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Lalah Hathaway’s Starry Starry Homecoming Night in L.A.

Lalah Hathaway/Eric Roberson
Club Nokia
April 6, 2012

Concert Review by A. Scott Galloway

On a Full Moon Friday in L.A., Lalah Hathaway adorned the night with stars…

Taking the stage in a lovely flowing wrap dress with a plunging neckline dripping in luscious aqua marine, Lalah opened her set with two recent mid-tempo groove tunes that set the mood as casual, comfy and feel-good with “If You Want To” and “Breathe.”  This was followed by the ceremonial removal of her “two song shoes” and giving herself over to the more sensual groove of “Small of My Back,” communicating more clearly with subtly bewitching undulations in front of her microphone (like a real singer should) than any fill-in-the-blank pop tart putting themselves through 100 rep calisthenics at 180 BPMs. To continue, please click “MORE”!

L.A.’s RnB Live Club; Serving up “A Night to Remember” Every Wednesday of the Week.”

Amerie Headlines Night of Amazing Amateur Talents at RnB Live”
An Event Evaluation by A. Scott Galloway

There is something to be said for doing something a long time and getting it right. That is the powerful sense I felt last Wednesday night at Greg & Felipe’s weekly “RnB Live Hollywood” residency in North Hollywood at the space known as Romanov Restaurant Lounge (12229 Ventura Blvd.).

To be perfectly honest, I came just to catch up with singing star Amerie. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Andrea Helms | Moving Forward

Andrea Helms
Moving Forward (EP)
(Music World Music)

Review by Peggy Oliver

 
When it comes to all those TV talent competitions where the winner is judged by America, being a runner-up, third placed or even lower does not constitute a death sentence in one’s career future.  Most persons are aware by now that countless “American Idol” non-winners have carved prolific, if not at least steady, recording and concert platforms (i.e. Jennifer Hudson, Elliott Yamin).  Representing the show “Sunday Best” – the gospel alternative to “Idol” – praise and worship leader Andrea Helms (the runner-up for Season Four to jazz/gospel stylist Amber Bullock) recently signed with Music World Music. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Robert Glasper Experiment | Black Radio

Robert Glasper Experiment | Black Radio
By Peggy Oliver

 

What
makes jazz musicians so appreciated are their extraordinary musical
moves and how they incorporate their vigorous passions in other genres
into their own distinct musical personality. Robert Glasper was
influenced by a jazz/blues singer in his mother, Kim Yvette Glasper. But
Glasper certainly was destined to become more than the standard jazz
stylist. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Rhythm Will Be Queen at The 34th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival

by A. Scott Galloway


Music Editor
The Urban Music Scene

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon – crystal clear following a night of heavy winds – as host Bill Cosby and producer Darlene Chan announced this year’s exciting lineup of The 34th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival. The festival returns to Father’s Day weekend – Saturday June 16 (3pm-11pm) and Sunday June 17 (3pm-10:30pm) at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As always, the cultural and musical diversity of the collective likens it more as The Playboy World Music Extravaganza.

For this writer, the group I am most anticipating is Spectrum Road – a jazz-rock power quartet assembled to pay homage to the late, great drummer Tony Williams and his pioneering band The Tony Williams Lifetime. To continue, please click “MORE”!

The Angela Bofill Experience f/ Maysa | at Anthology in San Diego, Nov. 5th

“The Angela Bofill Experience f/ Maysa”
Anthology – San Diego
Saturday – November 5, 2011 – 1st Set

by A. Scott Galloway
(Photos: Eric Sarmiento)

Cuban/Puerto Rican singer/songwriter Angela Bofill’s debut album, Angie, arrived in 1978 on the then-new audiophile GRP Records label. She offered a first class blend of jazz, soul, pop and Latin strains that showed tremendous promise. The quality of her music and career took several twists and turns from that point to now with most agreeing that of her ten studio recordings, the first four Arista-distributed albums in the late `70s/early `80s (and an underrated CD she recorded in 1996 for Shanachie Records titled Love in Slow Motion) are her finest. There has never been another artist quite like Bofill in that she has earned staple classics in all four of the above genres but is most lovingly recalled as a pioneering queen of the Quiet Storm. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Eric Clapton & Wynton Marsalis, Play the Blues: Live from Jazz At Lincoln Center

Album Review: Eric Clapton & Wynton Marsalis, Play the Blues: Live from Jazz At Lincoln Center
by Brent Faulkner

The expectation when two legendary musicians come together to record an
album is that the musicianship is incredible. On Play the Blues: Live
from Jazz At Lincoln Center, that expectation is met and even surpassed.
Clapton’s vocal and guitar skills are unmatched while Marsalis’s
Dixieland Jazz styled arrangements are nothing short of breathtaking –
not to mention his virtuosic trumpet sound. While Clapton and Marsalis
are the main attraction, the musicians assembled by Marsalis shine just
as brightly as the headlining artists. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Richard Elliot | In The Zone

Album Review: Richard Elliot | In The Zone
By Ian Cooke

Scotland born Richard Elliot celebrates his 25th
anniversary as a recording solo artist with this latest offering
co-produced with Jeff Lorber. It’s a Winner!! Drawing upon his
influences: legends Grover Washington Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn, In The Zone is a 10 song horn oriented delight. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Judith Christie McAllister | Sound the Trumpet


Album Review: Judith Christie McAllister | Sound the Trumpet
By Peggy Oliver

As
a forerunner in one of the most powerful and influential music
ministries in the last twenty years, Judith Christie McAllister has been
dubbed by many as The First Lady of Praise & Worship. During her
childhood, McAllister was quite familiar with singing all the familiar
hymns. Though she was grateful to be exposed to church service on a
daily basis, the praise and worship environment seemed a bit strict at
times. McAllister was also the product of a classically trained
background as she graduated from The High School of the Performing Arts
in New York City at sixteen years of age. To continue, please click “MORE”!

Concert Review: Return to Forever IV/Zappa Plays Zappa

Return to Forever IV/Zappa Plays Zappa
Greek Theatre
Tuesday, September 20, 2011

by A. Scott Galloway

The mere prospect of a concert double bill starring the latest incarnation of Chick Corea’s endlessly malleable Return to Forever (RTF) concept along with opening act Zappa Plays Zappa (ZPZ) – the ultimate tribute band to rock impresario Frank Zappa led by his honorable son Dweezil Zappa – was enough to send a music head’s mind racing back to the thrill of “school days” when such a show would blow your mind while simultaneously expanding your musical consciousness. Such was the case under the stars at Griffith Park’s beautiful Greek Theatre as these two ensembles delivered the masterful musical goods making good – no great – on the bill’s promise as the stellar chops hit of the summer. To continue, please click “MORE”!

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