Improvisation Redux: Listeners' Series, Vol. II

As I get invested in this listeners’ series concept, the theme of improvisation in jazz resounds more and more. The second Jazz Listeners’ Series was held on Tuesday, June 13, 2006 and the best laid plans again eluded me – and once again, the result was definitely more interesting, thought-provoking and perhaps even more entertaining than my original plan.

This summer, Hollywood and Highland is hosting a Tuesday night wine and jazz series. It’s a large open-air courtyard in a shopping and theater complex, and one would think it wouldn’t be conducive to jazz. Because I was considering it for a series event, I thought I’d check it out ahead of time, so a week prior Josette Jaramillo graciously agreed to join me for an evening of jazz and socializing.

We started our due diligence event with a gourmet food court dinner, then made our way down to the courtyard for wine and music. Joey DeFrancesco was the featured performer, and if you’ve never heard jazz played on a Hammond B-3 organ you MUST do it. Seriously. It was really a lot of fun. We did observe that the Joey D. crowd is definitely different from the traditional jazz club crowd – he has a cult following including a guy who drove from the South Bay in rush hour traffic just to hear him, as well as a couple who danced all night (mostly out of synch, but it didn’t matter because they were having so much fun). My arch nemesis, who shall remain nameless, was also there that evening, flitting from table to table entertaining her people. It’s fun to have a nemesis. It really is. (Insert scary minor chord here.)

After the show, Josette and I were feeling pretty jazzed and decided to hit another performance. We drove to the valley and got to Charlie O’s in time to catch Tony Inzalaco’s quintet. I’ve mentioned the show briefly on the “Recent Shows” page but I definitely plan to catch these cats again. It was so much fun to hear original music in the straight-ahead genre with musicians who were clearly enjoying playing the tunes. Between sets, Tony was kind enough to pose for a photo.














L-R: Pam Howell, Tony Inzalaco and Josette Jaramillo at Charlie O’s

Ah, but I digress. I’m actually here to talk about the series, and the second series event was fantastic. In typical LA fashion, we had a bevy of last-minute cancellations that made wait-listing moot, so our series was a party of three: Emily Hands, Matthew Horner and myself. Emily is a dear friend and co-worker whose love of art, music and life in general make her a joy to be around. Colonel Matthew Horner, another dear friend visiting from New York for a few days, makes his living representing opera professionals and was delighted to be a part of the listeners’ series.














L-R: Matthew Horner, Pam Howell and Emily Hands at Hollywood and Highland

I was very excited about hearing Chuck Berghofer and the Midnight Jazz Band, and knew that we’d be in for a real treat. We got to Hollywood and Highland in enough time to enjoy a glass of wine before the show began, and as we watched the band set up I immediately noticed that something was awry. Once again, the old bait and switch: while the bandleader was still Chuck Berghofer, and the pianist was still Tom Ranier, Gary Foster was not there with his saxophone, and Joe LaBarbera was not on drums. Instead, Pete Christlieb played tenor sax, and Kendall Kay was on drums. It’s becoming clearer and clearer to me that LA jazz listeners must be prepared for improvised sets.

Our party made our way down to the courtyard to sample wine and cheese and I caught another glimpse of my arch-nemesis (insert scary minor chord here). Again, she was making the rounds and everyone seemed to be oblivious to the palpable discord between the two of us (including her, as she is unaware that we are enemies). I pointed her out to Emily and Matthew, who very diplomatically acknowledged her pure evil but encouraged me to get over it, then we settled in to enjoy the show.

One of the things I like about the Midnight Jazz Band is that because the bandleader is a bassist, the tunes tend to be rhythmically driven – and when you add that to melody players who are solid musicians, the music has this tight, clean (but not sterile) sound that makes it easy to tap your fingers without losing track of what’s going on. I would apologize to any musicians who may have read this far for being pedestrian, but this is a listeners’ series, not a players’ series. However, if you have any clues or suggestions as to how we might better interpret the music, please do share them. Unless you are my arch-nemesis (insert scary minor chord here), in which case we must talk through third-party mediators only.

It was great to enjoy the show with Emily and Matthew, who are both knowledgeable musicians in different genres. We chatted easily between songs but when the music started up we were all entranced. The setting at Hollywood & Highland doesn’t have the feel of an intimate, cozy jazz club yet their warmth and love of music transformed us to a different place. One observation that Emily made was that there seemed to be quite a few young people there who were “into” the music – and that observation gave me hope for the future of jazz.

Between sets, I had the opportunity to speak with Chuck about the change in personnel for the show. We shared the observation that replacing Gary Foster with Pete Christlieb and Joe LaBarbera with Kendall Kay gave the band a different sound – it was softer and smoother. It’s not better or worse, necessarily, just different. And it will continue to amaze me that jazz musicians can stand in for one another on short notice and it sounds like they’ve been practicing together for years. It blows me away. I was able to grab Chuck and Tom Ranier for a photo for posterity before the second set began, and I must have telepathically informed them of my love of the tune “Cottontail” because they played it just for me. Aw, c’mon, a girl can dream, can’t she?

L-R: Pam Howell, Tom Ranier and Chuck Berghofer at Hollywood and Highland