Steve Madaio Better Than Ever At Backstreet Bistro

Jay Lewis, Blake White, Steve Madaio and James Moody

Blake White, Steve Madaio and James Moody

There are a lot of musical treats here in the Desert, but Steve Madaio's wonderful Trumpet playing is certainly one of the finest gifts to Jazz lovers living here. He is a super star without the attitude. He will not offer any information about his illustrious career unless you ask him a direct question about his musical resume'. But those of us who have gotten to know Steve have discovered he has had an amazing musical life that includes performing with the greats of music over the past 40 years. He has recorded over 100 million selling CDs. Steve's career goes all the way back to Woodstock where he performed on stage alongside David Sandborn in the Butterfield Blues Band. He then toured with Janis Joplin. Steve was also part of two world tours with the Rolling Stones. He toured with Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, Bob Dylan,Bonnie Raitt, Madonna and Barbra Streisand. It is very likely that you have a favorite CD by one of these artists and Stevie is performing on it!

Steve usually plays at Backstreet Bistro at least once per month and it's really worth attending these appearances since Steve gets to play his favorite Jazz songs that are sure to be some of your favorites. Steve also does a Sunday Jazz performance every week at the Blu Ember Restaurant in Palm Desert.

Supporting Steve this Tuesday night was Jay Lewis on drums. Jay is a perfect fit for Steve's style, always right on the beat and producing a soft rhythm behind Steve's Trumpet sounds. Blake White was on bass and continues to prove he is one of the best bass player in the Valley. James Moody was on guitar. This was the first time I heard James, and I was very impressed with his performance and look forward to hearing him more in the future.

And for all you Madaio fans, Steve along with Tom Keenlyside have just recorded a new CD, "Slices" that is just outstanding. This CD is scheduled to be released within the next month, and this blog will do a review as soon as the CD is out.

Also sitting in to play a few songs on his tenor was Chase Huna. The improvement in Chase's playing compared to last year was obvious. It is hard to believe that Chase is only 13 years old. Tonight he played good enough to star in his own Jazz group!

Blake White, Chase Huna and James Moody