Swinging Exchanges
By Kirk Silsbee
No event signifies the current L.A. big band renaissance like the L.A. Jazz Institute’s biannual festivals at the LAX Four Points Sheraton (9750 Airport Blvd., L.A., 562-985-7065). “Stage Door Swings” – Thursday afternoon to Sunday night – looks at how jazz has used music of the American musical theater. Helen Merrill, Annie Ross, Mark Murphy, Tierney Sutton, and scores of others will interpret memorable arrangements of Porter, Arlen, Rodgers & Hart and many other composers. The Bill Potts charts for Porgy and Bess, Merrill singing the Gershwins, Bill Mays playing Pal Joey, and Kenton’s take on West Side Story are just a few of the highlights. No current jazz singer has the majestic pipes that Dianne Reeves possesses. At Royce Hall on Thursday, she sings with the sublime guitarist Romero Lubambo, among others. The marvelous trombone choir, BoneSoir, will fill the cavernous acoustics of the open square at LACMA Friday night, for the free soiree. Sunday at the Jazz Bakery, pianist Marcin Wasilewski, another sublime interpreter, debuts locally with his trio. Their new ECM album, January, is full of intimate sonorities, smart readings (like Carla Bley’s “King Korn”) and elastic interplay. Tuesday, ukulele virtuoso (don’t laugh ’til you’ve heard him) Jake Shimabukuro lights at the Temple Bar. He can coax more feeling from those four strings than you’ve ever heard.
Published: 05/21/2008
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