Steve Madaio Sensational At Backstreet

If it is Tuesday night in the California desert, then there is live Jazz at the Backstreet Bistro in Palm Desert California. On Tuesday Jan 18 a four piece trio performed lead by the greatest trumpet player in the West, Steve Madaio. Steve is a rare and special class of musician. Whether he is performing ballads or standard Jazz songs, he is outstanding. One ballad I especially love is the great Bunny Berigan classic, "I Can't Get Started"that Steve played Tuesday.  But in case there was any doubt, Steve is also in a class of his own playing Jazz numbers. Steve was joined by 3 superb musicians on this night of Jazz under the stars.  Marty Steel's keyboard work was outstanding while performing a solo as well as his backup for the rest of the group.  Jay Lewis the well- known desert drummer provided the perfect rhythm line for the evening's selections and Rod Coco completed the group's sound playing both tenor sax and flute. Two very professional singers sang several songs with the band.  First, Frank DiSalvo did an excellent job singing a couple of "Sinatra" classic songs.  Frank is currently performing a Sinatra Tribute Show in Indian Wells. Then the audience was treated to the wonderful voice of Laura Hagen.  I have heard Laura sit in with other groups before and its always a treat to hear her sing.

One reason the California desert is so popular is because of "live music" and great musicians are appearing in almost every restaurant.  Backstreet Restaurant is one of the strongest supportors of live jazz receive much great customer support because of its "live Jazz" events.

Steve Madaio will be appearing at Backstreet Restaurant every third Tuesday of the Month and you can also catch his act at the Blue Ember restaurant in the Marriott Las Palmas in Palm Desert every Sunday starting at 5:00 pm.

Jack Jones: An American Music Treasure

The last time I saw Jack Jones perform live was in 1965 in Vegas; that's 46 years ago.  At that time, I thought Jack Jones was an excellent young singer of popular songs. Over the years, I sort of lost contact with Jack's work until last year when I came across some CDs that Jack had done. I really was surprised by how great he sounded. I finally had the chance to see Jack in person again on Friday evening January 14, 2011 at The McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California. Jack sang with a 5 piece group led by the brilliant musician Mike Renzi on piano. As it turned out, most of the evening's performances were a showcase for Jack's marvelous voice and phrasing and Renzi's outstanding piano backup.  In addition to Mike Renzi, Jack also had his old friend and musical director Vinny Falcon playing piano.  If you are a Sinatra fan, you probably know that Vinny Falcon was Sinatra's musical director up until Sinatra's death. 

The audience froze when Jack inadvertently tripped.  That's when Jack showed what a consummate professional he is. He picked himself up, made light and continued singing without missing a note. A remarkable recovery for anyone but especially for a performer celebrating his 73 birthday. 

Jack sang a program of songs from the "Great American Songbook".  I thought his interpretation of the Brian Wilson song "God Only Knows What I'd Be Without You" was brilliant. He also did a great job on his version of the David Gates song "If A Picture Paints a 1000 Words" and also the Rod McKuen gem "If You Go Away".  Jack Jones even at 73 has remarkable breath control and voice range. He sang some complex songs tonight, and he did not  miss one note.  While I am sorry that I did not stay up with Jack's career over the years, I am so thankful that I got to hear his work on his CDs and finally got a chance to see and hear him perform in person again.  Jack Jones is truly one of the greatest singers of the "Great American Songbook". True to his professionalism, he performed for over 2 hours to a delighted and appreciative audience.        

FRANK: THE VOICE, A NEW SINATRA BIOGRAPHY BY JAMES KAPLAN

It's been 13 years since Frank Sinatra died and he continues to be known and remembered by millions of people across the globe.  His music is still very popular as witnessed by TV re-runs of his music shows.  Sinatra even has his own radio station on XM radio called Seriously Sinatra that has a strong following of his fans who now can hear their favorite Sinatra songs all day and night if it pleases them. And his music still sells well today! This new book written by James Kaplan covers Sinatra's life from 1915 to 1954. I understand that it's the author's intention to write a second book covering the balance of Sinatra's life from 1954 until 1998. As a Sinatra fan, I had much interest in reading this period of Sinatra's life especially since I have read most of the other major biographies on Sinatra's life.  To get right to the point, if you are a Sinatra fan, you will enjoy this book.  That said, I did not find a lot of new stuff in this book, mostly a rehash of the stories and information I already knew. But I do think the chapters on Frank's early years did provide a better understanding of what would become the Sinatra personalities.  Yes, I think most of us know that Sinatra had many personalities, like "the good, the bad and the ugly".  Like many of the world's great artists, you have  to judge their talent and art separate from the personality from their art. Sinatra like most great artists was possessed by his art.  This can be clearly seen when reading about his early life and career.  Sinatra was convinced he not going to be just another singer.  Sinatra lived inside his music and its lyrics.  Kaplan shares the story of how before Sinatra would sing a new song, he would print out the lyrics and spend the next couple of weeks reading the lyrics as if he was reading a poetry.  He wanted to know precisely what the writer was trying to say.  Only after fully understanding the lyric would Sinatra work with the orchestra to record the song.  The result of this approach produced recordings that make audiences feel that Sinatra was always singing about his own life experiences.  It's clear that Frank's personality and character was frequently ugly, to say the least.  However, this is a statement that would fit many of the most gifted artists in our history. In order to love Sinatra you need to just focus on his music which became the best popular music ever recorded in the world.

