The Stan Kenton Band Returns!

Last week I received some good news from my "Desert" musicologist friend Philip Nissley.  Phil informed me that the Stan Kenton Alumni Band will be touring again this Fall.  2011 is the 70th anniversary of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, the 100th anniversary of Stan Kenton's birthday, and the 20th anniversary of the Stan Kenton Alumni Band.  The promotors of the tour are planning to perform at festivals, universities, colleges, high schools, jazz societies, concerts and dances.  They are offering any school that books the Band for an evening concert a free afternoon clinic.  If you have any interest in booking the Band, you can contact Mike Vax, Director of the Stan Kenton Alumni Band at 925-872-1942. I am planning to publish their schedule with places and dates shortly.

Barbara King, A Musical Gem At McLoone's Rum Runner in Sea Bright, NJ

The Bar At McLoone's Rum Runner

Barbara King

Barbara King

On Thursday, June 2, I traveled down to the Jersey Shore to McLoone's Rum Runner at 816 Ocean Ave. in Sea Bright, NJ to hear the "great" Barbara King. More than a few people had told me that Barbara was an extremely talented singer/p pianist so I knew I had to see her.  Barbara started playing and singing while we were having dinner, and after dinner we went over to sit at the piano bar with several other Barbara King fans. I have to say that after Barbara played her first song I knew she was "a cut above".

Barbara began by playing and singing a medley of Gershwin songs that were just outstanding.  From there she covered Cole Porter, Rogers & Hart, Johnny Mercer, Jobim, Michel Legrand and what seemed like a thousand requests from those who came to see her.  When asked what her favorite song was, she played and sang the Michel Legrand gem, "How Do You Keep The Music Playing".  It was wonderful and beautiful! The audience was quick to show its appreciation. Quite frankly, I was not expecting to hear this level of quality musician performing in the quite little shore town of Sea Bright.  But I can only tell you with all honesty that someone with Barbara's talent is qualified to be singing in any of the best venues in the country. She is really that good.  If you live at the Jersey Shore or if you are going to be any where near the Jersey Shore in the next couple of months, put seeing Barbara King at the top of your "TO DO" list.  She is as good as or better than anyone you might find in the "Big Apple" or any place in New Jersey for that matter.  If you love songs from the "Great American Songbook"and some of the more recent great new American Pop tunes, you have to make it down to Sea Bright to catch her act.   This quality of live eintertainment is getting harder to find every year, but you can savor this experience every Thursday and Saturday right here in Sea Bright, New Jersey.

Later in the evening, Barbara was joined by the multitalented musician Joseph Lowlor who sang a couple of songs with Barbara.  Joe plays many instruments including violin, sax, flute, trumpet and joins Barbara from time to time for party gigs.  We are looking forward to hearing Joe join Barbara with his violin in the near future.

Barbara plays at McLoone's Rum Runner on most Thursdays and Saturdays and you need to catch her act.  You can have dinner and there is no cover charge, although even if there was, hearing Barbara sing and play would be well worth the charge!

Joe Lowlor & Barbara King

Barbara King

A Few Of Barbara's Fans, Kathleen Carmody, Debbie Kobalsky & Donna Montabano

Jeff Golub Ready To Release New CD Featuring Henry Butler

Great news for all Jeff Golub fans. Jeff will be releasing a new CD at the end of June that is sure to be outstanding. The CD is a tribute to the music of Albert King, B.B. King and Freddie King, I think that says it all about why you should own this CD. According to Jeff "When you look at the modern blues and rock vocabulary, it's almost impossible for anyone to play something that doesn't reflect their influence somehow.  Whether you're talking about Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, anyone you can name, they are directly or indirectly influenced by something that one of them did or played. Their songs are timeless and, while they also certainly had their influences, the impact of their work is unquestioned".  Keith Richards also credits the "Three Kings" in his new book, LIFE, in similar words to Jeff's. As soon a I can get this CD, I intend to publish a review. Stay tuned!

