GF3 @ Cafe Metropol Friday 7/30

Cafe Metrople is a 1937 film about a Paris nightclub of the same name.  The owner of the club in order to avoid being sent to jail for embezzlement cooks up an elaborate scheme to conscript an equally unscrupulous but much younger and handsomer gentleman to woo a rich American girl and get her money by impersonating a rich Russian prince.

Sound preposterous?  It’s as feasible as trying to fill a small room in downtown Los Angeles with avid fans of jazz piano trio music with three days notice, thanks to a last minute cancellation.  But if those crazy guys in Cafe Metropole the movie can pull off their improbable stunt than I have hope for a another miracle at Cafe Metropol of Los Angeles.  In the land of Hollywood you must believe in happy endings.

Gary Fukushima Trio @ Cafe Metropol
Friday, July 30 8:30pm
923 East 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90013
www.cafemetropol.com

Gary Fukushima piano,
JP Maramba bass,
Miles Senzaki drums

p.s. it’s already a miracle that all three of us were able to make this
date on such sort notice.  Come be a part of the magic!

www.garyfukushima.net

playing w/ III (feat. Walter Smith III) for LAJC Summer Jazz Festivial 2010 @ The Blue Whale

The Blue Whale is the rarest of creatures.  This creature is so rare you may only find a handful of them throughout the world, and if you come across one of them by accident consider yourself lucky.  Some of them are very old and bear the scars of years and wisdom.  They need a very particular set of conditions to survive and without those factors they might indeed find themselves washed out on a shore of lost hope.  Many other creatures try to emulate the Blue Whale but they cannot, being either too clueless or too inexperienced or too callous to fully understand what they need to do to survive and thrive.  The Blue Whale is full of hope and love.  The Blue Whale cares about beauty in the world. The Blue Whale is your friend.

The Blue Whale is the rarest of creatures, and in this case that creature can also be called A Great Jazz Club.

I did a not-as-poetic write-up on the Blue Whale on lajazzcollective.com, which you can check out here.

Official festival post here.

All About Jazz story here.

If you don’t want to click on any of those links then I hate you but in a nutshell it’s a two-night festival this weekend featuing four different groups each night.  I’m playing on Saturday night for the 11pm set with the band III, which features Walter Smith III on tenor sax, myself on piano, Dan Schnelle on drums, and Dave Robaire on bass.  Brian Swartz will play trumpet on a few tracks as well.  Walter is awesome, he tours the world, plays regularly with guys like Christian McBride, Terrence Blanchard, Jason Moran, et al. and his playing and writing is exceptional.  I’m actually a little scared…

But seriously, for $10 a night you get to listen so some of the most dynamic players in town.  There’s some really good piano and guitar and organ trios, a solo set that’s bound to be life-changing by keyboard wizard Adam Benjamin, and a nine-piece ensemble to close the festival.

It’s been awhile since the LAJC did a two-day event like this one, and to do it at the Blue Whale makes this perhaps the most anticipated festival since our first one.