Rose Kingsley Sparkels At LA's Catalina Jazz Club

Jim Di Julio and Rose Kingsley

Rose Kingsley, Jim Di Julio, Jim Di Julio Jr., Steve Alaniz

Rose Kingsley

Steve Alaniz

Jim Di Julio Jr.

Bob Corwin

Jim Di Julio

Opera great, Rose Kingsley made her debut at the historic Catalina Jazz Club in LA.  Welcomed by a large and supportive audience, Rose responded with a wonderful Jazz vocal performance of some of the best songs out of the "Great American Songbook".  Rose is relatively new singing Jazz vocals but she has her own unique style that is unlike most of the Jazz singers on the scene today.   As a result of her Opera training,  Rose approaches each song and each lyric with great understanding and emotion.  She never just sings words, she tells wonderful stories with every ounce of emotion in her body.  Rose also never holds anything back, she sings perfectly with reckless abandonment that is seldom seen with other singers.   Even though Rose has years of singing experience, she has thrown herself into perfecting her Jazz vocal chops in the belief that she add something new to the great songs of the past for her audiences.

Rose is not the kind of singer that you can hear sing one song and fall in love with.  Her style takes some getting use to but I can assure that after you listen to her sing her first handful of songs, you will fall in love with her.  She is a wonderful performer in addition to being a wonderful singer!

Rose also is savvy enough to make sure she has only the very best musicians supporting her performances.  Tonight, she brought in the great pianist,  Bob Corwin. along with Jim Di Julio on Bass playing his newly acquired 18th century Bass,  Sax great, Steve Alaniz played Tenor and Soprano Sax and Jim Di Julio Jr. was on Drums.  These talented musicians were sensation tonight playing a supporting role for Rose and providing excellent solos when called.

I have attached an iPhone video of Rose performing "Come Rain or Come Shine" that I published on my "YouTube" page.

Carolyn Martinez Sings and Swings at Vicky's With The Bob Corwin Trio

Thursday nights at Vicky's of Santa Fe Restaurant are owned by Carolyn Martinez with her beautiful voice and the marvelous Bob Corwin Trio.  Carolyn has been performing at Vicky's and other music venues in the Desert for the last few years but her voice and phrasing just keep getting better and better every year.  Carolyn has the ability to bring a lyric to life and convince her listeners that she is actually telling her own life stories.   Carolyn has developed a large and loyal following our the past few years and it's understandable as she really connects with her audience.  She also makes sure she has only the best of the best players to support her.  The Bob Corwin Trio is an exceptional musically-talented trio that works perfectly with Carolyn's voice and arrangements.   Bob Corwin is the kind of piano player every singer dreams of.  He is supportive, and, yet,never overshadows the singer when he gets a chance to solo.  I have never heard better.  Tonight, Danny Flahive on Bass was simply out of sight.  He had several solos that proved again that he is one of the best Bass players in the country.  Tonight was the first time I had a chance to hear Craig Chestnut play Drums and he was great.  His touch and sense of timing never faltered.  

I attempted to record a small part of the performance so you can get a feel of Carolyn's voice and style and also hear how well the trio supports her.  It's my first attempt to post a live video on one of my review blogs and hope you find it enjoyable.

Carolyn Martinez Is Impressive at Vickys on Tuesday Nights

Danny Flahive and Carolyn Martinez

Danny Flahive, Carolyn Martinez and Bob Corwin

Ken Steele

Danny Flahive and Bob Corwin

Ken Steele & Carolyn

Don Fraizer, Ron Kalina and Carolyn

Jack Pena, Don Fraser, Shelly Yoelin, Danny Flahive and Bob Corwin

Carolyn Martinez continues to impress large audiences on Tuesday nights at Vickys in Indian Wells, CA.  Carolyn has been performing on Tuesday nights for the past couple of years.  When she first started at Vickys, her audiences were small because not many music fans were familiar with her voice, but it did not take long for the word to get out.  Now she draws large crowds that always include some of the finest musicians performing in the Desert, a sure sign of their respect for her singing ability.  I first heard Carolyn sing 3 years ago, and I became a fan immediately.  Carolyn has a strong, pure voice that when combined with her deep emotional feel for lyrics, makes a powerful performing statement.  I think Carolyn is at her very best when singing Brailizan tunes.  But that's not where her talent ends, she is a terrific Jazz singer and she handles great standards with the skill of a seasoned pro.  If you have not heard Carolyn recently, you need to be at Vickys on Tuesday nights, and I personally guarantee you will love her singing.

Carolyn also is very careful about the quality of supporting musicians she brings with her to her gigs.  She only asks the most experienced pros to work with her.  Tonight was no exception with the marvelous Bob Corwin on Piano and Danny Flahive one of the best Bassists in the West on Bass.  These two seasoned pros could make any singer advance their singing to a higher level.  This duo with Carolyn's beautiful voice was just about perfect!

