By Chris J. Walker
In the blink of an eye (actually about an hour) Gladys Knight, a longstanding member of R&B and gospel royalty (multi-Grammy-winner and Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Inductee), performed at CSU Los Angeles’ Luckman Theatre. The soon to be 82-year old (May 28) homespun diva, supported by a robust band and astonishing backup singers, capable of being stars themselves, guardedly managed her energy exertion. Essentially, her movements were minimal, with her youthful band and singers bearing the weight of the concert.
Many of the attendees who were born long after Knight’s halcyon period with her Pips (consisting of her brother, sister and cousins) from the mid ‘60s to the mid ‘70s, were mostly acquainted with the legend’s music through their parents, Knight and Pips’ TV show, film/TV sound tracks and Spotify. They didn’t seem to mind that the set was both abbreviated/and sped up. In fact, for just about every song performed they continuously shouted out “I Love You,” “We Love You” and “Thank You,” with the hit-maker enthusiastically answering back. The mutual affection was a testament to Knight’s generous and unpretentious persona, which is undoubtedly one of the attributes of her success.
Contemporaneously, she is a gifted singer and enormous talent. Knight got the show out of the dock with “Taste of Bitter Love” that came out during the tail end of her most popular period with the Pips. It got the house rocking with the band and singers roaring away. They quickly segued into the soulful “Nitty Gritty” to fire up the audience even more. A breather came afterwards with heartfelt songs, “Make Yours a Happy Home,” doo wop-styled “Every Beat of My Heart” that strongly appealed to the crowd, along with super R&B/pop hits “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” and “If I Were Your Woman.”
For the duration of the show the mood and tempo became more upbeat, grittier and a little funky through “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” Save the Overtime (For Me)”/ “Never Too Much,” and immortal songs “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.” They received a thunderous standing ovation and for good measure the legend earlier in the show included gospel treasures, “Oh! What a Love I Have Found,” “Stand” and “Take Me to The King.” For more info go to: www.gladysknight.com and theluckman.org.
Organic hip-hop innovators, four-time Grammy-winners and the house band for NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Roots ushered in the New Year at Disney Hall. This was their second time at the venue for the occasion and drew a nearly sold-out crowd. They were very fired up and filled with anticipation before the top-selling and very idiosyncratic group hit the stage. Upon arriving, the band was full of energy, especially despite playing hours earlier (8pm show). Lead vocalist/rapper Black Thought laid it out with commanding authority for “Respond/React,” while co-leader/drummer Questlove pounded out a trance-like backbeat that seemed to echo the continuous rapping.
When shifting to “I Got My Mind Made Up” the brass players got into the fray to accent the heavy beats of the rhythm players with forays from Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” and Manu Dibango’s heavily sampled Afro-beat hit “Soul Makossa.” Digging deeper into the band’s catalogue was the hard-core joint “Proceed” with the co-band/leader drummer also rapping away.
With no breaks for talking or song intros, the forceful band played non-stop impressively for nearly two hours to create a bust-out party. Many in the audience were dancing and/or gyrating to the hard-hitting grooves, such as “The Next Movement” with a wailing saxophone solo, jazzy “Mellow My Man,” hip-swaying/hard rapping “Dynamite!” and “Change (Makes You Want to Hustle),” with many shouting along.
Adding to the excitement were extended solos from keyboards, tuba, guitar, percussion, trumpet, bass, turntables and drums. Furthermore, the Roots rendered songs by other artist songs as well, such as the J.B.’s “Gimmie Some More,” Bob Marley & The Wailers “Get Up, Stand Up,” Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” and “My Favorite Things” by Hammerstein & Rodgers.
Of course, “Auld Lang Syne” was played at the stroke of midnight. But the show didn’t end there and the band kept playing for about another 40 minutes with their classics “The Seed,” a mashing of James Brown’s heavily sampled “Funky Drummer” with their own jamming and a merging of “Thought at Work” and “Men at Work” to send everyone home with optimism for 2026. For more info go to: www.theroots.com and www.laphil.com.
In the spirit of jazz, R&B and pop pioneers, Louis Prima and Louis Jordan, with touches of LaVern Baker, Cuban-American singer Amanda Castro and her Band captivated the Torrance Cultural Center attendees. The sweet speaking and mid-range singing bandleader was backed by Jim Jedeikin-sax, Patrick Aranda-keyboards/trombone and Music Director, Lachme Ramirez-bass and Mark San Filippo-drums.
