Blue Yonder
By Kirk Silsbee
Wherever the blues lifted her skirt, she always left behind something unforgettable. Country music wasn’t immune to her charms; blues influence started showing 100 years ago in country. Yonder Mountain String Band, a bluegrass outfit, reflects that lasting cross-pollination. YMSB drops into House of Blues Friday and anyone who appreciates instrumental virtuosity will be rewarded. Technical mastery is what electric bassist Victor Wooten is all about as well, just in a contemporary jazz context. His new tour de force album, Palmystery (HeadsUp) is what he’ll be playing from at Crash Mansion (1024 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A., 213-747-0999) on Friday. It’s a kaleidoscope of music – funk, Indian, gospel, fusion, and more – all held together by Wooten’s nimble finger work. Saturday at Luckman Theatre (Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Dr., L.A., 323-343-6600; 8 p.m.; $30, $35), bebop titan Dizzy Gillespie is recalled by the stellar Luckman Jazz Orchestra, led by Charles Owens. Dizzy piloted one of the first bop orchestras and showed how modern jazz, and a recasting of the blues, could fit into that format. Also Saturday, Wooden People, an outward-bound group with reedman Vinny Golia, trumpeter Kris Tiner, drummer Nathan Hubbard, and bassist Justin Grinnell, explores the fringes of sonics and sensibilities at L.A. Harbor College Music Recital Hall (1111 Figueroa Pl., Wilmington; 8 p.m., Liraproductions.com). Composer Mike Barone, whose compositions and arrangements find sly humor in modern jazz, leads his big band at Charlie O’s Monday. The blues has a sophisticated dance partner in Barone.
For info, see Jazz, Blues, Latin and Rock, Pop, Acoustic listings.
Published: 04/23/2008
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