Here is my email response to Justin Moyer of the Washington Post: Music is only as dead as you make it, Justin. I saw two varied, vibrant jazz performances this week in LA – drummer Sammy Miller led a group of twenty-somethings through an hour and a half concert that thrilled over 1,000 people on the main lawn at Descanso Gardens on Thursday evening. He was funny, engaging, passionate and brilliant on the drums, performing songs from the 1860s to his current originals. People were on their feet screaming for more at the end. It was a diverse crowd. I had the pleasure of sitting next Flip Manne, widow of the great Shelly Manne, which was very special. Flip sees a lot of Shelly in young Sammy, as do we all. Last night in a very different kind of venue, I sat up close and intimate at Vitello’s and heard bassist Jay Leonhart and the brilliant pianist Josh Nelson perform Leonhart’s funny, acerbic, sometimes profane, always interesting and well-crafted original songs. So for me jazz is a living, breathing art form performed by people who know how to communicate through it. I prefer to go out and experience it, rather than sit behind a computer and hate on it. But that’s just me. Cheers
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:16:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015