Jay Jackson's Jazz Journey: February 4th - 6th, 2016

The weekly Journey, as usual, begins with the The Jam @ H.O.M.E. Beverly Hills Thursday Night Jam session. The singers were out in force, this week, performing swing, bop, ballads and blues. It's always a joy hearing artists such as Robert Mazzola, Tony Jones and even the Jazz Living Legend Ann Mack hit the stage.

There were lots of other stand-out performances. This week, the great sax man Trevor Lawrence joined the fun. You'd recognize his sound from many of Marvin Gayes great classics. He was filling in for our own house band great, Louis Van Taylor, of Kool & The Gang!

A good size crowd showed up for the fun, as well. Of course, we're always working to pack the house. Considering some of LA's top Jazz players stop in quite often, you might consider making this Jam a weekly destination.

Friday, Feb 5th, the Journey took me to Aldabella for the weekly joy known as Jazz Friday @ Aldabella. The featured arists were the dazzling Patrice Quinn and guitar great Mitchell Long. The night started off a bit rough, as the act kicked off their show 15 minutes late. There's never an excuse to being late for a performance, short of dying. But we'll let that slide... this time. But, once the show got going, what a show it was. Patrice

and Mitchell put on a dazzling performance that was both eclectic and nostalgic. The best music were the duets that took you back to a time, the 70s, of Portugese classics made popular by the likes of Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Keep in mind, sometimes this crowd can be the Yuppyville types who figure unless they like the music, no one else can enjoy it, so they'll talk over it. Honestly, that's just poor parenting.

Finally, the Journey ended Saturday night (2/6/16) at the Market Broiler where live Jazz goes down every 1st and 3rd Saturday. The wonderful Kiki Ebsen (daughter of Hollywood great, Buddy Ebsen) wowed the crowd with her wide range of music. Performing with guitarist Vince Kirgo, the show was flawless.

Without a doubt, working with professionals who take their craft seriously (being on time, bringing the needed equipment, zero ego) makes everybody happier. I book hundreds of artists a year and I can tell you that full combination of professionalism is not common. Acts have to understand that the people paying the money want what they want when they want it. Most venues have no problem replacing acts who don't get that.

Kiki's tribute to her father brought down the house, singing songs from 'The Wizard of Oz', in which Buddy Ebsen was the original 'Tin Man'.

Kirgo's guitar was right on point, keeping the crowd swaying and paying for more food and cocktails (let's not forget what pays for all of this).

Altogether it was a great week of music. To me, there is no better job to have as I walk this Journey!