to webcast and archive our events online. We will attempt to do so again this Wednesday, so while we would love to see everyone at our shows, those who cannot make it for whatever reason can watch it on our streaming page:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/los-angeles-jazz-collective
Most of the sets will be recorded as well so those who come to the show as well as absentee fans can relive their favorite moments over and over again. Hopefully there will be more than a few of those moments on display Wednesday evening.
LAJC Residency, Part I Wednesday, January 4, 8pm Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA
In the music-art world there are a number of ways to program events. Two of the most common are festivals and residencies. Festivals essentially allow a promoter to present a diversity of bands and artists over a concentrated amount of time, be it a weekend, a week, or a month, but the benefit is to be able to promote a lot of music all at the same time, which is cost-effective. Economics! Residencies, on the other hand, usually involve a single venue, such as a club or gallery, and it usually features a single artist who is given a number of days to carry out his/her artistic vision for an audience. Usually the artist gets paid, which is good. Hopefully the artist has enough of a following to attract a lot people over the course of the residency to justify being there. What is implied is that the owner of the venue believes in the artist enough to risk giving a chunk of their available programming time to that artist.
Given those two definitions, perhaps the best way to describe the upcoming LAJC residency at the Blue Whale would be the term ‘Resident Festival’ or ‘Festival Residency’, or even ‘Festive Residence’, but that would describe a house party, so maybe not that last one. The point is that we are trying to do a type of hybrid programming, using a festival concept within the residency model, or maybe it’s the residency concept within the festival model. Either way, the result is a lot of quality music by talented musicians once a week over the course of a month. Most people probably only care about the last item, in which case they have just wasted the last few minutes reading this introduction. Sorry!
The first part of our four part series kicks off this Wednesday, and here are the three groups on the menu:
Anthony Wilson Trio
World-class guitarist and L.A. native Anthony Wilson starts the evening with a set of his own music. Know most widely for his longtime accompanist work for Diana Krall, Anthony, in the prime of his career, possesses an unlimited reservoir of passionate knowledge of music, respected as an improviser and composer on both coasts. His latest album, Campo Belo (Goat Hill Records 2011), is a beautifully interesting set of pieces recorded in Sao Paulo with some outstanding Brazilian musicians. For this show, Anthony is reuniting with his old band, featuring the brilliantly polished and unpredictable Mark Ferber on drums, and Joe Bagg, the best Los Angeles-based B3 organist whose initials aren’t LG. That trio released two outstanding albums, Our Gang (Groove Note 2001), and Savivity (Groove Note 2006), both of which were recorded quite a few years ago, but are still among the best guitar/organ trio recordings to have been done in L.A. since then.
LA Jazz Quartet
Next up is another group of long-time friends and outstanding musicians. Guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Darek Oles, and saxophonist Chuck Manning have been playing together as three of the founding members of the Los Angeles Jazz Quartet since the early 90′s. All of them have established themselves as among the very best on their instruments in Los Angeles, with collaborations with Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, Peter Erskine, Warne Marsh, Joe Lovano, Billy Higgins, Luciana Souza, Billy Childs, Brian Blade, Mel Torme, Bob Brookmeyer, Cedar Walton, and countless others. Drummer Mark Ferber has been part of the band since the early 2000′s, and despite their individual busy schedules, they still find opportunities to play as they have for years. They recorded a number of albums which are all worth checking out, including the excellent Look to the East (Naxos 1997) and the beautiful and personal Family Song (NTR 1998).
Matt Otto/Alan Ferber/Anthony Wilson/Mark Ferber/Josh Nelson/Tony Dumas
The final set of the evening is also ripe with musical friendships that extend back in time a bit. Once upon a time, trombonist Alan Ferber and his brother Mark were college music students here in Los Angeles. They have since moved on to New York and become a vital part of the zeitgeist of the New York jazz community. Alan has recorded numerous albums of his own compositions and arrangements to great critical acclaim, and his daring music for big band (or Extended Ensemble, as Alan calls it) can be heard a few days later, also at the Blue Whale. Mark is one of the busiest sidemen drummers in New York, in the enviable position of being able to choose which gig or tour to take among so many offers. Their good friend Anthony Wilson will join them here, as will bassist Tony Dumas, who has been a regular sideman for Cedar Walton, Joe Henderson, and Freddie Hubbard, among others. Josh Nelson is a rising star on piano, having recently toured with the great Natalie Cole and is in high demand for his pianistic services. The catalyst behind this amalgamation of talent is saxophonist and former Angelino Matt Otto, the co-founder of the Los Angeles Jazz Collective, who now resides in Kansas City but still has strong ties to all the musicians in this band, continuing relationships that span nearly twenty years. Each member of this supergroup will contribute an original composition to the set, a democratic approach among distinguished colleagues.
