Be there or be square OR you can be both

For those of you who didn't read his review in the International Review of Music, here's jazz crit Tony Gieske's "take" on singer Jane Harvey's 5/5/11 turn at L.A's Catalina B @ G. In case you missed that show, there's another chance upcoming this 11/16, same time, same station. Here's some additional info. 

Live Jazz: Jane Harvey at Catalina Bar & Grill

By Tony Gieske

No need to add encomia to the already overloaded resume of  the great Jane Harvey,  who transformed Catalina’s into a hip little branch of the Apple the other night.

She probably could have gotten by with just singing her resume, this lady. (Lorraine Feather could have written the music.)

Harvey might have started the job list with her employment on the Benny Goodman band back in the 1940s. Her version of  “He’s Funny That Way,” recorded with Goodman’s sextet (Slam  Stewart on bass!) as the war clouds departed, still gives off plenty of steam in the version  you can still hear on the net.

Then she could put down the band of  Desi Arnaz before he met Lucy,  when he worked with Bob Hope.

There’d be a subhead for television, headed by Steve Allen on “The Tonight Show” and proceeding to Jane Pauley on “The Today Show”; a Broadway section (”Bless You All” with Pearl Bailey); and a long stretch of recordings as they advanced from 78 rpm to mp3.
At Catalina’s, Harvey did  utterly convincing, if not transformative, performances of tunes from her newly re-released CD,  “Jane Harvey Sings Sondheim.” Not too many gals in their 80s are out there pushing their latest sides, right?

I was struck by the unusual skill with which she sang, and with her adroitly supportive trio of piano, bass and drums.  Her time and her pitches were kept precise.  That, of course, got her carefully weighed phrasing working. Each lyric became a moving little drama — tragic, comic, anecdotal… no sweat.

The savvy old chanteuse kept the program moving right along. For every “Send in the Clowns” tear dropper there was a sarcastic “Could I Leave You.” She made “Send in the Clowns” quite palatable; she even saved the inevitable “I’m Still Here” with a touch of weariness that proved moving, even to the sated L.A culture  quaffers — present company excepted — who came to listen to this remarkable artist.

From the archives here at Oblivion Towers

two Two TWO books in one!

Upcoming in Los Angeles on Fri & Sat, Nov. 11 & 12, is a book launch for author Tad Hershorn's long-awaited bio of legendary jazz producer/promoter Norman Granz. Subtitled "The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice,"  not only does this remarkable University of California Press publication function as a biography and a superb history of jazz circa 1940 up through the near-present, but it also serves as an invaluable overview of Civil Rights struggles in the U.S. during the same period.

The event will also offer the opportunity to purchase a  signed-by-the-author copy of the Granz biography; a reading by author Hershorn; a screening of Norman Granz and Gjon Mili's Oscar nominated short "Jammin' the Blues" (presented by film archivist Mark Cantor) AND a Jazz at the Phil-style jam session featuring some of L.A's finest jazz musicians.

Here are some of the advance reviews this book received prior to its  Oct 17, 2011 pub date:

"The JAZZ AT THE PHILHARMONIC concerts were a turning point in my life. My fellow Californian Norman Granz figured it out. This biography lays out, in impressive detail and insight, the incredible contribution of Mr. Granz to the world of music and art. The deed of the vast recordings of ART TATUM says it all." --Clint Eastwood


"Norman Granz was one of the most important people in the world of jazz. He did more to escalate respect for jazz and raise our salaries than anybody else. He absolutely loved jazz and jazz musicians. I'm honored to have shared a beautiful friendship with Norman for many, many years. Hopefully, with this incredible book by Tad Hershorn, the world will have a chance to learn about Norman, and his phenomenal contribution to our beloved music--jazz."--Clark Terry, author of Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry


"Tad Hershorn's Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice is a relentlessly readable, rigorously researched, deeply empathic portrait of the complex and heroic man who was arguably the greatest champion of this great American art form--and its great artists. Essential reading for anyone who loves jazz." --James Kaplan, author of Frank: The Voice


"Norman Granz was renowned as a vivid force in jazz history, both as a producer of invaluable classic recordings by many of the music's most original performers and also for his world-wide, all-star Jazz at the Philharmonic tours. Moreover, he broke the color line dividing jazz audiences by mandating the end of segregated seating his continually popular concerts. Yet until this magisterial, deeply researched biography of Granz by Tad Hershorn, there has been no full-scale inside account of the achievement and combats of this often larger-than-life personality who, without playing an instrument, was so swingingly instrumental in making jazz an international language." --Nat Hentoff, author of At the Jazz Band Ball: Sixty Years on the Jazz Scene


"Norman Granz, one of the most significant non-musicians in jazz history, took gutsy public stands but remained a private person. Tad Hershorn's years of dedicated research reveal the man behind the lasting legacy, on which he sheds new light as well.. This great American story is a must read--and not just for jazz fans!" --Dan Morgenstern, author of Living with Jazz


"Norman Granz was an institution in jazz. He was loved by some, hated by others, often controversial, and always fearless. But Granz was also elusive and, until now, sometimes came across as more symbol than man. Tad Hershorn has changed all that in this stunning, beautiful biography of the music's most relentless advocate of social justice." --Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original


"Norman Granz was an important man, and Tad Hershorn tells his story with a fearless compassion grounded in yeoman research. Imperious, vain, and rude, Granz was also generous, inventive, and brave. He fought valiantly for jazz and civil rights, made pots of money, and never failed to bet it on his passions and beliefs. If you do not know him, you couldn't ask for a better introduction than Hershorn's judicious portrait; if you think you do know him, you are in for more than a few surprises." --Gary Giddins, author of Visions of Jazz

For further info, phone the Ebony Repertory Theatre:
Phone: 323.964.9768
Box Office: 323.964.9766

The Ebony Repertory Theatre is located at: 4718 West Washington Boulevard,Los Angeles, California 90016

PETE RUGOLO R.I.P.