Jazz

The Joel Martin Quintet touched down at Lucy's 51 in Toluca Lake recently with their loose, pleasurable jazz, but they were nearly upstaged by an energetic group of a cappella upstarts. The crowd is normally too loud and tipsy by 11 p.m. to appreciate any genre of music, much less jazz, but the majority stood at attention for a vocals-only sextet called Simply Put. Wedged in between two languid yet listenable sets by Joel Martin's elastic ensemble, the ragtag crooners made old standards new again.

Some kind of poetic conjunction will occur when jazz singer Diane Hubka performs a recital at Pasadena Presbyterian Church Saturday. Though she works as the church's accountant, what makes the pairing compelling is her lovely sound set in a sanctuary known for its majestic high-ceilinged acoustics. Hubka has a medium-dynamic alto voice with an unmistakable sparkle. Her tone is bell-like in its clarity and her diction is impeccable. Listeners can understand her no matter how brisk the tempo of the music.

GLENDALE -- Jazz violinist Lesa Terry of Glendale will present a special concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., Los Angeles. Titled "Jubilee to Jazz: A Celebration of Black Music," the concert will feature Terry with a double string quartet exploring a range of music including spirituals, blues, gospel and jazz, including a number of classic jazz tunes recast for this unique instrumentation. Admission is free. Terry gained prominence as a member of drummer Max Roach's Double Quartet, which led her to form the Grammy-nominated Uptown String Quartet, a landmark group that fused many styles of music.

When Jimmy Spencer strolls onto the stage at Mr. B's restaurant in Burbank impeccably dressed in a gray tailored suit, satin tie, handkerchief and silver cufflinks, he looks like a member of the Rat Pack. But once the room fills with the sound of his rich, velvety baritone voice, it's clear he sings with the intimacy of Nat King Cole. Spencer is a versatile singer who courts his audience with smooth and gentle phrasing and a warm, vibrant delivery.

Paul Andersen, Weekend GLENDALE -- It sits on a mound in a swirl of freeway ramps, a low-slung, woodsy fauna-inflected bastion of seafood, at the true junction of the Ventura (134) and Glendale (2) freeways. It might not seem at first glance to be a hot night spot, but for much of the past year the Rusty Pelican has been steadily gaining a reputation as a great place to hear live jazz on weekend nights, thanks to the superlative sounds of 2AZZ1 and the Body and Soul Band and the Eric Byak Band.

There is obviously one thing that cozy and quaint Jax Bar & Grill in Glendale is known for besides food and that is the jazz musicians they bring in to entertain their guests. On Tuesday night, the New York-based jazz trio known as Origin Blue made a stop at the trendy establishment during their West Coast tour. With a few people celebrating birthdays, several couples out on dates, and some locals enjoying a beer or two at the bar, the scene was set for Origin Blue to deliver a funk-filled performance of their eclectic style of jazz.

Choreographer Deborah Brockus built a light, entertaining afternoon around the query “What makes jazz — jazz?” Sunday at the Brand Library. It was the first of a three-part free series of contemporary dance concerts sponsored by the Associates of the Brand Library. Brockus, a prominent mover and shaker in the Los Angeles dance scene, kept audience members rapt as they waited for her dancers to bend space a bit, her sturdy frame and flame-colored hair cutting a striking presence against the cold gallery space.

I am by no means a jazz aficionado, but I do have an interest in the music?s colorful history and performers. Far too many jazz visionaries succumbed to the deadly addictive power of heroin. Now, with the re-release of the Bruce Weber?s 1989 film ?Let?s Get Lost,? we can take a look at one of those drug-hazed lives, that of the gifted trumpeter Chet Baker. ?Let?s Get Lost? is never less than captivating. It is an expert compendium of film, still photography and jazz shaped into documentary form.

Fans of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy who dig swing will hear a sample from its new style of jazz during Sunday's concert at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. The band will alternate playing music of New Orleans, featured on its new CD, "Save My Soul," released in July by Big Bad/Vanguard Records, with original swing tunes, said trumpet player Glen "The Kid" Marhevka. Several trips to that city by the group inspired bandleader Scotty Morris to write music in a similar vein.

While Barbara Morrison's 1973 arrival to the jazz and blues party was somewhat late, the singer has definitely lived it to the hilt. One of Los Angeles' top jazz vocalists, Morrison made her bones on the bandstand alongside the top names in music, performing with everyone from Johnny Otis to Ray Charles, Mel Torme and Dizzy Gillespie. But Morrison, who appears at Burbank's Joe's Great American Bar & Grill on May 26, remains an unassuming, modest and very down-to-earth character. "I wasn't even into jazz until I moved to California," the 60-year-old Morrison said recently.

