. . .today's two fundraisers at 4.00 and 8.00 for L.A's Jazz Bakery featuring a who's who of the L.A. music scene raised the bar pretty pretty high.
No surprise that the standouts were singers Pinky Winters, Bill Henderson and Sue Raney, but a new-to-me young singer-pianist, Bill Cantos, is clearly slated for a long and successful career. Think John Pizzarelli at the piano. . .sorta. Not a clone by any means, but surely as good as Bucky's boy. Also performing a moving version of How Do You Keep the Music Playing was its co-lyricist Alan Bergman.
It was an all Johnny Mandel-program performed, in addition to the above, by such singers as Shelby Flint, Lorraine Feather, Morgan Ames, and vocal group Inner Voices, comprised, in part, of Ames and Flint.
The sextet, led by Mandel, was every bit as stellar as the vocal contingent and included Don Shelton, Mike Melvoin and Chuck Berghofer.
A partial list of the repertoire: Cinnamon and Clove, A Time for Love, Shining Sea (Raney); Emily, You Are There (Tierney Sutton); Close Enough For Love (Sutton and Cantos); I've Been Around, El Cajon (Cantos), Vacation from the Blues, Living Without You (Henderson); Solitary Moon, (Mandel and the Bergman's new) A Waltz From Somewhere (Flint), and Don't Look Back, I Never Told You, Take Me Home (Winters).
Both shows clocked in at a total of just about four hours, and if I weren't so wary of adjectival over-the-topness, damned if wouldn't be tempted to deem the day downright historic.
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