Michael Robinson Returns To Epernay

Michael Robinson

If you love "American Idol" and love to see and hear new talent now you can see a young and upcoming star up close and in person at Epernay Restaurant in Montclair, NJ. Michael Robinson is a Freshman in the BFA Musical Theatre Program at Montclair State University. Michael made his first appearence at Epernay with great reviews this past fall.  He will be singing Gershwin, Porter and Sondheim again at Epernay on Tuesdays, May 31, June 7 and June 14. Epernay has great food and it's a BYO. So grab your favorite bottle of wine and head over to Epernay for a great night out and support this young student. Tell your waitperson that you heard about Michael from "The Music Man Blog" and they will take 10% off your bill.

Great Sounds and Stories From Jazz Legend Benny Golson At Trumpets Jazz Club In Montclair, NJ

Trumpets Jazz Club & Restaurant

Benny Golson

Vitali Imererli & Benny Golson

Rick Crane

Eliot Zigmund

Matt King, Vitali Imererli, Benny Golson, Eliot Zigmund

Matt King

Marlene VerPlanck & Benny Golson

On Sunday May 15, the "Great" Tenor Sax Legend Benny Golson made his first appearance in the metro area in over 10 years.  He was joined in this performance by the talented violinist, Vitali Imererli. There was an air of anticipation in the room waiting for Mr. Golson to arrive. It's not every day that you can get to see an 82 year old jazz legend perform live.  One of the highlights of the evening for me besides the great music was the warm and personal stories Mr. Golson shared with the audience that included stories about jazz giants he has known and played with in his remarkable career.  Benny told us that he got his first sax at age 12 when his family was living in Philadelphia. He related that he started practicing in the summer with the windows open and his neighbors were not that excited about his sound but he was determined to improve.  Shortly after he started with the tenor sax, he asked to bring a friend of his who played alto sax over to practice together. However, the neighbors were even more unhappy now having two kids practicing every afternoon with the windows open. As they both improved, they knew the neighbors were starting to like the sounds coming from his house because they started to request popular songs.  Benny's alto friend's name was John Coltrane. There were several other wonderful stories Benny shared with us including the personal loss he suffered when his close friend Clifford Brown was killed in an auto accident.  Benny told us how he went on to write  his wonderful jazz song, "I Remember Clifford" as a tribute to his close friend.  This song has been recorded more than 500 times over the years since Benny wrote it. Benny Golson is so much more than a jazz tenor player.  He is multi talented and Internationally famous as a composer, arranger, lyricist and producer. 

Joining Benny at this concert, was the fabulous jazz violinist, Vitali Imererli. Vitali is one of the best jazz violinist I have ever heard. I would put him in the same class of violinist as Stephane Grappelli.  He takes no prisoners when he plays up tempo tunes, but I personally loved his approach to slow tunes and would love to hear him play some of my favorites from the "Great American Songbook'.  

The group backing up these two remarkable musicians consisted of Matt King on Piano, Rick Crane on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums. As they like to say in the PGA commercials, these guys are really good! I would like to hear more from this trio of great musicians in the future. They provided the perfect background for Benny and Vitali and all had the chance to shine with individual solos that were well received by the audience. 

As a side note, in the audience was the great singer and supporter of the "Great American Songbook", Marlene VerPlanck.   

Steve Tyrell On The Difference Between "The Great American Songbook" and "Contemporary American Music".

Steve Tyrell has been a favorite of mine ever since he recorded his first "Standards" CD and I love everything he has recorded. In addition, he is a great supporter of the "Great American Songbook".  I recently came across a Blog called "Wentzville Patch" that published an article about Mr. Tyrell and his upcoming May 15 performance at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Mo. I was surprised by Mr. Tyrell's answer to the following question: "In your opinion, what is the difference between the "Great American Songbook" and "Contemporary American Music" that includes the music of Motown, Paul Simon, James Taylor and Elton John?" Mr. Tyrell answered, "The biggest difference--and I'm not knocking them in any way, shape or form--"Fire and Rain" is as good as it gets.  But you don't want to hear anybody else sing them".  "That's the difference", he said.  "I mean, I couldn't make an album of James Taylor songs, you know? Nobody would want to hear it.  Even The Beatles, you don't want to hear somebody singing The Beatles' songs.  But there's been a million versions of Cole Porter songs. Then hundreds of versions, thousands of versions, of the Gershwin songs, or Harold Arlen.  And they've been done in every genre you can think of.  And you can love 25 versions of the same song." I have heard other artists make similar statements and with all due respect to Mr. Tyrell and those other artists, I totally disagree with this opinion on the subject. Let's use The Beatles Songbook as an example.  I put together a songlist of Beatles' songs titled "The Beatles Minus The Beatles Plus Paul" that I think in many cases are at least as good or perhaps even better than the orginial Beatles' recording (My apologies to those Beatles' fans that can't deal with this possibility). My playlist has two songs sung by Paul McCartney because no one does them better than Paul! Before you reject this possibility, head to iTunes and check out these versions of Beatles' songs!

