February - 2021

Feb 24

CATHY SEGAL-GARCIA, And So It Goes

Over the past few months, Cathy Segal-Garcia has found some unique and inviting ways to whet our whistle for her upcoming album The Book of Love. Engaging in some hip, wild mood swings – from soft-spoken/subtle to rousing and hopeful - the endlessly inventive L.A. jazz singer, songwriter and interpreter extraordinaire has run the gamut of emotions while re-imagining for our time still relevant classics by Marvin Gaye (“Inner City Blues”), Cannonball Adderley (“Sermonette”) an

Jonathan Widran

Feb 24

SPONTANEOUS GROOVIN' COMBUSTION

Spontaneous Groovin’ Combustion’s explosive emergence onto the urban jazz scene these past few years with its dynamic of funky, high-spirited and instantly infectious soul-jazz singles is vibrant musical proof that everything happens at the right time. In decades past, its visionary founder, multi-talented composer, producer, flutist, saxophonist Warren A. Keller, enjoyed bits and pieces of success playing country in Nashville and being an NYC rock n roller, but those stints

Jonathan Widran

Feb 24

KARI KIRKLAND, Wild is the Wind

As your ears attune to the pin drop purity and transcendent exquisiteness of Kari Kirkland’s soulful yet ethereal vocals on her lush, deeply intimate debut album Wild is the Wind, you may find yourself connecting so intensely to her breathy emotional invitations that you’ll wonder why this is the first time you’re hearing from her. Simple explanation – a wild resume/history that includes being an Ironman triathlete, private chef, flying trapeze and bungee artist and co-owner

Jonathan Widran

Feb 23

GREGG KARUKAS, Serenata

Gregg Karukas’ extraordinary success over the past 30-plus years as a #1 charting smooth jazz artist and one of the genre’s busiest sidemen make it easy to overlook the deeper elements of versatile composer/keyboardist’s expansive resume – including winning a Grammy in 2013 for his work with new age pianist Omar Akram and his many years of touring with Brazilian greats Sergio Mendes, Dori Caymmi and Ricardo Silvera in the 90’s. Both of those extracurriculars come into play on

MARK WINKLER & DAVID BENOIT, Old Friends

Jonathan Widran

Feb 22

MARK WINKLER & DAVID BENOIT, Old Friends

Much has been made of the fact that during the pandemic, many of us have been urged to stay apart, social distanced from family members and dear friends outside our immediate households. Fortunately, longtime pals and musical compadres, jazz singer Mark Winkler and multiple Grammy nominated pianist David Benoit found a hip, emotionally compelling yet elegant and quite glorious workaround to reconnect creatively and collaborate on a sweetly intimate yet often whimsically swing

THE DAVID ANGEL JAZZ ENSEMBLE, Out on the Coast

Jonathan Widran

Feb 22

THE DAVID ANGEL JAZZ ENSEMBLE, Out on the Coast

No doubt the name David Angel is new on your jazz ensemble leader radar, but that’s okay, since even legendary Hollywood orchestrator Brad Dechter has said, “Angel is quite possibly the best composer you’ve never heard of.” Would your ears perk up if you knew that Angel launched his career writing orchestrations for “Bonanza,” taught at conservatories in France and Switzerland and that the rehearsal band he launched in 1969 is finally, 52 years and many elite jazz musician me

DIEGO BALIARDO and The Gypsy Evolution, Este Ritmo

Jonathan Widran

Feb 22

DIEGO BALIARDO and The Gypsy Evolution, Este Ritmo

One of the world’s most acclaimed and best loved global music groups for over 30 years, The Gipsy Kings introduced millions of fans to an explosive blend of traditional flamenco styles with Western pop and Latin, Arabic, reggae and jazz guitar reminiscent of Romani-French Gypsy master Django Reinhardt. At heart, the group of two sets of French born musical brothers was about carrying on the Romani traditions of their families, the Baliardos and the Reyeses. While his brother

IRA B. LISS BIG BAND JAZZ MACHINE, Mazel Tov Kocktail!

Jonathan Widran

Feb 22

IRA B. LISS BIG BAND JAZZ MACHINE, Mazel Tov Kocktail!

In his spirited, insightful liner notes for Mazel Tov Kocktail!, the bold, deliriously hard swinging, sultry and sensual sixth album by his Big Band Jazz Machine, Ira B. Liss quotes the legendary Glenn Miller: “A band ought to have a sound of its own. It ought to have a personality.” Starting out as the ever-evolving ensemble’s baritone sax player, the prolific bandleader and producer has guided that process of achieving just that through four plus decades of personnel coming

Jonathan Widran

Feb 22

JAMES ROBINSON, New Beginnings

The 12th of 13 children, Silicon Valley raised virtuoso James Robinson was blessed to have the guitarisma in his DNA, with six of his eight brothers playing guitar and offering him a wide array of inspirations and access to top instructors from an early age. Legendary three-time Grammy winning hard rock/metal maestro Steve Vai once gushed of Robinson’s multi-faceted talents for Latin, World, Jazz, Flamenco, Middle Eastern, Rock, “He’s phenomenal,” and he should know. Vai sign

Jonathan Widran

Feb 22

TOM BROWNE, Come What May

Forty years (!) after Tom Browne blasted into our groove consciousness with his #1 Billboard R&B smash “Funkin’ for Jamaica” and the sassy Top 5er “Thighs High (Grip Your Hips and Move),” the versatile trumpeter is still funkin, still grippin’ and still creating vibes that make you wanna “Shake” – the perfect title for the high octane, brass fired jam that opens Come What May, his most welcome return to the urban jazz fold a decade since his previous release. Browne smoothed

Jonathan Widran

Feb 18

ROSEANNA VITRO, Listen Here

In his insightful liner notes to veteran jazz vocalist Roseanna Vitro’s dazzling, jazzy, bluesy and soulfully eclectic 1984 debut album Listen Here, the late entertainment legend and wildly prolific songwriter Steve Allen wrote eloquently and spot on about the then budding talent that still ring true now upon Vitro’s current re-issue of the landmark collection. Allen wrote: “Unlike most jazz singers, even some of the best, Ms. Vitro is able to project a certain amount of emot

Jonathan Widran

Feb 18

BRUCE BROWN, Death of Expertise

A few decades ago, when longtime L.A. gigging singer/pianist Bruce Brown first tried his hand at songwriting, he feared he could never measure up to icons like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Frank Loesser who had animated his own musical muse. While still humorously dubbing himself one of the “children of a Frank Loesser god,” the multi-talented artist – a resident of Wellington, New Zealand for over 20 years – showcases a likeminded mastery of both wistful and whimsical song

THE JW VIBE

Music That Sticks To My Soul

CATHY SEGAL-GARCIA, And So It Goes

SPONTANEOUS GROOVIN' COMBUSTION

KARI KIRKLAND, Wild is the Wind

GREGG KARUKAS, Serenata

MARK WINKLER & DAVID BENOIT, Old Friends

THE DAVID ANGEL JAZZ ENSEMBLE, Out on the Coast

DIEGO BALIARDO and The Gypsy Evolution, Este Ritmo

IRA B. LISS BIG BAND JAZZ MACHINE, Mazel Tov Kocktail!

JAMES ROBINSON, New Beginnings

TOM BROWNE, Come What May

ROSEANNA VITRO, Listen Here

BRUCE BROWN, Death of Expertise