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.
