Ladies' Night: An Unofficial Listeners' Series Event

L-R: Kim Howell, Pam Howell, Flip Manne & Takayo Fischer

One of the things I love so much about championing the Los Angeles jazz scene is that at this point I'm making up my own rules as I go along. While initially I thought I'd reserve this blog for my listeners' series, I had a fun experience that merited sharing in the annals of cyberspace. Tonight I went to the Hollywood Bowl with Kim Howell, Flip Manne and Takayo Fischer. We heard John Pizzarelli, an excellent guitarist and bandleader hosting a couple of sets featuring The Great American Songbook.

Kim Howell is my sister / fellow Tramp (read: the lady is a ___) / partner in crime. Because she lives in Thousand Oaks, she has often expressed her disdain over not being able to join a weeknight series. However, Bowl logistics are actually pretty easy for her so she was able to play on a school night. Ergo, the primary reason that this is being posted is so that she will finally have an official place in my jazz rants.

I met Flip Manne several months ago at a jazz club. Flip is the wife of the late big band drummer, bandleader and pioneer Shelly Manne, and when I was introduced to her by one of today's greats, Jeff Hamilton, I was starstruck. Starstricken. Whatever. See, I'm flustered again already. Anyway, she admittedly "picked me up" at the club and we've been friends and jazz cohorts ever since. As President of the Los Angeles Jazz Society you'll find her in local clubs championing the perpetuation of jazz so keep an eye out. She'll probably try to "pick you up" as well, considering she showed up in the seats tonight with the phone number of a woman from her Park & Ride bus.

Takayo Fischer is an actress and friend of Flip's; they met in a dance class years ago and have been friends ever since. Takayo regaled us with tales of parties they had when they first met while plying us with the most deliciously decadent cheese you can imagine (she made a stop at the Beverly Hills Cheese Shop on her way over). Incidentally, the cheese paired fabulously with the Cabernet Franc that Kim brought and Flip's home grown tomatoes. In a nutshell, all three of these ladies have so much spark, intelligence and verve that I can't wait until the next time we hang out.

The show itself was quite good. On the heels of a new album (released just this past Tuesday), John Pizzarelli was an engaging host of two sets of music featuring four jazz vocalists: Annie Ross, Bill Henderson, Tierney Sutton and Kurt Elling. Sidebar: Those who know me know that my personal jazz taste tends toward instrumentals, so if I don't sound enthusiastic about the vocalists it's only because I typically focus more on the instruments.

Anyhoo, Annie Ross (of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, if you remember the vocalese group from a few decades back) was a treat to see and hear. Coincidentally, Flip told me that she was the honored vocalist at the LA Jazz Society Tribute Concert a few years back, and Tierney Sutton, who also performed, is among this year's honorees. Bill Henderson still has his chops and showed off on a couple of tunes made famous by Old Blue Eyes, and Kurt Elling sang / scatted a bossa nova version of Nature Boy that was, simply put, hot. The band got to show off a little during that piece and I loved it.

Speaking of the band, Pizzarelli's album is backed by the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra so it was no surprise that tonight's big band was comprised of many of those bandmembers, including Bijon Watson on trumpet, George Bohannon on trombone, and Keith Fiddmont & Gary Foster on reeds. Larry Fuller was a surprise on the piano, simply because every time I plan to hear him perform locally someone else is subbing for him. HUMPH. Makes stalking extremely difficult. The next time I see him I'll have to give him a piece of my mind. Which is sad, because a) frankly I don't have much to spare and b) he doesn't actually know me anyway.

In summary, the evening was great and while I haven't been that into the jazz lineups at the Bowl for a couple of years now, hearing Pizzarelli was a highlight. In addition to being a great guitarist and bandleader, he's engaging and can sing too. Check him out next chance you get, and be sure to get in touch with me if you want a buddy for live jazz!