Don
"Duck" Bonseigneur, jazz entertainment coordinator for the Hollywood Park
Casino in Inglewood, continues to bring top performers into the Casino's
Finish Line Lounge. The month of September was dedicated to
women in jazz, and was capped with the booking of the dynamic Jennifer
York Trio, with saxophonist Jennifer Hall as guest artist, proving that
Bonseigneur's high standards again were on target. Working with York,
who doubles as Channel 5's Skycam Diva, were pianist Alexandra Caselli
and drummer Suzanne Morissette.
The
players quickly registered well with the large audience in the spacious
lounge, where elbow room is no problem. In Los Angeles, home to many
of the world's great jazz musicians, the Jennifer York Trio and guest Jennifer
Hall are amongst the best. Gender is no factor here - simply fine
musicianship - and, yes, they're beautiful, too.
The
trio opened with "Days of Wine' and Roses," did a Caselli original, "Sea
Journey," roared through "Scrapple From the Apple," quieted down for a
beautiful treatment of "In the Trees" (by Caselli), played "Round Midnight,"
swung through "Meridian," and ended the first set with "Nothing Personal."
The second set began with "Sleeping Dog," followed by the Miles Davis tune,
"Dig," and "When I Fall in Love," but then broke to coordinate with the
Channel 5 weatherman, Roland Galvan, and his crew, who were doing an on-location
report from the Casino as a tie-in with their Skycam Diva. In between,
the musicians did a spirited Latin jazz version of Alexandra Caselli's
"Bougainvillea,"
turned out some blues-rock and even some funk with their treatment of "Mercy,
Mercy."
The
charismatic (and energetic) York demonstrated her skills on the electric
bass on this, as well as other tunes, but principally worked on the double
bass, effectively and impressively. Alexandra Caselli's classical training
and formidable talent as a pianist were much in evidence throughout the
sets, despite the limitations of the keyboards on which she played, versus
the scope of a grand piano. Guest artist Jennifer Hall, who is a
master of all the woodwinds and has an extensive performance background,
mainly featured her tenor saxophone but did solos on her baritone and soprano
saxes, as well as on flute, all beautifully rendered. Drummer Suzanne
Morissette, who also plays the timpani, vibes, marimba and xylophone, wielded
the sticks and brushes as one completely at home with her instrument, expertly
providing the rhythmic accents to drive the trio.
KLON
disc jockey James Janisse, whose main mission in life is to promote jazz,
serves as the Casino's Tuesday night master of ceremonies and, as always,
smoothly did his chores at this evening's show.
The
Hollywood Park Casino prevails as one of the strongholds of jazz in the
Los Angeles area. In October, the Casino featured Red Holloway in
"Return to the Parisian Room," once one of the city's famous jazz venues,
where Holloway held forth for a long time, and may continue with a club
under that name in one of its upstairs rooms.--Bob
Agnew |
