The Hagen/Steele Trio: Jazz Under The Desert Sun At Beautiful Le Paon Restaurant

This past Saturday afternoon March 5, my wife and I had the delightful experience of enjoying lunch at the French Restaurant, Le Paon.  This gem of a restaurant is located above the most beautiful street in the Desert, El Paseo in Palm Desert, California. The purpose of our visit, in addition to lunch was to hear the new trio put together by Marty Steele that features the wonderful vocal sounds of Laura Hagen and the always great bass sounds from Bill Siata. I heard Laura sing a song or two at a couple of jazz events I had attended here in the desert, and I was looking forward to hearing more.  The setting at Le Paon is as close to perfect as it can get.  Sunny, temperatures in the low 80's, dining outside under a crystal clear blue sky while listening to some really great jazz songs directly out of the "Great American Songbook".

Laura's performance of a lot of my favorite songs, including several made famous by the great Peggy Lee, were just outstanding.  She had the ability to sing not only up-tempo tunes but also soft love songs. we all love. My own regret was that it took me too long to get to hear Laura perform her full show.  In addition to Laura's great voice, the arrangements played were some of the best I have heard in a long, long time. I later found out that Marty had written all the arrangements for the group.

But there were others surprises that afternoon.  First, I heard Marty Steele play with many of the Jazz groups I follow out here, but I never really got the chance to hear Marty play some great solos with some slow standards.  In particular, Marty did a solo on the old chestnut, Laura, that was just wonderful. I also got to hear Marty do what Mel Torme was renowned for, scatting.  Marty referred to this as "mindless scatting" but it was far from mindless, it was right on target. I had been told by all of the musicians I respect out here that Marty is a really outstanding talent. I agreed after hearing him play several times but I really got to hear and study him close up on Saturday and he really is one of the best I have heard anywhere. The third member of the trio was the always great bassist, Bill Saitta.  I try to get to wherever Bill is playing because it is rare today that you can get to see any one of his talent playing the Stand Up Bass.  I love the way Bill can play standards and especially like listening to his intelligent jazz improvising lines.  He is just one of the great bass players I have heard.
The last surprise was hearing my favorite flutist here in the desert, direct from Vancouver Canada, Tom Keenlyside.  Tom has surprised us at many of the jazz concerts we have attended and it appears he has become part of the desert jazz family. He played a few numbers with the band, and did a remarkable solo on the evergreen gem, "Stella by Starlight".

The Steel/Hagen Trio performs at Le Paon Restaurant every Saturday afternoon from Noon to 3:00 PM. If and when you find yourself on El Paseo on Saturday, this is the place to be.  The restaurant is beautiful, the food is great, the weather is always good and the sounds from Laura, Marty and Bill make it the most perfect afternoon lunch you will ever have.

Steve Madaio Sensational At Backstreet

If it is Tuesday night in the California desert, then there is live Jazz at the Backstreet Bistro in Palm Desert California. On Tuesday Jan 18 a four piece trio performed lead by the greatest trumpet player in the West, Steve Madaio. Steve is a rare and special class of musician. Whether he is performing ballads or standard Jazz songs, he is outstanding. One ballad I especially love is the great Bunny Berigan classic, "I Can't Get Started"that Steve played Tuesday.  But in case there was any doubt, Steve is also in a class of his own playing Jazz numbers. Steve was joined by 3 superb musicians on this night of Jazz under the stars.  Marty Steel's keyboard work was outstanding while performing a solo as well as his backup for the rest of the group.  Jay Lewis the well- known desert drummer provided the perfect rhythm line for the evening's selections and Rod Coco completed the group's sound playing both tenor sax and flute. Two very professional singers sang several songs with the band.  First, Frank DiSalvo did an excellent job singing a couple of "Sinatra" classic songs.  Frank is currently performing a Sinatra Tribute Show in Indian Wells. Then the audience was treated to the wonderful voice of Laura Hagen.  I have heard Laura sit in with other groups before and its always a treat to hear her sing.

