Unlike most previous years, the expected familiar faces aren’t dotting the 2019-2020 South Florida pop concert season landscape. One’s impressions of the results depend on whether they see that situation as glass half-full or half-empty. Elvis Costello and Sting make rare appearances only days apart; soul icons the Isley Brothers stop in 65 years after the group’s formation, … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2019-20: Jazz scene feeling the influence of youth
Jazz may be at a generational crossroads within the 2019-2020 season in South Florida. More and more presentations are becoming tributes to icons, echoing centuries of classical music and, more recently, pop and classic rock. A couple such nods to deceased legends are included here. Yet original jazz material is increasingly requiring deeper research. Shows that could at … [Read more...]
In sold-out Boca show, Aristocrats prove to be lords of jazz fusion
A longtime bastion for touring blues artists, and more recently for ones playing funk, the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton recently instituted a welcomed series of notable jazz/fusion acts. Those include bands led by drummer Billy Cobham (on Sept. 22), guitarist Oz Noy (Nov. 5), and drummer Simon Phillips (March 26, 2020). Jump-starting the procession on Thursday was a … [Read more...]
Bassist Beller brings funk-fusion trio to Boca’s Funky Biscuit
Music has a history of artists deserving of wider recognition — especially instrumentalists — and especially now, in the modern era of TV shows that only hype singers and dancers toward their 15 minutes of fame. Los Angeles-based bassist Bryan Beller is on the current short list of those most deserving musicians. The 48-year-old native of Charlottesville, Va., has gained … [Read more...]
Pop and Jazz: The 2019 Summer Season
Summertime blues? Check. South Florida venues have it, along with summertime folk-rock, glam-rock, comedy-rock, classic rock, jazz/fusion, and modern rock and pop. As tourist season ends, locals get a chance to turn up the heat, especially at open-air venues such as Coral Sky Ampitheatre in West Palm Beach, Mizner Park Ampitheater in Boca Raton, and Bayfront Park … [Read more...]
Guitarist who reshaped Jethro Tull plays Arts Garage this weekend
If there could be a Mount Rushmore of musicians who changed the entire trajectory of the popular rock bands they joined, by sheer force of their inclusion, guitarist Martin Barre of Jethro Tull would be on it. Perhaps with fellow guitarists Steve Howe of Yes and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, plus drummer Neil Peart of Rush. The natural inclination would be to compare … [Read more...]
Jazz guitar innovator Stanley Jordan brings his magic touch to Arts Garage
To borrow a phrase from the Grateful Dead song “Truckin,’” what a long, strange trip it’s been for guitarist Stanley Jordan, who performs solo shows at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach on April 5 and 6. Now 59 years old, the Chicago-born Jordan became a rarity — a jazz superstar — while in his mid-20s as a result of his 1985 album Magic Touch. Released on the Blue Note … [Read more...]
Drummer Joseph spreads the gospel of Weather Report
Miami native and South Florida resident Jonathan Joseph joined an elite group of fellow drummers in late 2012 — one that’s included Terry Bozzio, Narada Michael Walden, Richard Bailey, Vinnie Colaiuta, Cozy Powell, Carmine Appice, and Simon Phillips — when he started touring and recording with now 74-year-old guitar icon Jeff Beck. When Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, Sting, and … [Read more...]
Such a night: Big Medizen does right by The Band in Boca show
Boynton Beach-based singer/songwriter Jerry Leeman has presented his live, abridged interpretation of The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese’s iconic 1978 documentary about the farewell concert by The Band, several times at different South Florida venues since 2002. The latest installment — with Leeman playing four different roles amid an ensemble of area all-stars — … [Read more...]
Big Medizen: All this, and ‘The Last Waltz,’ too
As a veteran area singer, guitarist and songwriter, Boynton Beach-based Jerry Leeman has learned the secrets that are mostly unique to South Florida musical success. He has secondary income, especially important during non-seasonal months when paying jobs tend to fade here, as a yoga instructor. He plays acoustic guitar, which helps in the era of local volume restrictions. … [Read more...]