Of the four different evenings that make up this residency, this is the one most representative of the rich yet relatively unknown recent history of creative jazz in Los Angeles. The musicians that comprise these bands all have played an important part in shaping the current jazz scene here, and they and their fellow players (and now their students) are all responsible for maintaing the dynamic that they helped to create. In other words, it doesn’t get more L.A. than these groups, and for once, that’s a good thing.
There are more than a few ambitious souls who dream of opening a restaurant or bar. It sounds ideal: Find a cool location, create a compelling ambiance, serve great food and drinks, maybe even have some music, and a favorite nightspot is born, popular and lucrative.
While the dream is alluring, the reality is something less than attractive; long hours every night of the week, irate customers and incompetent and possibly dishonest workers, a never-ending to do list of cleaning, maintenance, and shopping for goods and supplies, and perhaps the worst part, a gnawing fear of running out of money and failing to make rent, payroll, or settle your debts, with an always-present possibility of losing the place to bankruptcy or foreclosure.
All that stress can manifest itself in ways that are less than edifying. Having live music only serves to heighten the stress level of the club owner, for now he must add to his lengthy list of duties the jobs of booking agent, contract negotiator, promoter, and doorman. Dealing with musicians on top of simply trying to keep the club open might explain why club owners can be often times difficult to deal with and in some cases just plain assholes. It should be noted that the preceding doesn’t legitimize such behavior, nor does it guarantee it, but it can at least serve to explain it. It is entirely plausible that owning a wanna-be reputable establishment might turn a friendly and well-intentioned entrepreneur into a beacon of depravity and a garden variety douchebag.
If there was one whom we could use to describe the opposite of douchebag, it would be Joon Lee. Since he opened the Blue Whale in early 2009, the humble but stylish club has enjoyed a meteoric rise in reputation and popularity, making Downbeat Magazine’s list of 150 of the best jazz clubs in the world, capped by an upcoming visit from NPR when they broadcast their annual national New Year’s Eve radio show, Toast of the Nation. Through it all, Joon has maintained his love for music and an unwavering respect for the musicians who grace his stage. The formula for success seems simple, provide great jazz music and great ambience, have a great club. If it really were that simple, however, there would be many more clubs out there that have been able to replicate the success of Blue Whale. If only one thing is to be gleaned from all these words, it would be that no one should think that what Joon has done is that easy, to the contrary, it is nothing short of remarkable.
It is not remarkable that Joon lets the musicians play whatever they feel like playing; what is remarkable is that he pays them to do so. It is remarkable that he views the artists who play there as respected guests rather than temp employees whose sole existence that night is to bring income into his club. It is remarkable that he takes chances on booking out of town musicians with little or no prior track record of success in Los Angeles. Joon does things that most club owners would not bother with, such as opening up his space on off-hours to community amateur musician rehearsals and workshops, and booking select musicians for multiple days or a weekly appearance, otherwise known as a residency, to borrow a term from the art world.
The discussion of these weekly residencies are where this much too long introduction was supposed to lead to. The residency concept is wholly an artistic convention, dating back centuries where a wealthy patron would provide funding and housing for a lucky artisan to have the freedom to create great works. The establishment of a residency as a common practice for artists really took hold at the turn of the 20th century and is now a well-worn tradition in virtually every form of the visual and performing arts. Joon would not consider himself ‘wealthy’ but he cannot avoid his identity as a material and inspirational patron of jazz musicians everywhere. Artists in residency at the Blue Whale have included saxophonist visionary Robby Marshall, the increasingly famous band Kneebody, and stellar bassist and New York transplant Tim Lefebvre (coming soon).
In January, the Los Angeles Jazz Collective gets a chance to earn the gift that Joon has bestowed on us by providing four nights of music in our first ever weekly residency on Wednesday nights at the Blue Whale. We hope to provide an overview of some of our favorite jazz musicians in Los Angeles and abroad, such as Anthony Wilson, Matt Otto, Larry Koonse, Darek Oles, Joe Bagg, Mark and Alan Ferber, Vardan Ovsepian, Gilad Hekselman, and Jonathan Kreisberg. As this article is already rather lengthy, previews of all the shows will be forthcoming in subsequent writings, but in the meantime check out the links to the individual shows on our events page with band and personnel listings and times. Also, here is a cool picture postcard!