Mike Costley Playing to Capacity Crowds at Vickys in Indian Wells

Every time I hear Mike Costley perform I prepare myself to find him less spectacular than I remember from the last time I heard him sing.  However, the truth is that every time I hear Mike perform I always leave more impressed by his talents.  I am not just talking about his singing. He is so much more.  Mike is a marvelous singer/performer who has the ability to capture his audience within minutes of the start of his show and keep them engaged right to the last song he sings.  Mike loves to sing and performs with body and soul and his passion quickly connects with his audience.  His energy on stage is electric.  Mike's first set is non-stop for over 90 minutes.  What is most amazing is that Mike can sing every genre of music and all at the highest professional level.  He is also naturally comedic especially when you least expect it!  Mike is a perfectionist when it comes to music, and he demands and gets the top level of support from the talented instrumentalists that he carefully selects to join him on stage.

Supporting Mike at Vickys are two outstanding sidemen, Steve Alaniz on Tenor Sax and John Pagels on Guitar.  Steve is one of the best Sax players in Southern California, and I especially love the way he can mirror Sam Butera's wonderful phrasing and sound on the Louie Prima numbers Mike sings.  John Pagels is also recognized by all the musicians I know as one of the most best guitar players on the scene today.  He provides rock-solid support for Mike whether he is singing torch songs or up-tempo swing numbers; he can do it all. 

How lucky we music lovers here in the Coachella Valley are to get to be able toexperience Mike Costley on a regular basis.  Mike's show is first rate and as good as any show you might see in Vegas or NYC. He performs every Tuesday at Vickys in Indian Wells to packed audiences.  He starts at 7:00, but be sure to get to Vickys early if you want a seat.

For those readers that have never had an opportunity to hear Mike sing, I have attached a "YouTube" of Mike singing with the great Jackson Garrett Band at an outdoor concert at "The River"  in 2015.  The band members consisted of some of the best musicians in our Valley: Jay Lewis-Drums, Jeff Stover-Electric Bass, Dave Ring-Keys, John Pagels-Guitar, Steve Alaniz-Tenor Sax, John Leys-Trombone and Don Clarke-Trumpet.  All musicians perform wonderful solos on this track.         

             

        

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.

The Jackson Garrett Band Warms Up "The River" Shopping Mall

Mike Costley And The Jackson Garrett Band

On Sunday, January 4, 2015, a group of some of the most talented musicians in the West came together at "The River" Mall in Rancho Mirage to perform in support of "Desert Friends of the Developmentally Disabled". This non-profit group provides low-cost dental care to everyone with developmental disabilities, as well as senior citizens and veterans in the Coachella Valley and throughout Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. I find it interesting that these world-class musicians, who, are never paid the full value of their talents are always the first ones to offer their musical talents to help worthy charities all across the USA.  We all owe these musicians our admiration and support for the music they give us and their efforts to make our world a better place to live!

The performers today included a long list of A-list musicians put together by the tireless efforts of Chris Gore, singer, arranger, writer and all-around good guy who spent weeks putting this concert together.  Chris is the leader of the talented "Jackson Garrett Band" that performs at various functions in the Coachella Valley. He not only plays keyboard but sings, arranges and writes new material for the band. The reason why Chris is able to get all these great musicians to perform is because they know he a dedicated, committed individual and will do whatever it takes to get the job done. 

Today's performers included the lovely and golden voiced Beverly Jensen, John Pagels on Guitar, velvet throated singer Ken Steele, Shelley Yoelin on Tenor Sax, Singer and Valley weatherman, Patrick Evans, singer Michael D'Angelo, Chris Gore singing and playing Keyboard, desert-favorite singer Darci Daniels-Murphy and Mark Guerrero singing and playing Guitar. This group performed brilliantly but the closing performer, Mike Costley brought the house down with a world-class performance that electrified the audience. Mike has not been performing over the past year or so and his performance today reminded everyone of his singing and performance greatness. Today Mike Costley owned the stage!  Mike sang, danced and talked to the audience gathered at "The River" with a perfection few performers ever get to experience. It was simply a delight to hear Mike performing again. We all hope that Mike decides to perform again on a regular basis!

The Jackson Garrett Band today consisted of John Leys on Trombone, John Pagels on Guitar, Don Clark on Trumpet, Steve Alaniz on Tenor Sax, David Ring on Keyboard, Jay Lewis on Drums and the great bassist, Jeff Stover on Bass Guitar.

Darci Daniels-Murphy and the Jackson Garrett Band

Beverly Jensen and The Jackson Garrett Band

Ken Steele

Michael D'Angelo

Mike Costley & John Pagels

Shelley Yoelin

Chris Gore

Mark Guerrero

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