First a couple of gigs so my friends don't get pushed to the bottom, then a namaste for the legendary Buck Owens.
Layla Angulo Latin Jazz Band
Layla Angulo is patiently plugging away and succeeding at a task that yours truly is finding to be an uphill battle in Seattle - she's putting together a world class world jazz band starting out locally here in Seattle. Please support her and her husband (who is great Peruvian percussionist). They are trying to to a good thing, and if you haven't seen them - they KICK ASS.. I'll personally refund your $15 bucks if they are not the tight professional, innovative band I have seen myself many times. Layla writes blistering latin horn arrangements - Highly recommended.
Layla Angulo
THE TRIPLE DOOR
2nd and Union
On Thursday, March 30th
at 7:30pm $15
Marina E.
And my friend Marina E, who is rising through the ranks of karaoke singers. I normally don't plug karaoke here, but apparently this gig features singers who have been winning karaoke contests around the Northwest. In other words, singers that actually know what they are doing. Marina has sung with my band on occasion and she has a very large range, can sing in any key, and in a wide variety of styles.
Marina E. appearing in the
"Northwest Premier Singers
Showcase"
Sunday, March 26
Dinner at 6pm
Show 7-9:30pm
at Spice Restaurant- 2301 5th Ave. Seattle
Located at 5th & Bell (under the monorail) across from Teatro Zinzanni.
Marc Smason and the Chicago Seven This just in!
My friend trombonist Marc Smason (whom I swear is always gigging!) is making a live jazz recording with a group called the Chicago Seven.
History lesson: read up on the real Chicago Seven a group of protesters (including the Black Panthers leader Bobby Seale and rebel extraordinaire Abbie Hoffman, author of the famous underground revolutionary handbook called "Steal This Book") who were arrested at the 1968 Democratic Political convention. This is a big thing in Baby-Boomer history, y'all.
Anyway, here's the gig, featuring a lineup of seasoned jazz pros. Sure to be a high-quality performance.
Marc Smason with
The Chicago Seven
Wednesday March 29 8:30 pm
Highway 99 Blues Club
1414 Alaska Way 206 382-2171
www.marcsmason.com
www.highwayninetynine.com
live recording!
diva, joanne klein
marc smason - diva/tromb.
jay thomas – trumpet
oleg ruvinov – tuba
brian kent - reeds
bruce barnard – guitar
greg campbell – drums
Buck Owens 1930-2006
I was moved to see the obituary article in the Seattle Times today on Buck Owens. He died yesterday of natural causes at age 76. He had been battling cancer, but the immediate cause of his passing had not been determined when the article went to press. Read up on it here:
'Hee Haw' Co-Host Buck Owens, 76, Dies
Buck Owens became an American icon back in the 60s, and in addition to being a music star and TV star, apparently was a successful business man in his hometown of Bakersfield California.
I normally don't plug country music in this blog, but Buck Owens was an exceptional person, known around the world, who impacted many people's lives. My grandmother, for one, would never miss the Buckaroos when they were on television. And there were millions like her who loved this man and his music.
Some highlights from the article that show what kind of person Buck was:
His career was one of the most phenomenal in country music, with a string of more than 20 No. 1 records, most released from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.
''I think the reason he was so well known and respected by a younger
generation of country musicians was because he was an innovator and rebel,'' said Jim Shaw, who played keyboards in Owens' band, the Buckaroos. ''He did it out of the Nashville establishment. He had a raw edge.''
And he was the answer to this music trivia question: What country star had a hit record that was later done by the Beatles? ("Act Naturally, recorded with Ringo Starr in 1965).
Looking for some tips on his success?
He had moved to Bakersfield in 1951, hoping to find work in the thriving juke joints of what in the years before suburban sprawl was a truck-stop town on Highway 99, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.Hmmm...Highway 99 and lots of rock'n'roll... sound familiar, anyone??
''We played rhumbas and tangos and sambas, and we played Bob Wills music, lots of Bob Wills music,'' he said, referring to the bandleader who was the king of Western swing.
''And lots of rock 'n' roll,'' he added.
Until next time!
Yogi
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