Featured Events

Grammy-award winning pianist, composer and arranger Clare Fischer has passed in Los Angeles on January 26, 2012 at the age of 83, as now reported on ClareFischer.com. Earlier this month Fischer had suffered cardiac arrest, from which he had been resuscitated and hospitalized. Fischer was one of the most respected arrangers in both jazz and popular music for more than five decades, having worked with notables including Prince, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole, and numerous others. Fischer is a also 2011 Grammy nominee for Best Instrumental Arrangement. LAJazz.com extends its condolences to the many family, friends, and musical associates of Clare Fischer on their loss. LAJazz.com will report on the details of any memorial arrangements as they become available.

Roy Hargrove's five-night run at Catalina highlights another strong week of SoCal jazz that features Bob Mintzer, Scott Henderson, Alain Caron, Jeff Hamilton, Richie Cole, Sony Holland, and Katie Campbell.  Discover the week's best bets day-by-day in About & Out with LAJazz.com Editor Tom Meek.

In an article for LA Weekly, LAJazz.com Editor Tom Meek discusses the future of the Jazz Bakery, which closed in 2009 and had been expected to reopen in a new location in Culver City by the end of 2012.  The end of state-sponsored local redevelopment agencies has put the Jazz Bakery's plans for new venue in substantial turmoil.  Read the full story here.

Dee Dee McNeil reflects on the life and legacy of her mentor, Melba Liston.  Liston was a groundbreaking woman instrumentalist in jazz, going on to work with the likes of Dexter Gordon, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and many others.  Read Dee Dee's thoughts on the anniversary of Liston's passing in the latest edition of Dee Dee's Jazz Diary.

Jay Jackson hits another L.A. jam session this week, visiting the Monday night "straight ahead no-nonsense" jam run by Jacques Lesure at Nola's - A Taste Of New Orleans in the downtown L.A. Arts District.  Check out Jay's impressions in his second edition of Jay's Jazz Journeys.

Nola's A Taste Of New Orleans in downtown L.A.'s Arts District continues its popular Sunday brunch with a series of strong performances for January. Sunday January 8th will be Janis Mann, January 15th Betty Bryant, January 22nd features Sharon Marie Cline, and January 29th Jeff Robinson. Brunch is served buffett style from 11AM-3PM, including champagne. Visit www.nolasla.com for details.

Vitello's in Studio City will feature 2011 Grammy nominee Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band on Friday February 3rd at 8PM. Goodwin was nominated in the category Best Instrumental Arrangement for "Rhapsody In Blue" from the album "That's How We Roll". Tickets for the show can be purchased through TicketWeb or at www.vitellosjazz.com.

South African trumpet master and composer/producer Hugh Masekela returns to Southern California for a special performance at UCLA Royce Hall on Friday, February 10th at 8PM. Best known for his worldwide hit "Grazing In The Grass", the concert will feature music from Masekela's 2009 album "Phola" along with new music and selections from his extended career. For more information and tickets, please visit UCLA Live.

The UCLA Live series will offer its first evening of jazz in 2012 on Saturday, February 11th at 8PM with the twin bill of the Ravi Coltrane Quartet & Christian McBride Trio. Ravi is the son of Alice & John Coltrane, and has become one of the most well-regarded saxophonists of his generation. Bassist Christian McBride has worked with the likes of Sting, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin in addition to his own music, and has been nominated for a 2011 Grammy for his big band recording "The Good Feeling". Tickets can be ordered through UCLA Live here.

With major jazz Grammy categories being cut from six to four, the number of available Grammy nominations for 2011 has been substantially reduced. Nonetheless, a number of Southern California-based artists received potential Grammy nods, with final awards to be announced February 12, 2012.  Among the Grammy nominees announced on Wednesday, November 30 were Tierney Sutton, Yellowjackets, Russell Ferrante, Christian McBride, Gerald Wilson, Gerald Clayton, Gordon Goodwin, Seth MacFarlane, Vince Mendoza, and Clare Fischer.  See our full story for more details.