Castro with band playfully jumped between Prima’s popularized “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody,” “When The Saints Come Marching In” adorned with clarinet, drums and trombone solos, to “Sway (Quien Sera).” It was covered by Dean Martin in 1954 and sung in Spanish. The tunes occasionally were merged with other songs, but Castro was coy about that aspect to project a mysterious allure.
One song not mashed was the 1924 “Hard Hearted Hannah, the Vamp of Savannah.” Performed in original orientation, it featured keyboards, trombone and engaging singing. Childlike “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” that Prima recorded for the score of the 1967 Disney Jungle Book film merged with salsa to end the first set. It was wrought with Castro and band cutting up to further amuse the audience.
Getting the second set underway was the instrumental “Tequila” that gave the band a moment to shine. The bandleader afterwards took over with a big band fashioned “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and vintage rock dance tune “Sick And Tired (Of You).” Keeping the fun vibe going was the doo-wop classic “Sea Cruise” and a band dance-off. Acoustic bass won it by amazingly playing the instrument over his head while soloing.
Swinging back to traditional songs were gorgeously sung Cuban bolero “Sola Me,” Irving Berlin’s classic “Blues Skies” arranged by Aranda with reggae and rock touches, and “You Are My Sunshine” as a torching ballad with only piano, before switching to New Orleans Fats Domino styling. Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” finished the entertaining show and broke out of the archetypal mode with upbeat Latin rhythms, second line band jamming and the audience singing along. For more info go to: www.amandacastro.com and arts.torranceca.gov.
Multi-genre Grammy-nominated/Juno-winning singer, Rufus Wainright and Pacific Jazz Orchestra Founder/Artistic Director/Composer/Arranger Chris Walden appeared at the Grammy Museum to discuss their new collaborative album, I’m a Stranger Here Myself – Wainwright Does Weill. Moderating the affair was Peter Asher. He’s best known for his ‘60s English folk rock group Peter and Gordon, and being a successful and influential music producer/manager. Additionally, Asher is a friend and admirer of Wainwright and Walden’s Pacific Jazz Orchestra, and incidentally wrote the liner notes for the singer and orchestra leader’s project.
They began by stressing Weill’ importance, wide appeal and how they were introduced to his music. Wainwright discovered the German-later becoming American composer as a teenager shopping at a used record store in Montreal and was fascinated by Weill’s wife Lotte Lenya’s picture on the cover. Walden, who grew up in Germany cited that Weill’s music was ubiquitous there and at 12 he was dragged by his parents to see the composer’s celebrated The Three-Penny Opera. Young Walden was struck by the melodies and the quirkiness of his music.
Remarkably, Wainwright and Walden’s collaboration came from a suggestion by PJO Board of Directors Secretary Don Franzen, who was friends with the singer/songwriter. Wainwright was in the midst of several demanding projects and recently performed Weill’s music as a series at the Café Carlyle in New York City, and also in London which were both well-received. When approached by Walden, the singer mentioned the Weill concerts and the bandleader who didn’t know about them, but was well acquainted with Weill thought it was a great idea.
Months later with only one rehearsal, they were on stage at the Theater at The Ace Hotel, now the United Theatre on Broadway, playing on Weill’s birthday (March second). That show was also filmed and is now a PBS DVD, Wainwright Does Weill. In addition to that, they regrouped in a studio the next day to record, I’m a Stranger Here Myself – Wainwright Does Weill.
Q&A with the audience covered: difficulty of adapting the songs to jazz orchestra (none, just trying to stay true to composer’s music, while getting a little contemporary), Wainwright seeing himself as a torch singer (Weill’s music allowed him to incorporate all the elements of music he’s fond of), other possible projects (Gershwin and Wainwright’s music), key he composed the most with (C, works well with his voice) and Walden’s favorite song to arrange (“Lost in The Stars” because he go to do it twice).
