1) Azar Lawrence Experience @Yoshi's, Oakland...6/18/2024. Master tenor and soprano saxophonist Azar Lawrence brought his band to a nearly sold out, mid-week gig at venerable Oakland jazz club, Yoshi’s, to celebrate Freedom Day, Juneteenth. On this night, Lawrence was joined by long time band mate, Brian Swartz (trumpet), among others, and special guests vocalist Tiffany Austin and old friend ,the legendary Taj Mahal!!!! The band generated the fire that one expects from Azar Lawrence, a searing heat he felt first hand with the bands of Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner in the 1970s. A Tyner composition, ”Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit,” that Lawrence recorded with the piano master on the classic “live” album, “Enlightenment Suite,” afforded an opportunity for the band to stretch out. In my humble opinion, there is no one on the jazz scene today who blows the saxophone with the fire Lawrence generates.
2)The great alto saxophonist, Charles McPherson, celebrated his 85th birthday and his hard swinging 2024 release, “Reverance”(Smoke Sessions Records), with Mr Jazz San Diego, Gilbert Castellanos(trumpet) at Lou Lou's, a swanky new club in San Diego. McPherson, at eight-five, still plays with the speed of a 20 year old but tempered by the more than six decades of musical experience he embodies. The alto master's display of his undiminished dexterity on the Be Bop classic, “Cherokee,” had Castellanos shaking his head in admiration. The band performed several compositions from the CD, including sensitive originals honoring McPherson’s beloved fellow Motowners, Barry Harris and Lonnie Hillyer. To reference a Be Bop classic, “Now's The Time” to honor Charles McPherson with an NEA Jazz Masters award.
3) Veteran tenor saxophonist, Ralph Moore, brought a hard swingin' band into one of the top jazz clubs in the Los Angeles area, Sam First, conveniently located just down the street from LAX. This cozy club has also started recording music, as well as presenting live jazz almost nightly for the last several years. It's hard to believe that Moore has been one of the most respected saxophonists of the last forty years. It seems like just yesterday he was one of the Young Lions of the 80s, along with Cats like his dear, departed friend Roy Hargrove, the Marsalis Brothers & Joshua Redman, among others. Moore and the band, including the supernaturally youthful 88 year old dynamo of the drums, Roy McCurdy, came out of the gate with an uptempo composition, “Ugetsu” by master pianist and composer, the late Cedar Walton. And on the classic, “Moment's Notice,” the band transported the audience to a 1950s smoky club on NYC's Lower East Side where this pure, unadulterated, foot tappin' hard bop could be heard regularly. These days it seems, at least to my jaundiced ears, there's a bit too much ambient sound emanating from the band stand. Not on this night as Moore breathed a Coltrane influence and McCurdy drove the band to delirious heights.
4) Phil Ranelin, “The Found Tapes: Live in Los Angeles, 1978-1981” (Org Music). One of the most important musicians of the last 50+ years, trombonist, composer and band leader Phil Ranelin discovered these recordings in the (process of moving back to his Indianapolis hometown after suffering a debilitating stroke. Most of this CD was recorded by Ranelin on cassettes during a performance at Maiden Voyage in LA in the summer of 1981. The band included a young and already brilliant pianist, Billy Childs along with two of LA’s first call Cats, bassist Tony Dumas and drummer Ralph Penland. Included is music from a broad spectrum of jazz including be bop and the post-bop modal sound that Ranelin reveled in. While the music is technically a bit raw, that quality has its charms in preserving these vital years of Ranelin’s on the LA jazz scene.
5) Michael Stephans, “Om Shalom” (Dot Time Records). This remarkable recording by drummer, composer, author and educator, Michael Stephans is a valuable reissue first recorded in 2005. Stephans had an epiphany over decades ago in which he was inspired to create music that would somehow blend his memories of Jewish sounds(both songs and prayers) with the Eastern influenced sounds in John Coltrane’s music in which he immersed himself as an adult. The result is an unforgettable recording made with his intrepid friends including NEA saxophone master, David Liebman, Bennie Maupin(saxophones, bass clarinet), Scott Colley(acoustic bass) and percussionist Munyungo Jackson.
And 5 more special performances of 2024
1) Henry “the Skipper” Franklin Quintet @ LACMA, 5/9/2024.
2) Cosmic Vibrations @The World Stage, 5/30/2024.
3) Pan African Peoples Arkestra @The World Stage, 2/9/2024.
4) Bobby West Trio @The World Stage, 1/19/2024.
5) Joshua White Trio @The World Stage, 2/2/2024.