The LA Phil is pleased to present an evening of Afro-Cuban jazz on Thursday February 16th at 8PM at Walt Disney Concert Hall featuring eight-time Grammy winning pianist and composer Chucho Valdes, "the dean of Latin jazz" (The New York Times). Valdes will perform with his band The Afro Cuban Messengers. Opening the evening will be Poncho Sanchez's Latin Jazz Band with special guest Terence Blanchard in a program dedicated in part to the late Dizzy Gillespie. For more information and tickets, please visit the LA Phil here.

Presented by The Jazz Cruise at the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel & Spa, the 12th Annual Newport Beach Jazz Party will feature dozens of top names including the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Arturo Sandoval, Ken Peplowski, Eric Reed, Ernie Andrews and many others. For tickets, details and a complete event schedule, please visit newportbeachjazzparty.com.

San Diego-based pianist/arranger/composer and three-time Grammy nominee Geoffrey Keezer will be featured in the February installment of the Soka University Jazz Monsters series on Friday, February 24th at 8PM. Keezer's trio will feature Carlitos Del Puerto on bass and long-time former Tonight Show drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith. Jazz Monsters concerts are held in the beautiful 1000-seat Soka Performing Arts Center. For more information and tickets, please visit the Jazz Monsters Web site here.

Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center For The Arts has announced their lineup of jazz for the 2012 season. The Segerstrom Center includes four separate performance spaces ranging from 250 to 3,000 seats to accommodate a wide range of artists and stage performances. This year's featured jazz artists include the SFJazz Collective: The Music of Stevie Wonder on March 23rd and 24th, and Nnenna Freelon and Earl Klugh on April 27th and 28th. For tickets and full details, visit the Segerstrom Center Web site at www.scfta.org.  

Note:  Due to illness, the Charlie Haden Quartet West show scheduled for February 18th will be moved to the Fall of 2012.

LAJazz.com is now available on your phone with easy to access jazz info on the go. The LAJazz.com site is optimized for your mobile device, and you don't need to install an app! Just point your smartphone at m.lajazz.com, and you'll find event listings including by neighborhood and date, jazz news including Tom Meek's "About & Out" music picks, and more. Bookmark the site and save it to your smartphone home screen, and you'll have an icon to reach LAJazz.com instantly from anywhere you want jazz info. Try it, and you'll find LAJazz.com on your phone will become one of your favorite sites!

LAJazz.com Editor Tom Meek is blessed to see a lot of fine live music around Southern California.  As the 2011 calendar draws to a close, here's a list of shows he found to be most memorable from 2011, including Sonny Rollins, Allan Holdsworth, Keith Jarrett, Les Hooper with Denise Donatelli, Alex Machachek/Jimmy Johnson/Terry Bozzio, Alan Ferber, Katisse Buckingham and more.  Here's looking to a great year of live SoCal jazz in 2012 !!!

If you're a musician looking for a new place to play and new musicians to jam with, check out our list of jazz jams and open mic events across Southern California. There's a jam session happening most nights. Jazz aficionados can hear new and fresh talent at these sessions, many with a minimal cover charge. Read the full story to see a list of SoCal jazz jams by night, and check the calendar at LAJazz.com for more details about each event. If you're aware of a jazz jam that needs to be added to our calendar, please drop a note to editor@lajazz.com.

There have been a number of changes in recent months at LAJazz.com as we bring more sponsors, stories and features to LAJazz.com readers.  If you're looking for the complete jazz calendar, there are several ways to find it.  You can click the "View The Complete Jazz Calendar" button at the top of the Featured Events column, click the date (such as Tuesday, October 25th) above the Featured Events listed for each day to take you to the full calendar for that date, or click the "View The Complete Jazz Calendar" headline that is part of our scrolling Headline bar.  Find out how you can list your show as a Featured Event on the LAJazz.com Home Page here.