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 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.