The 10 Top Selling Jazz R & B/Soul Ballads

I am always looking for information about the music buying habits of today's music consumers.  The other day I found an iTunes site that listed all of the music that iTunes currently sells by sub-groups. I first came across a list that was entitled "Adult Music" expecting to find singers and songs from the Great American Songbook but no... the list was for songs with lyrics that might not be appropriate for younger listeners.  I did not know any of the songs so I searched on.   I found two other lists that did contain songs I recognized.  I want to talk about the first list that was titled "R & B/Soul Ballads". I was surprised to discover that the number one selling song was my all time favorite Golden Oldie, "In The Still Of The Night" by the Five Satins. Can you believe that a rock & roll song that was recorded over 50 years ago is the number one R & B/Soul Ballad song sold by iTunes in 2010. I loved it in the sixties and still love it today. Of the top 10 best selling songs, there was only one that I was not familiar with, "Pledging My Love" by Johnny Ace.  It seems that Johnny Ace was a noted R & B singer in the fifties who committed suicide back stage on Christmas Eve in 1954. Mr Ace still commands interest from music fans to this day.  Take a look at the list below and share any comment about the top 10 or other candidates you think should have made this list.

                                TOP 10 BEST SELLING R&B/SOUL BALLADS BY iTUNES


1. "IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT"- THE FIVE SATINS


2. "WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN"- PERCY SLEDGE


3. "I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOO LONG"- OTIS REDDING


4. "WHAT'S GOING ON"-MARVIN GAYE


5. "PLEDGING MY LOVE"- JOHNNY ACE


6. "I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU"-THE FLAMINGOS


7."CHAINS OF LOVE"-BIG JOE TURNER


8. "LET'S STAY TOGETHER"- AL GREEN


9. "STAND BY ME"-BEN E KING


10. "Ooo BABY BABY"-SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES

Top 10 Christmas Songs Sold On iTunes In 2010

I thought it would be interesting see what were the biggest selling Christmas songs on iTunes this year. I was surprised and glad to see that "White Christmas" was still Number One on the list.  This is great news because it means lot of young people have become fans of this wonderful song. It is also telling that the number 10 best selling Christmas Song was "Donde Esta Santa Claus" by Augie Rios. The hispanic music market continues to grow and will continue to pick up market share going forward. 

Top 10 Christmas Songs Sold On iTunes 

    1.  White Christmas By Bing Crosby

            2.  The Chipmunk Song-The Chipmumks

                                3.  Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer-Various Artists

                            4.  I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus-Jimmy Boyd

 5.  Jingle Bell Rock=Bobby Helms

         6.  The Christmas Song-Nat King Cole

                       7.  Snoopy's Christmas-The Royal Guardsman

              8.  Here Comes Santa Claus-Gene Aultry

                              9.  The Little Drummer Boy-Harry Simeone Chorale

          10. Donde Esta Santa Claus-Augie Rios 

Amazon Takes Only A Tiny Bite Out Of Apple

I recently read that the research firm NPD Group reported that iTunes now controls 66.2% of online music sales.  In just a few short years, iTunes has taken over a massive amount of the online market and it is not over yet.  However, they are getting some intense competition from Amazon who is now in second place with 13.3% of the online market.  In an attempt to take market share from iTunes, Amazon has been selling selected CDs below cost in order to attract customers.   Still even with lower prices than iTunes, Amazon sales only grew 2.3% compared to 3.0% for iTunes. Some industry people have been saying that iTunes has been putting pressure on labels to pull back on the deals they have been giving Amazon.  ITunes needs to be very careful with any attempt to limit Amazon's ability to discount prices because it begs for an antitrust action. iTunes should be happy with their huge market piece and let Amazon continue to lose money selling CDs below cost. iTunes in my opinion, needs to be very careful not to do anything to slow or block competition because they already control the keys to the online market with their iTunes program that so far no competitor has been able to match.

Even Christmas Standards Can Get A Little Old

While I still believe that "Standards" are songs that never get old,  I have to admit that hearing the same Christmas song being played 50 times within a 30 day period does make me crazy.  Yes, these are the Christmas songs that we all love but enough is enough.  After hearing the great Nat King Cole sing "The Christmas Song" ten times in two days, that was more than enough for me (or anyone else, I suppose).  In order to escape having to hear the same Christmas songs being sung by the same artists over and over again, I decided to pick some artists singing Christmas songs that are great but don't get as much play.  A sort of personal Christmas playlist.  So here are a few of my current favorite Christmas songs that you might want to add to your collection this year. There are lots more that I have missed, so if you have your own favorites, please share them with me.







1.   I'll Be Home For Christmas                                           B.B. King

2.   Please Come Home For Christmas                               Andrea Bocelli &
                                                                                            Natalie Cole
3.   Silent Night                                                                   Boney James

4.   Ave Maria                                                                     Johnny Mathis

5.   Blue Christmas                                                              Elvis Presley

6.   O Tannenbaum                                                             Andrea Bocelli

7.   We Wish You A Merry Christmas                                  The Drifters

8.   Please Come Home For Christmas                               The Eagles

9.   Silent Night                                                                     Chantieleer

10. Let It Snow                                                                     Diana Krall

11. White Christmas                                                            The Drifters

12. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas                 Dean Martin

13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas                         Luther Vandross

14. Jingle Bells                                                                     BzK

15. Baby It's Cold Outside                                                    Ray Charles & Betty Carter

16. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer                                 Ray Charles

17. Winter Wonderland                                                         Oscar Peterson

18. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town                                    Dave Brubeck