Drums Along Sunset Blvd.
By Kirk Silsbee
A rare musical pairing of the modernist vibraphonist Steve Nelson and pianist Mulgrew Miller installs at the Jazz Bakery, through Saturday. Miller’s solidity – of technique, ideas and repertoire – marks him as the Cedar Walton of his generation. Roy Haynes, the living legend of the drums, lights up Catalina’s, Thursday through Sunday. He always fields a band of hot players but inevitably; Haynes is the youngest guy on the bandstand. Another superlative drummer, Peter Erskine, brings his challenging trio with saxophonist Bob Sheppard and bassist Dave Carpenter to Vibrato Thursday. Look ma, no piano! Sandra Booker, whose unshakable poise and spot-on diction are but two elements that make her one of our best jazz singers, is at LACMA Friday night. Open Gate Theatre (Arts Center, 2225 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, 626-795-49489; 7 p.m.; $10) presents the forward-looking guitarist Tom McNalley on Sunday. His trio emphasizes improvisation, rather than composition. Crepuscule, the Orange County trio with drummer Alan Cook, opens. Also Sunday, the authoritative drummer Roy McCurdy, who pilots and stirs many a SoCal ensemble, calls his own shots at Charlie O’s. Tuesday at the Bakery, Cedar Walton himself settles in for a four-night run. He embodies all of the virtues of mainstream jazz piano: swing, blues, Latin, huge repertoire and dynamics. Walton brings his A Team: tenor saxophonist Vincent Herring, bassist David Williams, and drummer Victor Lewis. Few pianists in the music today have the multiplicity of application and imagination that Walton routinely traffics in.
For info, see Jazz, Blues, Latin listings.
Published: 05/28/2008
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