When the Jazz Bakery lost its lease at their Helms Bakery location back in 2009, Ruth Price began to put on high quality concerts in various locations around Los Angeles. Her non-profit club secured a permanent venue which will be built in Culver City.
Until that venue is fully conceived and built, concerts will continue to be staged throughout Los Angeles. Next week, Culver City residents will be the lucky recipients of back-to-back concerts staged at the Kirk Douglas Theater on Friday and Saturday nights, June 22 and 23. Vocalist Mary Stallings will perform on Friday night, while Brazilian Musician Dory Caymmi and his quartet will play on Saturday night.
San Francisco native Stallings has been called “perhaps the best jazz singer singing today,” by the New York Times. Her passionate and blues-tinged jazz stylings are greatly influenced by legendary vocalist Carmen McRae. Stallings made a big splash in 1961 teaming up with Latin jazz vibist Cal Tjader in a classic recording called Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings on Fantasy Records.
In 1971, while singing in Count Basie’s orchestra, Stallings gave birth to her daughter, R&B singer Adriana Evans and went into semi-retirement to raise her. Though she performed occasionally, it wasn’t until the late ’80s that Stallings seriously resumed her career.
Rooted in Bossa Nova, but with his own unique sound, multi Grammy-winning jazz musician Dori Caymmi is touring behind his current release Poesia Musicada, which is a tribute to his father’s memory, legendary Brazilian musician, Dorival Caymmi. With 13 solo albums to his credit, Caymmi was recently awarded the Ordem do Rio Branco, a medal given to him by the Brazilian government, celebrating his efforts to spread Brazilian music and culture around the world. Both shows will begin at 8 p.m. and advance tickets are available at www.jazzbakery.com.
Singer, songwriter and producer Ben Vaughn will be performing at Culver City’s Cinema Bar on Sepulveda Boulevard on Friday, June 15. As a producer, Vaughn made albums for artists such as Charlie Feathers and Los Straitjackets and also contributed music to such TV shows a That 70’s Show, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Psycho Beach Party.
Vaughn also is the producer and host of The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn, a weekly, hour-long radio show on National Public Radio. The show, which features varying genres of music each week, airs on public radio stations.
More live jazz takes place in Culver City on Friday nights at Westfield Culver City mall, from 5 to 9 p.m. Jazz West is the featured band, which features Juliette Angeli on vocals, Sean Stackpoole on sax and Rholan Wong on Keyboards. Admission is free and takes place at Center Court in the mall.
