JAZZ FESTIVAL PERFORMERS PLAY FROM THE HEART.Byline: Paul Andersen Correspondent The Long Beach Jazz Festival Noun 1. jazz festival - a festival that features performances by jazz artists festival, fete - an organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place); "a drama festival" , now in its 18th year, opens tonight at its seaside location in Rainbow Lagoon Park with a definite international feel. Here's a look at some of the performers: KEIKO MATSUI Keiko Matsui (松居慶子), born in Tokyo as Keiko Doi on July 26, 1961, is a Japanese smooth jazz/new age pianist and composer whose career spans three decades, during which time she has released twenty CDs (in addition to various compilations) and has If anyone could be considered an expert at jet lag jet lag Period of adjustment of biological rhythm after moving from one time zone to another, experienced as fatigue and lowered efficiency. It reflects a delay in the synchronization of changes in the level of blood cortisol, the major steroid produced by the adrenal cortex , Matsui would be at the top of that list. A gifted pianist and composer who manages to blend a world of influences into a style of music that, for many people, is a soothing and even healing mix, Matsui, who performs tonight, is truly a world artist, selling out concerts in America, Europe, her native Japan and elsewhere. Of course, maintaining homes in both Huntington Harbor and Japan, where her children are schooled, also helps rack up the frequent-flier miles. ``We just flew in from Japan a few days ago, and I'm still suffering,'' she laughed. ``But I'm looking forward to this weekend. It is going to be a reunion type of feeling, because we'll be seeing some old friends. Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramopolo Masekela (b. Witbank, South Africa, April 4, 1939) is an South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer. Masekela is an acknowledged master of African music. Biography He began singing and playing piano as a child. and I did a Japanese tour together two years ago, and Bob James Bob James can refer to different people:
Matsui recently released ``Walls of Akendora,'' a combination CD/DVD on the Narada Jazz label that she feels captures the essence of her multiflavored music. ``I think it expresses some of the elements of a live concert, and it has styles from the many sides (of my music),'' she said. ``I hope people find that it has some of the excitement of the live experience.'' DOWN TO THE BONE Stuart Wade Stuart Wade (born 1 August 1971 in Halifax, Yorkshire) is an English actor known for playing the role of Biff Fowler on ITV's Emmerdale from 1994 to 1999. He made a brief return in October 2005 for Seth Armstrong's funeral. is the architect and founder of Down to the Bone, the British jazz Jazz in Britain has been performed in the country since shortly after the music's first appearance on record in 1917. A number of British musicians have gained international reputations, although adherents of this music have often felt embattled within the UK itself. collective that has lit up both smooth jazz This article has multiple issues: * Its quality may be compromised by peacock terms. * Its neutrality is disputed. * It needs additional references or sources for verification. airwaves in the U.S. and the dance floors of clubs in Europe and elsewhere with its unique blend of jazz, funk, retro soul/r&b and whatever else might strike Wade's fancy. It is a band that was originally conceived in the recording studio, a group of session musicians brought together to give life to the ideas that Wade, who doesn't play any instrument, had created by humming into a Dictaphone. It was only after its albums created a big splash Big Splash could refer to:
``Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to Long Beach'' - where his band plays Saturday - ``because it is just too expensive to fly in and out for one-off dates,'' Wade said. The band would pick tracks to produce a party vibe ``so the crowd is dancing from beginning to end.'' ``We want to get them as involved as possible, maybe even get them up on stage dancing, but mainly we want to get the energy that stems from that '60s and '70s funk vibe going. We want to break down the barriers where people pigeonhole pi·geon·hole n. 1. A small compartment or recess, as in a desk, for holding papers; a cubbyhole. 2. A specific, often oversimplified category. 3. The small hole or holes in a pigeon loft for nesting. tr. you - we want to make music that both dads and their kids can relate to.'' HUGH MASEKELA He has lived the kind of life that would make a great book, and fortunately for the rest of us (abuse) for The Rest Of Us - (From the Macintosh slogan "The computer for the rest of us") 1. Used to describe a spiffy product whose affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often) used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very overpriced products. 2. , Masekela last year published his autobiography, ``Still Grazing,'' the title a reference to the song ``Grazing in the Grass "Grazing in the Grass" is an instrumental composed by Philemon Hou and first recorded by the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. It is recognizable by its prominent cowbell part. ,'' which made Masekela a household name in pop music. ``I had been coaxed over many years by friends who said I had had an eventful life - and a reckless, crazy one at times, too - and that I should put it down on paper,'' said the trumpeter, who headlines Saturday's Jazz Festival show. Growing up under apartheid in South Africa, Masekela absorbed all the myriad strains of music swirling through the troubled nation - the street songs, church songs, the ethnic tribal traditions of the townships - eventually joining an all-star African jazz revue before leaving the country. Getting help and guidance from such luminaries as Harry Belafonte, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and fellow South African Miriam Makeba, the young trumpeter got into the Manhattan School of Music Founded in 1917, the school is located on Claremont Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City, adjacent to the campus of Columbia University, where it has been since 1969. Many of the students live in the school's residence hall, Andersen Hall. and soon was recording his own albums. In 1968, Masekela had a huge hit with ``Grazing in the Grass,'' a rare instance of a jazz artist reaching the pop charts. But Masekela never forgot his roots, and in the 1970s he returned to Africa, eventually settling in Botswana, where he still lives. ``I think this new CD, 'Revival,' is the most definitive of my self-immersion into the South African music scene since I moved back here,'' he said. ``I'm working with young people who are into the old music; there are so many people here who have turned their backs on things of the past, and then you have older people who are so dismissive of whatever the young are doing. It is most boring when you have puritanism in art, it so narrows the scope of life when you are not an open book absorbing it all. You just ignore what you don't like.'' LONG BEACH JAZZ FESTIVAL Where: Rainbow Lagoon Park, Shoreline Drive, between Pine and Linden avenues. When: 7 tonight (gates open at 5 p.m.), noon Saturday and Sunday (gates open at 11 a.m.). Tickets: $45 to $165. Ticketmaster, (213) 480-3232; www.ticketmaster.com; www.longbeachjazzfestival.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: MATSUI |
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