Jackson Garrett and Friends Put On A Jazzfest at Annenberg

The Jackson Garrett Jazz Band

On Sunday, April 17, I went to see the highly regarded Jackson Garrett Jazz Band. The Jackson Garrett Band has been doing yearly performances for the last several years.  The bank was formed by Christopher Gore in 2003.  It was at this time, Christopher met Marty Steele and from that point on, The Jackson Garrett Band became a product of both of their talents.  Chris writes the great music and lyrics and then Marty gets to apply his arranging magic to these great songs.  The last ingredient in the Jackson Garrett formula is the outstanding group of musicians that join Chris and Marty to complete the final musical product.  The show at Annenberg Theater was very entertaining especially for anyone who likes the Big  Jazz Band Sound. The lovely and talented Laura Hagen hosted and also sang several original songs for us. The list of superb musicians that appeared was like the "Who's Who" of live jazz music in the desert.  In addition, there were some guest performers that added greatly to the overall program.  First, we heard the great sax man who has played with Earth, Wind and Fire for the past 25 years, Gary Bias. Gary was really in his groove when he played "Sweet Love". Gary co-wrote this song that was performed by Anita Baker and won a Grammy Award. 

Gary Bias

The next guest performer was the singer/songwriter, Slim Man.  I was not familiar with Slim's work but he turned out to be quite a treat.  His signing style is very unique, his voice is deep and rich and his songs and lyrics were first class by any measure.    

Slim Man

The last guest was an Oregon-based singer, Kristi King who has performed in the Palm Springs area many times.  She performed, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" that was co-written by Marty Steele along with Chris Gore.

Kristi King

The balance of the performers in the Jackson Garrett Band could all be headliners in their own right and in fact most of them are.  I would have to write a book to properly cover their extensive resumes', but I would like to single out a few that performed exceptional this night.

Marty Steele

Marty Steele continues to impress audiences not only with his skillful keyboard performance but also with his song writing and his great arrangement talents. Chris Gore one of the best composers writing today for the wonderful array of songs and lyrics for tonight's program. Steve Madaio who performed some great solos and never fails to impress audiences throughout the country. Because every single player and singer was so talented, I have posted some pictures.  I am sure that everyone will recognize them because they all perform in many venues in the Coachella Valley. 

Christopher Gore

Steve Madaio

Laura Hagen

Jeff Stover

John Pagels

Steve Alaniz, Steve Madaio, John Leys

The Marvelous Callaway Sisters

On Saturday January 29, 2011 My wife and I attended the the Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway sister's concert at the "Great" Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs, California. Both of these singers are personal favorites of mine, but I never had the pleasure of seeing Ann Hampton Callaway in person so I was really looking forward to seeing both sisters live at the same time on the Annenberg stage. I was not disappointed, quite frankly their performance was an emotional experience for me. It was that good! First, speaking from a man's perspective, the love and emotional bond between sisters was so much stronger than I would have imagined. This bond between these two immensely talented performers radiated and captured the audience. There was a strange familial sensation transmitted to the audience by the end of the concert. We all felt we were part of the Callaway family. At one part of the program, the sisters spoke about how different they were as kids and yet how close they were.  Ann leaned over to Liz and said, "It was good, wasn't it", and then they sang, "Memories". It was beautifully sung for the audience.  The audience as mesmerized and trying to hide their tears.

The title of this show was "Boom" and was written and produced by the Callaway sisters.  The show was based on the music that both sisters listened to along with millions of baby boomers celebrating the 60's. It is near impossible to pick out my favorites from all the great songs the sisters sang, but I will mention four that personally moved me.  First, Ann sang the underappreciated Joni Mitchell's classic, "A Case of You". The richness of Ann's voice and her full understanding of the meaning of the lyric produced a version of this song that could only be described as outstanding.  Liz told us that there was only one album that both sisters listened to as kids, the "Tapestry" album by Carole King. Is there  any baby boomer living today that did not also love the "Tapestry" album, I think not!  The song they sang from this album was "You've Got A Friend". They told the audience that throughout their lives, this has been their mantra.  I loved their version of the Beetles classic, "Come Together". It was nice to actually clearly hear all the words to this great song. The last song I want to mention is the great Righteous Brothers hit "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin". There was glorious harmony between these two talented sisters. In truth, there was glorious harmony in every song which was truly soothing to the ear.

Personally, this was one of the most impressive live concerts I have ever attended.  If I had to use only  words to describe this event the words that come to mind are "Extraordinary", "Impressive", "Moving", "Stirring" and "Emotional". And that's not just my opinion. The second the show ended, the entire sold out audience was up on their feet clapping and cheering for these two remarkable performers.