Lee Konitz News

59E59 Theaters hosts a return engagement of HIS ROYALHIPNESS LORD BUCKLEY, written and performed by Jake Broder and directed by David Ellenstein.

GABRIELLE STRAVELLI - the celebrated pop/jazz vocalist and songwriter called an "outstanding singer" by The Wall Street Journal and "hotter than the equator" by The Village Voice - will launch her new album Dream Ago at Subculture

59E59 Theaters hosts a return engagement of HIS ROYALHIPNESS LORD BUCKLEY, written and performed by Jake Broder and directed by David Ellenstein. Produced by North Coast Repertory Theatre, HIS ROYAL HIPNESS LORD BUCKLEY begins performances tonight, December 6, for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 1. Press opening is Tuesday, December 13 at 7:15 PM.

Gabrielle Stravelli - the celebrated pop/jazz vocalist and songwriter - will celebrate her new album Dream Ago at Subculture (45 Bleecker Street in New York) on Tuesday, December 13 at 8:30 PM.

Nana Simopoulos, the internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and educator, released Skins, her seventh recording on June 20, 2016

59E59 Theaters hosts a return engagement of HIS ROYALHIPNESS LORD BUCKLEY, written and performed by Jake Broder and directed by David Ellenstein.

Celebrating its 4th Birthday, The Nash hosts an all-out weekend Birthday Bash with a quintet of heavy hitters, The Lewis Nash Big Apple Quintet.

Celebrating its 4th Birthday, The Nash hosts an all-out weekend Birthday Bash with a quintet of heavy hitters, The Lewis Nash Big Apple Quintet.

America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, Music Mountain, continues its exciting 87th Anniversary Season with the critically acclaimed Enso String Quartet with guest artist Daniel Epstein, piano performing Turina, Beethoven, and Schumann on Sunday, July 17 (3PM). As the first collaboration with the acclaimed Catskill Jazz Factory and MM, jazz vocalist Joanna Wallfisch will sing the sounds of the 1960s on Saturday, July 16 (6:30pm). The Music Mountain summer is in full swing and will feature 7 more weekends of incredible music including returning favorite chamber ensembles and musicians, first-time guests (pianist Richard Goode), the ever-popular Saturday Evening Twilight Series, featuring an array of Jazz ensembles and musicians, including the artists of the Catskill Jazz Factory, and the second season of the new Music Mountain Master Classes for Young Artists plus so much more! See why the New Yorker called Music Mountain 'The Summer Shrine of the String Quartet.' Concerts are scheduled through September 11.

Finding inspiration in the physical surroundings of her current hometown of Austin, Texas, and drawing upon what jazz critic Harvey Pekar called her 'fertile imagination' as a pianist, composer, and arranger, Peggy Stern has recorded the deepest and most personal album of her distinguished career, 'Z Octet.' Comprised of several of her most poignant compositions, the recording shapes them into a cohesive work of great beauty, color, and tender emotion. Stern's Estrella Productions will release the CD on July 8.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its lineup for March 28-April 3, featuring Ben Allison Trio, ShowBiz After Hours with Frank DiLella, Alicia Olatuja, and more. Scroll down for details!

The Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Hershey Felder Presents are thrilled to announce the fourth show in the Laguna Playhouse 2015-2016 season, Tony Award-winner Anthony Crivello and Vanessa Claire Stewart starring in LOUIS & KEELY: 'LIVE' AT THE SAHARA, written by Vanessa Stewart, Taylor Hackford & Jake Broder, choreography by Vernel Bagneris and directed by Taylor Hackford.  "Our subscribers and audiences are about the have the time of their lives as we transport them to 1950's Las Vegas and beyond and the incomparable song-stylings of Louis Prima and Keely Smith," says Wareham. LOUIS & KEELY: 'LIVE' AT THE SAHARA will begin previews on Wednesday, February 24; will open on Saturday, February 27 and will run through Sunday, March 27, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

All the verses and their titles are constructed solely of jazz tunes with two exceptions. The title exception is 'Jazz Haiku.' The content exception is 'Vibraphonissimo,' a chronological block of vibraphone players whose music I've come to know, resting upon the two pioneers of the instrument. Commas separate titles within the verses, but interior commas from song titles have been removed to prevent confusion.

Brad Mehldau, one of the foremost jazz pianists of his generation, returns to Carnegie Hall for an intimate solo piano recital tonight, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. Mehldau's last solo performance at the Hall was during the 2010-2011 season when he was the first ever jazz artist appointed to hold Carnegie Hall's Debs Composer's Chair.

Brad Mehldau, one of the foremost jazz pianists of his generation, returns to Carnegie Hall for an intimate solo piano recital on Thursday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. Mehldau's last solo performance at the Hall was during the 2010-2011 season when he was the first ever jazz artist appointed to hold Carnegie Hall's Debs Composer's Chair.

Renowned as a renaissance man of jazz-as an influential bandleader, sideman (on all of the saxophones, clarinets, and flutes), composer, arranger, record and radio producer, educator, writer, and editor-Bill Kirchner is also one of jazz's most deeply soulful soprano saxophone stylists. He plays soprano exclusively on his forthcoming album 'An Evening of Indigos,' a 2-CD package featuring Kirchner in the intimate company of pianist Carlton Holmes, a veteran of the leader's now-inactive nonet; Nashville-based bassist and vocalist Jim Ferguson; and longtime colleague Holli Ross on vocals. Jazzheads Records will release the set, Kirchner's fourth for the New York label, on October 16.

Bassist/composer Jeff Denson has enjoyed a richly rewarding musical and personal relationship with alto saxophone legend Lee Konitz since 2007, when Denson joined Konitz's well-traveled New Quartet. The latest chapter in their association involves the recording, at Berkeley's Fantasy Studios in February of this year, of 'Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz,' with pianist Dan Zemelman and drummer Jon Arkin. Scheduled for release by Denson's Ridgeway Records today, July 7, the CD explores new music, offers fresh takes on seldom-played compositions of the Lennie Tristano School, and features scat singing by Konitz and Denson.

Bassist/composer Jeff Denson has enjoyed a richly rewarding musical and personal relationship with alto saxophone legend Lee Konitz since 2007, when Denson joined Konitz's well-traveled New Quartet. The latest chapter in their association involves the recording, at Berkeley's Fantasy Studios in February of this year, of 'Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz,' with pianist Dan Zemelman and drummer Jon Arkin. Scheduled for release by Denson's Ridgeway Records on July 7, the CD explores new music, offers fresh takes on seldom-played compositions of the Lennie Tristano School, and features scat singing by Konitz and Denson.

In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage month, Hamilton Madison House will present Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble featuring Helen Sung and Sam Newsome, tonight, May 20, 2015. Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Hamilton Madison House Music School.

The Colony Theatre has announced that the final production of its historic 40thAnniversary season, the critically-acclaimed, smash-hit, Los Angeles Premiere of WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN A Musical Play by Joseph Vass, directed by David Ellenstein, Musical Director Kevin Toney, Musical Arranger Joseph Vass will be EXTENDING through SUNDAY, MAY 24 at the Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street in Burbank.