The music section featured Randy Waldman-piano, Edward Livingston-bass and Jason Tate-drums. Wainwright stunningly sang Weill’s downhearted “Surabaya Johnny” and “It Never Was You.” Walden on trumpet joined the ensemble for a superb instrumental rendering of “Speak Low” that included blazing solos from the other players. The headliner concluded the event with the immortal and cool swinging “Mack The Knife,” sung in both German and English to blow the audience away and receive a zestful standing ovation. For more info go to: www.rufuswainwright.com, www.pacificjazz.org and grammymuseum.org.
Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s landmark arrangement of theNutcracker, recorded in 1960, made its annual visit to Disney Hall. The increasingly popular work is a hip jazz interpretation and reaction to Tchaikovsky’s widely acclaimed classical suite, composed in 1892 (a year before his death). Conductor, Thomas Wilkins led the orchestra, with the addition of drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Darek Oles to ensure that swinging jazziness was prevalent during the lovable orchestration.
The adorable Christmas themed movement overflowed with Ellington and Strayhorn’s signature and sophisticated motifs, nearly tailor-made sections for their talented band members. Most importantly, the arrangers’ aptitude for integrating jazz and classical, while still maintaining each of the art form’s integrity is critical to the success and enduring quality of the work. The audience loved every note of featured collection, even minus dancers who were imitated by the orchestra.
Following the Ellington/Strayhorn magnum opus was Tchaikovsky’s Symphony NO. 1 in G Minor, OP. 13 Winter Daydreams, also conducted by Wilkins. It was more than twice the length of the jazzy homage, and swept with bright orchestration and of course, wholly classical. Beginning the program was Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances that celebrated traditional African American dance forms that originated during their enslavement, Reconstruction and Jim Crow. In place of dancers, the percussionists interspersed with rapid string and brass choruses. For more info go to: www.decfa.org and www.laphil.com.
Influentitonal bass legend, Stanley Clarke with keyboardist Cameron Graves, guitarist Colin Cook, saxophonist Emilio Modeste, violinist Evan Garr, drummer Jeremiah Collier and percussionist Salar unleashed a powerhouse performance at The Blue Note LA to a packed house. In about an hour, they blazed through an eclectic set beginning with his old band Return to Forever’s blazing “Beyond The Seventh Galaxy.” With the addition of saxophone and violin, who mesh with the guitar, the classic is more nuanced with touches of funk and world music injected.
From there the band seamlessly segued into the bassist’s longtime and now departed compadre, keyboardist George Duke’s jazz samba “Brazilian Love Affair.” It surged with edgy grooving that was highlighted by the violinist and saxophonist’s (on soprano) high caliber playing, propelled by the powerful rhythm players, that included tabla soloing and scatting India style.
In regards to Charles Mingus’ classic “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” the ensemble rendered it as an energized bluesy fusion number powered by Clarke’s renowned dynamics. Additionally, the band accompaniment adorned it hard-hitting drumming, sax and guitar playing to further astonish the audience.
Returning to fusion was “No Mystery” that always is a beyond belief and extended solo showcasing crescendo performance. The near 20 minute and over 50 year old composition eventually became fever pitch at its climax to fully enthuse the crowd. No encore was given, and Clark, now 74, remains a masterful and engrossing performer. For more info go to: StanleyClarke.com and www.bluenotejazz.com/la/.
Renowned New York-based guitarist/bandleader Mike Stern made his annual to biennial sojourn with his quintet to Catalina recently. With cohorts, wife/guitarist/ngoni player and vocalist Leni Stern, tenor saxophonist Bob Franceschini, bassist Janek Gwizdala and drummer Dennis Chambers, he spotlighted tunes from his 2024 Echoes And Other Songs album and others. Starting the set was Leni’s breezy/African-tinged “Like a Thief,” featuring her playing the traditional West African string instrument and singing tastefully with cool comping from sax and guitar.
Revving things up was the bandleader’s funk/fusion “Connections” that abounded with extensive scorching guitar, saxophone and drum solos to blow the audience away. “Echoes” was more of a mid-tempo thematic journey that allowed the listeners to groove to steady rhythms and spiraling guitar inter-riffing, while Chambers and Gwizdala inserted explosive interactive barrages.
For something a bit different the guitarist/bandleader sweetly scatted for an unannounced Christmas-esque tune, while also harmonizing with sax to totally catch the audience off-guard and blow them away. Additionally, he played an abstract piece solely that was full of weaves and tangents, before being joined by bluesy sax, the other players and Leni mystically soloing.
