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

Bill Siatta and Tom Keenlyside Perform Great Jazz At Backstreet Bistro

                                               

Roger King, Bill Siatta, Tom Keenlyside and Doug McDonald

Bill Siatta

Tom Keenlyside

Doug McDonald

Dennis Burke

We went to Backstreet Bistro on Tuesday to see Bill Siatta who had gathered a group of super talented musicians to join his quartet for the night. Bill does a great job bringing the best musicians in the Valley together for the Tuesday night Jazz series at Backstreet Bistro.  Tonight Bill brought in the great flutist and Tenor Sax player from Canada, Tom Keenlyside along with  Roger King on drums. A great combination of musicians that made for an outstanding night of Jazz. Bill Siatta and Roger King put together a wonderful rhythm section to support the Tom always sensational Tenor and flute playing and Doug McDonald solos. Its hard to describe how good Tom Keenlyside is, I think you just have to listen to him play and everything else needs no description. Plus, it is clear to everyone who hears Tom perform that he just loves playing and performing in general. He is a gift from Canada that just keeps on giving great music to the Jazz fans in the Valley. Tonight we even got to hear Tom sing and of course he is good at that also!

I have also noticed that every time Bill Siatta bring in a new musicians into the mix, he plays to different and always higher levels. No doubt that Bill get motivated playings with so many different talent performers. His performance on the bass continues to evolve into better and better performance and his singing that Bill has worked on over the past couple of years, is really good.  Doug McDonald in a short period of time has demonstrated to all that he is one of the most talented guitar players in California. He seems to really hit his stride when playing with Bill. Roger King seems to be playing in many venues this year and he polished and experienced drummer. His has soft hands that few drummer exhibit and fit into this particular group of musicians perfectly.  A great night for Jazz and Jazz lovers. Drummer Dennis Burke came by during the evening and Bill asked him to sit in for a few numbers. I had not heard Dennis play before but I was impressed by his style and ability and I am sure I will run into him again in another venue.

Johnny Morris Delights Audience At The Steinway Society Jazz Concert

                                                             

Johnny Morris

Roger King, Drums, Johnny Morris, Piano and Danny Flahive Bass

The Steinway Society of Riverside County presented one of their many concert events at SoCal Pianos in Palm Desert on Sunday January 26th. The Steinway Society of Riverside County was founded in 2002 by Ruth Moir who still is the president of the group. We all know that when times get tough, the first cuts school districts make are in the arts program especially the music programs. Today, most elementary schools have no music in their classrooms. The same is true for many middle and high schools who struggle even to maintain some kind of basic music development program for their students.  This is why The Steinway Society of Riverside County was created to address these problems by providing interactive music education classes, hands-on instrument training and live performance programs designed to engage, educate and inspire children to reach for their dreams. The Society has been extremely successful in achieving their goals with their music programs touching over 20,000 children every year through exposure to music. This is an organization worthy of our support as their entire income is generated through donations. You can make a donation by visiting their web site at: www.steinwayriverside.org.

Performing today was the always wonderful piano player Johnny Morris who brought two other fine musicians with him, Roger King on Drums and Danny Flahive on Bass.  Johnny Morris has been playing for residents in the Valley for years and every time he plays, he just amazes his audiences with not only his great playing ability but his remarkable ability to select the greatest songs out of the "Great American Songbook". In addition, Johnny without the aid of any charts, plays every song requested by his audience. He calls this "Try to stump the piano player". He asks the audience to name any song they want him to play and Johnny has the ability and mental quickness to beautifully play all the songs. Another Johnny Morris secret is that he has the ability to sing the lyrics for most of these songs from memory. In the many times I have heard him perform, I cannot remember anyone stumping the great Johnny Morris. If you have not heard Johnny play recently, you can hear him again at the Backstreet Bistro every Monday night starting a 5:30 PM. He is one of the greatest piano players of standard music living today, and you can hear him right here in the Valley every Monday.

Roger King works as a private lender during the day and then becomes a world-class Drummer in the evenings.  He has a great sense of performance and did an outstanding job today without the benefit of any charts or rehearsals. Roger plays with Carolyn Martinez every Thursday night at Vicky's.  The third member of the group was Bassist Danny Flahive. This is my first experience hearing Danny play and he is nothing short of terrific. Johnny gave Danny lots of room for solos today, and he sparkled.

There were a couple of major-league performers who came by today to support Johnny Morris and the Steinway Society. One of the greatest Harp players playing today, Ron Kalina played a couple of terrific ballads with the trio to the delight of the standing room only crowd. Also performing and having some fun was world famous piano player, Bill Marx. Bill and Johnny played a duet while continually changing seats and it was very funny. Bill is always a treat to hear and is always supportive of any event that helps develop music for children. In addition today was a trio of student Trumpet players who were just a delight. They did a great job of performing the classic "Satin Doll" with the trio.

Ron Kalina

Johnny Morris and Bill Marx

Hannah Morgan, Thomas Nole and Riley Hertz

The President and Founder of The Steinway Society of Riverside County, Ruth Moir

Carolyn Martinez Very Impressive at Vicky's of Santa Fe in Indian Wells, Ca

Carolyn Martinez

Roger King, Carolyn Martinez,Larry Holloway and David Ring
(Photo by Herb Koenig)

Roger King, Larry Holloway, David Ring

Carolyn Martinez has been singing to large crowds at Vicky's of Santa Fe in Indian Wells on Thursday nights. I had the opportunity to hear Carolyn sing over the past couple years and have always been impressed with her voice and the way she approaches lyrics. Carolyn is one of the few singers today that can sing lyrics with believable emotion convincing the listener that the lyric is really part of their personal life story. Carolyn is a joy to listen to and she sings only the best of songs from the "Great American Songbook". On Thursday evening, Carolyn impressed her audience singing many American classics and also sang several songs in Portuguese and Spanish. In my opinion, she is the best singer of Jobim in Desert.

Carolyn's voice reminds me of the great voice of singing star Eydie Gorme, but Carolyn's voice is younger, softer and her range is very impressive.

Carolyn was joined tonight by three top musicians, David Ring on Piano, Larry Holloway on Bass and Roger King on Drums.  David Ring has been performing in the Desert area for quite a while but I never really heard him play for an entire evening until tonight. He is a great Piano player, and his Jazz solos were fresh, new and remarkably constructed. A real treat for any Jazz fan.  Larry Holloway just keeps impressing his audiences with his outstanding Bass playing. Tonight was the first time that I got to heard Roger King play drums, and he did an impressive job playing soft when required and never missing a beat when the music got hot.

Carolyn and her group appear at Vicky's every Thursday from 6:30 to 10:00.  I understand that on February 17 the group will move to Sunday nights from 6:30 to 10:00.  Don't miss the chance to hear Carolyn sing, you will not be disappointed.