During tonight's performance, quite a few musicians came by to support Carolyn and sit in with the Trio.  First up was Ken Steele, an extremely multi-talented singer/composer/arranger and producer.  I would love to see Ken have the opportunity to sing on an evening of his own.  He has a beautiful mellow deep voice and his phrasing especially on Standards like " The Nearness of You" are dead center perfect.  In the meantime, I will be happy to hear him sing in almost every place there is live music.  The fact that all the top musicians always ask Ken to sit in and sing a couple of songs is a tribute to his wonderful singing talents.

Also sitting in tonight was Tenor Sax great, Shelly Yoelin, Don Fraser on Drums and Jack Pena on bongos.  

CD Review: Opera great Rose Kingsley Sings Standards On Her New CD "This Is My Life"

I am sure many of you know Rose Kingsley A/K/A "Simply Rose" as one of the world's most celebrated opera singers.  Rose, a soprano, performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera for 15 years.  Rose has been singing Opera throughout Europe to rave reviews for many years.  She has appeared in concert with Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra. After years of exploring her four octave range, Rose decided it was long overdue for her to explore her more intimate side and decided to record some of her all-time favorite standards in Jazz form.  According to Rose, "My goal was to find songs that really come from my soul and that affected me emotionally.  Some I had sung before, and had not.  They're tunes that touched me that I felt could have the same impact on an audience.  How right she was!  Rose sings the 12 classic standards on this CD with intimacy and emotional understanding of the lyrics.  Her phrasing is perfect and all hers.   Don't expect to hear what we normally hear from female Jazz vocalists, Rose goes her own way with her unique singing style.  The songs she selected for this CD generate great intimate emotion and as I was listening I became more and more under her spell.  The lyrics will move you greatly as they did me.   Who knew an Opera singer could also reach this level excellent of Jazz vocals.  Well, Rose Kingsley knew and she is sharing her inner-self with everyone on her first Jazz vocal CD.

Rose has put together the perfect trio of accomplished musicians to back her on her debut CD.  The trio is led by musical director and superb piano player, Bob Corwin.   Bob is sought out by the best singers in the business and he served as Johnny Mercer's longtime accompanist for years.  In addition, he has been a Musical Director for Jazz legends Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day and Peggy Lee.  Desert favorite Danny Flahive is on upright Bass and Doug Dean is on Drums and Percussion.

"This is My Life" from "Simply Rose" is an excellent CD that any lover of intimate ballads from the "Great American Songbook" will love.

                             Playlist
1. "Here's To Life"                                         2. "Over The Rainbow"
3. "Come In From The Rain"                        4. "Don't Cry Out Loud"
5. "Send In The Clowns"                               6. "Can't Help Loving That Man Of Mine"  
7. "Cry Me A River"                                      8. "The Man That Got Away"
9. "One For My Baby"                                   10. "In The Wee Small Hours"
11. "Where Do You Start"                              12. "This Is My Life"  

You can listen to Rose signing songs from her CD on her website: http://www.simplyrose.info/   

Carolyn Martinez Singing Better Than Ever at Vicky's

                                 

Carolyn Martinez

Listening to Carolyn Martinez sing is always a treat for the ears and the spirit.  Carolyn has become a Desert favorite within a short period of time due to her ability to relate to a lyric and sing it like it was her life story.  Carolyn is meticulous in picking her material, only the best of the best of songs for her.  The result is a wonderful listening and emotional experience for her audiences.  This is her second year singing at Vicky's, and she has more fans than ever going to Vicky's to hear her. Her rhythm section consists of Larry Holloway and Roger King. Larry is already on the top of everyone's list as a super bass player in jus the few years he has been performing in the Valley.  The Drummer, Roger King has been getting a lot of work this season. Roger plays with soft hands that give perfect support to Carolyn's singing. Usually, David Ring plays Piano for Carolyn but tonight Bob Corwin was sitting in for David.  Bob was more than up to filling the large shoes of David Ring and did a marvelous job of performing the arrangements with little time for rehearsal.

Tonight Carolyn asked two popular Valley singers to come up to sing, Leonard Kaye and Ken Steele. Leonard Kaye has a wonderful voice and a great relaxed singing style that is always a treat for any audience.  Ken Steele has a deep golden voice that would sound great even if he was reciting the alphabet.  He is truly a seasoned professional, and I never get tired of hearing him sing.  Ken and Carolyn surprised the audience tonight with a charming duet.

Carolyn and her group perform at Vicky's on Monday nights.  If you haven't heard her sing this year, do you self a favor and call for a reservation to hear her.  She creates a wonderful night of music and I highly recommend you catch her act.    

Carolyn Martinez, Roger King, Larry Holloway and Bob Corwin 

Larry Holloway

Roger King

Ken Steele

Ken Steele and Carolyn Martinez

Leonard Kaye