While Barbara Morrison's 1973 arrival to the jazz and blues party was somewhat late, the singer has definitely lived it to the hilt. One of Los Angeles' top jazz vocalists, Morrison made her bones on the bandstand alongside the top names in music, performing with everyone from Johnny Otis to Ray Charles, Mel Torme and Dizzy Gillespie. But Morrison, who appears at Burbank's Joe's Great American Bar & Grill on May 26, remains an unassuming, modest and very down-to-earth character. "I wasn't even into jazz until I moved to California," the 60-year-old Morrison said recently.

When veteran guitarist Bob Bain drives into Toluca Lake Tuesday to participate in John Pisano's long-running Guitar Night at Lucy's 51, it's likely that more than a few memories will accompany him. Bain was the guitarist in the famed Tonight Show Orchestra at NBC until Johnny Carson's retirement in 1992. The band was stocked with some of the greatest musicians in Southern California, as a 1974 video from the show confirms. In it, Beverly Sills sings Manuel Ponce's beautiful ballad “Estrellita,” with just Bain playing a nylon-string guitar as accompaniment.

Bruce Forman, widely recognized as one of the top jazz guitarists in the world, has gotten off the straight-ahead path in recent years to follow what seems at first a highly unlikely alternate route: Western swing. Essentially a musical curiosity or historical footnote, the style was proposed and popularized by hot Texas fiddle-band leaders Milton Brown and Bob Wills in the early 1930s but was virtually extinct within three decades. Yet Forman - who was a member of Dizzy Gillespie's band and has worked with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Henderson and Barney Kessel - is an in-demand staple at international festivals and jazz clubs.

Selflessness is not a quality one often associates with artists. After all, creative people have their personal visions and usually spend their careers trying to get other people to help them realize those aspirations. Jazz guitarist John Pisano, known as a musician's musician, is universally regarded as an empathetic player. That collaborative gene has served the Los Angeles jazz community well. The weekly Guitar Night he's hosted will mark its 15th anniversary this Tuesday at Lucy's 51 in Toluca Lake.

Lucy's 51 is a classic Toluca Lake spot, one still haunted by the gently jiving spirits of high times and late nights long since past. This room on Riverside Drive has a formidable history: Its previous incarnation was venerable jazz club the Money Tree, a legendary joint where Hollywood musical giants like pianist Page Cavanaugh, trumpeter Jack Sheldon and drummer Earl Palmer bewitched audiences decades ago. It's also the spot where actor-jazz fan...

Some kind of poetic conjunction will occur when jazz singer Diane Hubka performs a recital at Pasadena Presbyterian Church Saturday. Though she works as the church's accountant, what makes the pairing compelling is her lovely sound set in a sanctuary known for its majestic high-ceilinged acoustics. Hubka has a medium-dynamic alto voice with an unmistakable sparkle. Her tone is bell-like in its clarity and her diction is impeccable. Listeners can understand her no matter how brisk the tempo of the music.

The Joel Martin Quintet touched down at Lucy's 51 in Toluca Lake recently with their loose, pleasurable jazz, but they were nearly upstaged by an energetic group of a cappella upstarts. The crowd is normally too loud and tipsy by 11 p.m. to appreciate any genre of music, much less jazz, but the majority stood at attention for a vocals-only sextet called Simply Put. Wedged in between two languid yet listenable sets by Joel Martin's elastic ensemble, the ragtag crooners made old standards new again.

Choreographer Deborah Brockus built a light, entertaining afternoon around the query “What makes jazz — jazz?” Sunday at the Brand Library. It was the first of a three-part free series of contemporary dance concerts sponsored by the Associates of the Brand Library. Brockus, a prominent mover and shaker in the Los Angeles dance scene, kept audience members rapt as they waited for her dancers to bend space a bit, her sturdy frame and flame-colored hair cutting a striking presence against the cold gallery space.

In keeping with the purpose of the Brand Library, a place to find materials related to art and music, officials believed a two-week jazz series would be a cool fit. The idea for the series grew out of a meeting with jazz portrait photographer Bob Barry, who had all the connections for putting together panel discussions, film screenings and a jazz concert. The series, featuring an exhibition of his work, kicks off Saturday and continues through Feb. 19. Planning the two-week event are Alyssa Resnick, senior library supervisor, and Cathy Billings, art librarian and gallery manager.

There is obviously one thing that cozy and quaint Jax Bar & Grill in Glendale is known for besides food and that is the jazz musicians they bring in to entertain their guests. On Tuesday night, the New York-based jazz trio known as Origin Blue made a stop at the trendy establishment during their West Coast tour. With a few people celebrating birthdays, several couples out on dates, and some locals enjoying a beer or two at the bar, the scene was set for Origin Blue to deliver a funk-filled performance of their eclectic style of jazz.