Side note to Steve Tyrell: I am absolutely sure that you could do a great new CD of songs from James Taylor and Elton John adding the Tyrell touch and style to them.  "Steve Tyrell does James Taylor and Elton John". Please give this some consideration.  I would love to see how you would approach some of the wonderful songs these great performers have recorded. I would be happy to work on a draft playlist if you had any interest.


1. Help                                                              Little Texas

2. With A Little Help From My Friends              Joe Cocker

3. Yesterday                                                      Eva Cassidy

4. Nowhere Man                                               Randy Travis

5. Can't Buy Me Love                                       Shenandoah

6. Come Together                                            Delbert McClinton

7. Something                                                    Tanya Tucker

8.The Long And Winding Road                        Ray Charles and Count Basie

9. Eleanor Rigby                                               Liz Callaway

10. Oh! Darling                                                 Huey Lewis

11. Ticket To Ride                                            Joshua Rifkin

12. Baby I Am Amazed                                    Paul McCartney

13. Lady Madonna                                           Paul McCartney

The Music Man's "Coachella Valley Live Music Hall Of Fame"

Desert Dreams

It's May and as I got ready to make the trip back to New Jersey, I began thinking about all the great musicians I enjoyed this winter in the desert.  I thought the Music Man Blog should have a "Cochella Valley Live Music Hall Of Fame". Here is the class of 2011", "listed in no particular order" to enter the Hall. I know there are a lot of other musicians I missed but I started with the marvelous performers that I have seen. If you have other personal favorites, please let me know so I can make sure to hear them next winter.

                                                                  The Class of 2011


   Trumpet: Steve Madaio
                
   Bass: Bill Saitta, Jeff Stover, Brian Nova
              
   Male Singers-First Chair: Jack Jones, Mike Costley, Frank DiSalvo,
Johnny Meza, Frankie Randall, Pat Rizzo, Derrik Lewis, Christopher Gore, Slim Man, Larry Capeloto
                
   Male Singers-Second Chair: Erich Stratmann, Ken Steele, Tom McMorris, Marc Koltun, Denny Seidenfeld, Jim Salestrom
              
   Piano/keyboard: Marty Steele, Yarak Urant, Frankie Randall, Johnny Meza, Gino Antonacci, Derrik Lewis
              
   Sax: Pat Rizzo, Mindi Abair, Euge Groove, George Young, Al Diaz, Ron Coco, Reggie Alexander, Mikole Kaar, Gary Bias, Steve Alaniz, Ted Herman
              
   Female Singers-First Chair: Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Lola Rossi, Beverly Jensen, Laura Hagen, Poupee Boccaccio, Carolyn Martinez,  Kristi King, Lee Hartley
    
   Female Singers-Second Chair: Missoni Lanza, Jeanie Stanhope, Carole Hampton, Anita Gardner
            
   Drums: Andy Fraga, Steve Neilen, Jay Lewis, Julio Cesare, Jack Pina, Sal Frisura

   Flute: Tom Kennlyside, Pat Rizzo, Al Lopex, Steve Alaniz
            
   Trombone: John Leys
              
   Guitar: Brian Nova, Dan Papaila, Jeff Golub, Frank DiSalvo, John Pagels
            
   Vibs: Gino Antonacci

   Bandleaders: Ted Herman, Guy Lake
            

                            The Great Restaurants Supporting Live Music

       Arnold Palmers, Desert Sage, The Sandbar, Backstreet Bistro, Cafe des Beaux-Arts,  Le Paon, Cafe' Italia,  Indian Wells Resort Hotel, The Nest, Vicky's of Santa Fe, Tormes', Trinidads, Blue Ember, IW Club, Tropicale, Escena Lounge & Grill,  Miramonte Resort & Spa

                                      Businesses Supporting Live Music


      Pete Carlson's Golf & Tennis