For the ending section of the show, Stern returned to his rambling hard-hitting style for two pieces that were an intense melding of fusion, jazz and rock. They were highlighted by his signature fiery playing and powerful band accompaniment to totally thrill the crowd and receive a standing ovation. For more info go to: www.mikestern.org and catalinajazzclub.com.
Living legend reedist, Charles Lloyd, who will soon celebrate his 88th spin around the Sun (March 15th), performed with his quartet at the Blue Note Los Angeles to a packed house. Accompanying him for the near-spiritual occasion were Gerald Clayton-piano, Larry Grenadier-bass and Kweku Sumbry-drums/percussion. The bandleader didn’t engage in a lot of dialogue during the concert, and instead thanked the audience for coming and announced his bandmates at the very end of the show. As is Lloyd’s general preference, he let the music do the speaking—and there was much to say.
The saxophonist who began his career in Memphis, alternating between playing jazz with Booker Little and George Coleman, and blues icons Bobby “Blue” Bland, B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf, also worked with upper echelon innovators, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cannonball Alderley, Chico Hamilton, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Gerald Wilson’s big band. Those experiences well prepared him for becoming a bandleader in 1964. Since then Lloyd’s musical path has been very eccentric and astounding, roughly averaging a new project annually. He is a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master, Jazz Journalist Association Award Winner and was a top-selling artist during the late ‘60s, but surprisingly has never won a Grammy.
At the Blue Note, a couple of selections from Lloyd’s 2024 double album The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow were highlighted, beginning with the sumptuous and Coltrane-like “Defiant, Tender Warrior” that luxated with beautiful sax and piano runs. Those textures seamlessly continued with the lengthy modal gem Dream Weaver, title track of the reedist’s 1966 record with bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Jack DeJohnette and pianist Keith Jarrett.
For a respite, Clayton led off solely for the melancholy ballad “How Can I Tell You,” while the bandleader stunningly joining in on tenor saxophone to magically transfix the audience. Lloyd’s “Third Floor Richard” featuring him playing mystical flute was another classic from the vault going back to 1965 and included some abstract embellishment from Clayton and Grenadier. Closing out the highly enlightening set was the saxophonist’s remarkable spoken word “Tone Poem” accentuated by ethereal piano and therapeutic percussion. It trailed off with inspirational reed playing to receive a respectful standing ovation.
It was almost like being in a living room when the Carol Robbins Group performed at Sam First. Top-tier harpist/bandleader Robbins, with stellar friends, pianist Billy Childs and saxophonist Bob Sheppard have known each other since high school. Childs and Sheppard additionally cut their teeth with Freddie Hubbard about 40 years ago. Bassist Dan Chmielinski and drummer Christian Euman, who are somewhat younger, are long-standing members of Childs’ various offshoots, including his jazz chamber ensemble, which Robbins and Sheppard are also members of.
Unquestionably, there was a lot of camaraderie and respect among the players. Nonetheless, they were able to focus on music and began with an impressive rendition of Lee Morgan’s modern classic theme piece “Ceora.” It was laden with refined solos from the harpist, pianist, saxophonist and bassist. Robbins’ “The Canyon” was also themed with breezy pastoral touches, featuring Sheppard tastefully playing soprano saxophone.
“When I Close My Eyes,” also written by the harpist and originally named “Ameilia” for her mother, was transformed with the help of lyricist Kaye Dunham, to become a Johnny Mandell tribute. Coincidentally, the beautiful melody has been recorded with vocalists Mary Stallings and Gloria Rueben. It was enchantingly played by Robbin’s group with melodious harp and sax flourishing.
“Alone Together” was performed by the harpist solely initially, with the quintet joining in later to superbly interpret it into a modern-day neo-bop jam wrought with hot solos. Jobim’s “Caminhos Cruzados” began the same way, but instead became a soothing bossa number. Wrapping up the delightful evening was the bandleader’s blazing tune “Straight Away.” It featured her and band intensely interacting to draw a standing ovation. For more info go to: carolrobbins.com and www.samfirstbar.com.
Roxy Coss is an emerging New York-based saxophonist/bandleader, who’s also academic as the Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Stony Brook University, and a jazz activist as the Founder and President of Women In Jazz Organization (WIJO). She additionally is Co-Artistic Director of the Brubeck Jazz Summit and Board of Directors Member of the Jazz Education Network (JEN).
