As we work through these longer, darker months of winter, being together to experience great entertainment gets us away from the cold. February is our jazz kick-off month at the Aeolian. Here’s what’s coming up.
First, February means Valentine’s Day and we’re celebrating this year with the long-awaited return to the Aeolian of Carol Welsm
an’s Jazzy Valentine concert. Carol, originally from Toronto and now living in L.A. has had a long career as a smooth, contempory vocalist and arranger. She knows her way around a ballad.
And she has an interesting backstory. Carol is a graduate of Berklee. She also studied and graduated at CIM, a highly regarded music school in Paris where she developed her friendship with Herve Legrand, Michel Legrand’s son. And as one thing leads to another, she then received a grant that allowed her to study voice in Paris with Michel Legrand’s sister, soprano Christiane Legrand.
Then came a pause. Carol developed a throat discomfort diagnosed as three polyps on her vocal cords. With lots of help she learned to “sing around them” she says; surgery was never an option in her opinion. After returning to Canada she completed her therapy later moving to L.A. where she later married. Carol’s latest release “Alone Together” actually came together from requests she made online to her fans about what they wanted to hear.
And February 14th we’ll hear several of those picks.
Do you suffer from BDD (ballroom dance deficiency)? Does watching MGM movies made in the 30s and 40s depress you? Do you intentionally avoid stores that sell top hats?? We can help you fix that.
Your first therapy visit to the Aeolian on Friday February 16th.
Dr. George Laidlaw and his team of specialists (known affectionally as ‘PTBB’ or the Prime Time Big Band) team up with 2017 Jack Richardson Award winning singer Gina Farrugia for an evening of great very danceable jazz standards.
The Aeolian morphs into a 1930s cabaret. All your friends will be there. You simply channel your inner Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers. Channel both in the same evening if you like! Or just relax, sip your wine and enjoy some of the greatest music ever written.
And here is one not to miss. On February 23rd the Aeolian presents the Peter Karle Combo with “Kinda Kind Of Blue” a tribute to Miles Davis.
Peter is a local educator, teacher and accomplished guitarist with a deep interest in the development of jazz. Let his sextet lead you through one of the great jazz recordings of the post be-bop era.
Miles was a game-changer in jazz; he moved the art form from the Charlie Parker be-bop era to a ‘bluer’ more introspective, cooled-down approach. And he laid the groundwork for the modal approach to jazz harmony. The album was released in 1959 and has since sold over 4 million copies making it one of jazz’s most popular albums.
Peter’s combo has worked from the original score to recreate the album and feel as closely as possible.
We’ll hear more from Peter on this project in a video interview I’ll put up on this site shortly. Whether you loved Miles Davis or know almost nothing about him you will enjoy this evening. The Peter Karle combo brings Miles’ mastery to life on Feb 23rd.
…and we excitedly wait for the return of Fred Hersch on March 29th. More about Fred later.
Tickets for all these shows are on sale now.
I’ll be back shortly here with more from Peter Karle. Till then stay warm and enjoy live music.
Bryan