One reason the California desert is so popular is because of "live music" and great musicians are appearing in almost every restaurant.  Backstreet Restaurant is one of the strongest supportors of live jazz receive much great customer support because of its "live Jazz" events.

Steve Madaio will be appearing at Backstreet Restaurant every third Tuesday of the Month and you can also catch his act at the Blue Ember restaurant in the Marriott Las Palmas in Palm Desert every Sunday starting at 5:00 pm.

Smokey Robinson's "Timeless Love" CD

I have been a Smokey Robinson fan for years especially when he was pouring out all his Motown hits. But today I want to talk about a CD that Smokey released on June 20, 2006 that I think didn't get enough attention in the music world. The CD is "Timeless Love" and it contains some great songs from the "Great American Songbook". The recent efforts of superstars to recording "Standards" like the ones from Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow, while great commercial successes,  don't do much for me musically. On the other hand,  I do credit these great artists for providing exposure to some great songs to their fans.  Smokey Robinson's "Timeless Love" is different because rather than singing these "Evergreens" in the style of Sinatra or Bennett,  in this CD Smokey interprets each song to perfectly fit his own unique style and voice. When Smokey creates an arrangement, the listener has no doubt that the unique sound he will hear is Smokey Robinson and not an imitation of another popular singer.  The voice and the arrangements are totally Smokey Robinson. Each time you hear the songs on this CD you will increase your appreciation for his talent.  That's what I experience and it's been one of my favorite CDs for the past couple of years.  Some of my personal favorites are:
            1. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" written by George & Ira Gershwin
            2. "I've Got You Under My Skin" written by Cole Porter
I think he interprets these great chestnuts beautifully.  I also liked:
            3. "You Go To My Head" written by John F. Coots
            4. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" written by George & Ira Gershwin
            5. "Time After Time" written by Jule Styne
            6. "I'm In The Mood For Love" written by Jimmy McHugh
If you want to hear some of these songs before you buy, click on the iTunes link on the top right of my blog. You can hear a little of all 13 songs on this great CD.  If any reader already has the CD or has heard it or are just purchasing it, I would love to get your comments.

John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey, A Dynamic Duo

On Tuesday, October 12, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending  the John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey show, "The Heart of a Saturday Night" at the Cafe Carlyle in New York City. First, if there is a more intimate or romantic cafe setting in the US, I have yet to discover it. Each time I get to hear John Pizzarelli he just keeps getting better. He is never  satisfied with his past performances and keeps pushing the envelope with his playing, singing and song selection skills. But the skill I like the most is his ability to take a "standard" that we all know well and perform it in a new arrangement that makes the song new again. This was the first time that I had the pleasure of hearing John's wife, Jessica Molaskey perform live and I really enjoyed her selection of songs and wonderful voice.  I heard her sing on CDs and radio shows but actually seeing her sing in person was a real treat.  She presents herself as a seasoned professional. Prior to the show I wondered how the voices of John and Jessica and their different approach to songs would sound once they sang together. After the first few songs, I had no further questions. While both performers have a very different approach to the songs they love, the warmth and  mutual respect they generate provides the bridge between their styles. I know a lot about John's background and family, and I can only guess that Jessica has been fully assimilated into the new Pizzarelli extended family. It really works for both of them and lifts them to a higher level of performance. I am not going to review all of the great songs they performed as the "New York Times" has an excellent review you can look up on line.  However, there was one song that I must mention. It started with John singing a soft and lush version of Irving Berlin's "Count Your Blessings" and then a seamless entrance of Jessica's voice singing parts of the wonderful Jonathan Larson song "Seasons of Love" from the musical "Rent".  The show runs through Nov 6th.  If you can get to see this show, it is really worth the effort.  John and Jessica, thank you for the wonderful evening, and please plan to do more shows together in the near future!