Tune in Labor Day from Noon-4, and from 8-Midnight for great jazz!It?s that time of the year again. The weather is starting to cool down, the kids are getting ready to head back to school, and the 27th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival airs on Labor Day, September 5, from Noon-4, and from 8-Midnight! Highlighting the different styles and genres of jazz over the years, the 2005 Playboy Jazz Festival, at the historic Hollywood Bowl, will satisfy anyone who remotely enjoys the rhythm and soul of jazz.
As a composer, producer, actor, vocalist, songwriter, and recording company executive, Stix Hooper has at least as much, and quite possibly more knowledge about virtually all aspects of music than anybody in the business. Not only is he accomplished in the music business and is credited with a whole new style of drumming, he is also a fisherman, a runner, an award winning chef, a world traveler and a father!
Joey Defrancesco and The Kenny Burrell Quartet join together in a tribute to Jimmy Smith. The performance was said to be the Playboy weekend?s most satisfactory performance playing classics like ?Back at the Chicken Shack.?
Cuban bassist Israel ?Cachao? Lopez is credited as the man who created mambo. He spent most of his 76 years living in Cuba, but when he finally made it to the States, he received little recognition. Andy Garcia introduced Cachao to the world and made a documentary on him. The film welcomed glowing reviews, and in 1995 Cachao earned a Grammy for his album Master Sessions Vol. 1. Listen up for his energetic and exciting Latin jazz style!
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Keb? Mo? will perform some of his new creative songs. On his latest album, he took 9 different popular songs from the sixties and seventies that stirred the nation during times of death and war, and added his creative flare to stir it up once more.
Trumpeter John Faddis, musical director of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and a Dizzy Gillespie-influenced musician, will be featured with the extraordinary vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater in a salute to the musical legacy of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.
Thad Jones and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra were one of the finest jazz groups of the late ?60s. Self taught on trumpet, Jones started playing professionally at the young age of 16. In 1965, he organized a big band with Mel Lewis until 1978 when Jones suddenly fled the band. Lewis became the band?s sole leader, and played with them every Monday night at the Village Vanguard up until his death.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is called the current queen of jazz vocals by both critics and aficionados of the music. She began her career with the Jones/Lewis Jazz Orchestra in 1970. She has blazed sensuous, scatting, stupendously upbeat trails in vocal jazz for nearly four decades, winning double Grammys, the Tony Award, and France?s top honor, Victoire de la Musique. Dee Dee is now the host of NPR?s JazzSet.
Upon graduating high school in 1971, John Faddis joined Lionel Hampton?s band and moved to New York. He had received a personal invitation to join Mel Lewis at the Village Vanguard if he was ever in town, and since he was, he sat in with the band one Monday night. That one night turned into 4 years of Monday night jamming.
The Ramsey Lewis Trio, with three Grammy?s under Lewis? belt, will start out the festival. Their toe-tapping piano jazz will have you up and moving from the get-go.
Chico Hamilton has been a vital force on the jazz scene for over fifty years. He has worked in a huge wide variety of contexts: from backing singers to playing in big bands to leading his own ensembles. Since 1987, he has led his band called Euphoria. Chico and his band stunned audiences the first night they performed together 18 years ago and still haven?t let up.
The Heath Brothers are one of the first families of jazz. Percy, Jimmy and Tootie teamed up in 1975. Tootie left the band early on and was replaced, but came back in 1983. The strength of family and the love of jazz kept them connected. Percy died in April just 2 months before the festival. Listen as Jimmy and Tootie carry on the family band in this moving performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
Dr. John proudly stands along side Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino as one of New Orleans most distinctive voices. He?s both the essence of the city?s colorful past, its ever evolving future and beyond. Listen for his unique fusion of blues, boogie-woogie, rhythm-and-blues, rock and gospel.
Gilberto Santa Rosa is one of the most successful vocalists in Puerto Rico. His albums have all achieved platinum status in Puerto Rico and Latin America and the Hispanic communities of the United States. Known as a master of ?soneo,? an improvisational vocal technique, Santa Rosa has recorded many popular Salsa hits. Prepare to get on your feet and salsa!
One of the Los Angeles area?s most exciting and entertaining groups. Who could that be? The one and only Gordon Goodwin?s Big Phat Band of course! Gordon, who is not only the keyboardist for the band, but also the composer, arranger and conductor has created music that is catchy to the audience and also challenging for the band. Their tantalizing mix of jazz and rock is sure to bedazzle listeners.