Jazz Buzz - Retrospectives On Pre-Covid-19 Live Jazz Concerts

I can't quite recall if I read somewhere, or heard it said, that trumpeter Roy Hargrove was the 21st Century incarnation of Miles Dewey Davis III . So, to satisfy my own curiosity, I went to see him perform at Yoshi's Jazz Club in San Francisco on Sunday, January 15, 2012.  Jazz Trumpeter Roy Hargrove Hargrove does have a striking, young Davis, chiseled, welterweight, physical build. He visibly exudes cool Milesian confidence and authority in his playing; and the signature Davis mannerism - though not as overtly as Miles -of turning away from the audience, but not his back, when he is not playing his trumpet. He does however, acknowledge applause. His soloing technique is smooth, thoughtful and crisply coherent. Like Davis, he builds his solos with a keen sense of force, logical lyricism and searching clarity; not ending them unimaginatively by prematurely finishing his phrases. But ...he eschews the early ultra-conservative Davis' riveting, consistent...

The man currently regarded as  "the outstanding male vocalist in jazz today," DownBeat Critics Poll Male Vocalist for thirteen years 2000 - 2012 , and Grammy-award winner, Kurt Elling (Dedicated To You: 2009 ), made a one-night appearance at Yoshi's Jazz Club in San Francisco on Wednesday 10th October, 2012 for two shows. Jazbuzz.com was on hand for the late show at 10:00PM.  And what a show it was! Now, I am no longer incredulous at that thirteen-year string of DownBeat Critics Poll Awards . As far as I am concerned, Elling is the 21st Century 'jazz' incarnation of the original "Thin Man," Francis Albert Sinatra ; the 'kid from Hoboken.' This time the 'kid' is from Chicago; or more poetically, 'the Windy City.'  This is no crass comparison of the two men. But there are striking similarities in their artistry and professional miens. For starters, like Sinatra, Elling eschews singing 'silly' songs; he keeps audience...

 . Pianist Monty Alexander Photo courtesy:bosquesonoro.blogspot.com Yoshi's Jazz Night Club's artist relations/talent coordinator, and management, finally managed to align their musical stars correctly and persuaded jazz pianist, Monty Alexander and his quartet to take a detour from their busy touring schedule and make a stop at their San Francisco location for a one-night performance. These days the quartet goes by the name: The Harlem-Kingston Express . No doubt a reference to Alexander's New York-Jamaica musical roots. Anyhow, this exciting musical Express found its way to San Francisco on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 for an 8:00pm show that thrilled the large crowd of Alexander fans, literally out of their seats. I wanted to see Monty Alexander live, but could never seem to find him in my neck of the woods. I heard a lot of his music on radio and on CDs, especially the work he did with the great bassist Ray Brown and I knew that he was a tale...

Jazz Pianist Hiromi Flashy, reliable automobiles and state of the art electronic wonders are not the only commodities bearing the vaunted Japanese gold standard of excellence these days: In the arts, there is also the swelling contingent of impressive, well-trained Japanese jazz musicians who are making their presence felt, and appreciated, on the International jazz music scene. Pianist Hiromi is one of them, and she made one of her recurring appearances at Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland California for a four-night engagement, April 5 - April 8. 2012 . I managed to catch a special matinee show on Sunday evening, April 8, 2012 at 6:00 p. m. To be honest, I had not heard much of her work until I happened to tune into a local jazz radio station while driving on the freeway; they were in the middle of an intensely swingin' jazz piece, and the pianist was on fire. The DJ back announced the pianist as one, Hiromi (even he sounded out of breath), who was currently in...

Joey DeFrancesco Photo courtesy: gordoconbarba.com  Joey DeFrancesco's band was  greeted with pouring rain when it floated into Oakland to appear at  Yoshi's Jack London Square Jazz Club , June 4 - 5, 2011. The weather forecast threatened that as much as two inches of the wet stuff might be lapping at the heels before things cleared up. To make matters worse; it was windy and cold. These adverse conditions did not bother the organist in the slightest. He and his Hammond B-3 were red hot. Damn near burned the club down; the smoke was up to his ears. Along for the jaunt to this virtual four-alarmer were, guitarist Rick Zunigar and drummer Ramon Banda . A sizable crowd turned out to see the organist and his trio, but the performance was not sold out; however, there weren't too many empty seats. I considered this a good sign; since it was a Sunday night. They wasted no time on ignition; jumping right into a wicked swinger called "Blues in Thre...

I heard him at a jazz music club named, The Keystone Korner (since closed), in a section of San Francisco known as North Beach. It was a Saturday night in the early 80's, and Dexter had not long returned to the United States from an extended self-imposed exile in Europe. The Keystone Korner was not a very fancy venue for listening to jazz music, but in a strange way, it seemed to have the right feeling and atmosphere. It was unpretentious, the seats were hard and arranged in rows, as in a church. Famous Jazz musicians making the San Francisco scene, would often perform there late on Friday and Saturday nights after their regular gigs, to support the struggling club, and keep it operating. This Saturday night Dexter was paying his dues. The crowd in the Keystone was not a large one, but most of the seats were filled . Those present were still and quiet, much like a church congregation solemnly awaiting a visiting preacher whose reputation had preceded him. They had come to bear witn...

NEA JAZZ MASTER: Pianist Cedar Walton Ever since I first heard pianist Cedar Anthony Walton Jr's exciting composition "Mosaic," (with  Art Blakey  on drums, Freddy Hubbard on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor, Curtis Fuller on trombone and Jymie Merritt on bass) I wanted to see him live. I discovered that Cedar Walton was taught the piano by his mother, who also turned him on to pianist Hank Jones , but he insists that he found influential pianists Art Tatum and  Nat Cole on his own. Singer Etta Jones , on whose albums he has made several appearances, notably (Save Your Love For Me, 1976; Etta Jones - Timeless; Three Sundays In The Seventies: Live At The Left Bank) described Walton, "...as such a gentleman."  This sealed the deal for me. After a long wait, finally I managed to catch one of his performances at Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland, Saturday April 29, 2012 at 10:00 P. M. where he appeared with bassist David "Happy" Williams and drumme...