With bandmembers Alex Wintz-guitar, Caili O’Doherty-piano, Dave Baron-bass and Cory Cox-drums she performed at Sam First. They began spotlighting pieces from Coss’ 2022 album Disparate Parts. “Part 1: The Body” was a synergy of rock-like guitar/wailing sax, along with radiant neo-bop sections. Differing a bit was “Mabes” a thematic jazz waltz heightened by extensive piano and sax solos in honor of the bandleader’s very supportive and encouraging mentor, pianist Harold Maben, who passed away in 2019.
Newly composed, “I Love You, What Took You So Long,” entitled by Coss’ four-year old daughter, Brina, was somewhat dreamy, but also lightly driving with sax and guitar runs. “Sleepy, Not Sleepy” from the new recording Never Meet Your Heroes was also in reference to the saxophonist’s child. It featured a flowing bass solo, cool rhythm players interactions, drum tradeoffs, wailing soprano and grooving guitar.
Also from the new recording was the more somber “Baby Man,” written by jazz luminary Mary Lou Williams,’ a hero the saxophonist would have liked to have met. For more info go to: www.roxycoss.com and www.samfirstbar.com.
The documentary, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, screened at theGrammy Museum, revealed the mercurial life of the incomparable singer, songwriter and guitarist who tragically died in 1997, through his mother’s (Mary Guibert) and associates’ interviews, and performances. Buckley was the son of the also astounding Tim Buckley, but they didn’t have much of a relationship, yet he idolized his father. Their commonality, besides being iconoclastic performers whose talents spanned a variety of genres, was them both dying young, Jeff (30) and Tim (28) in 1975.
Naturally, Jeff was thought as and expected to be the second coming of his father—but there was only a slight resemblance. The younger Buckley was a much stronger and edgier rocker, with androgynous traits, similar to Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Robert Plant. He also played in jazz, funk and reggae bands, before becoming a solo and band fronting artist. Furthermore, Buckley was very inner-driven, and overall, not consumed with being a rock or pop star. He instead followed his own very individualistic perfectionist path that was a mix of spirituality, goth, soulfulness and powerful emotions.
Most notably, Buckley only recorded one full-length album, Grace (1994) while he was alive. It was hard-rocking and lightly jazzy, yet also ethereal and multi-textural due to his unearthly vocals, which made him both legendary and enigmatic. Included on the record was the most haunting version of Leonard Cohen’s landmark song, “Hallelujah” from his Various Positions recording. Colombia refused to release it in the U.S., but Dylan, along with many other singers and film productions started rendering it to make the song immortal.
The flamboyant, but also humble and soft spoken musician was under a lot of pressure to deliver a second record. In fact, he was so obsessed with its production that he scrapped the multi-year effort and began again in Memphis right before his death. In 1998, Buckley’s post-humous Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk was compiled by his mother and father’s first wife, and Columbia Records. It differed in scale from the debut collection and contained some of the artist’s completed tracks and home created demos to somewhat satisfy and enlighten his fans.
A short panel discussion about Buckley, his music and legacy followed the screening. It was moderated by KCRW’s Elvis Mitchell and includedthe documentary’s Director and Producer Amy Berg, The Ringer Founder and Creator of theMusic Box series Bill Simmons, and film subject and musician Michael Tighe. They talked about Buckley’s background, uniqueness, obsessiveness, unrecognized talent, unrealized potential and source material for the documentary.
Much of that came from Guibert, who wasn’t interested in the documentary (preferred a theatrical project) initially and took years to give Berg her consent. Fortunately, the director/producer had done a lot of preliminary work and was able to hit the ground running when she got the green light. Additionally, Simmons had an open spot on his series’ schedule.
Prior to the panel, violinist Lili Haydn, singer Lady Blackbird and Tighe performed an eerie version of Buckley’s “So Real.” Guitarist Tighe before joining up with Buckley conceived the song’s framework, while still in high school. He played quick demo for his future bandmate, who quickly embellished it and surprisingly recalled the song when they reunited several years later. For more info go to: jeffbuckley.com and grammymuseum.org.
Anything to be considered for this column can be sent to: chrisjwalker1@earthlink.net