(L-R).: Jane Getz, Bill Markus, Libbie Jo Snyder and Paul Cohen©Glenn A. Mitchell

Flautist and vocalist Libbie Jo Snyder presented an excellent show Saturday evening, August 8th, 2009 at Hollywood Studio Bar and Grill to a fully packed audience.  Their room is very good sound-wise.  Snyder is an accomplished musician, playing flute, alto flute, bass flute and piccolo.  Classically trained, she also plays first chair flute in the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic.    

For this particular evening – a two and a half hour show, Snyder decided to dedicate the first set to legendary songstress, composer and pianist, the late Blossom Dearie.  She got the inspiration from a dream she had about taking a walk with Dearie a few days before this gig and talking to her about her composition “Bye, Bye Country Boy,” that Snyder likes a lot.   

(L-R) Bruce Forman, Jake Reed and Joe Bagg©Glenn A. Mitchell

Guitar great Bruce Forman made a memorable concert experience at Steamers, Friday, August 14, 2009.  This jazz trio played exceptionally well-- their instrumentation of guitar, organ and drums has a big sound.  Forman has been a mainstay as a jazz guitarist and educator for two decades or better.  He is a newly appointed staff member at U.S.C.’s Thornton School of Music.   

Foreman’s trio included Joe Bagg on a new Nord Z-1 organ along with a fantastic young drummer, Jake Reed – only (24) years old—and, of course, Forman on an unbelievably gorgeous guitar.  Some of Forman’s musical influences are Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, sax great Charlie Parker and pianists Wynton Kelly and Bud Powell.  He had a great musical credit in recent times doing all the featured guitar work throughout Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award-winning film, Million Dollar Baby.   

Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders will perform at Catalina's in Hollywood on Thursday, August 27th through Saturday, August 29th Ferrell Sanders was renamed "Pharoah" by Sun Ra when he joined Ra's Arkestra. Then Sanders joined the cadre of avant-garde saxophone pioneers of the time: Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp. Pharoah Sanders possesses an instantly identifiable tone that is thick and harmonically rich and heavy with overtones- a sound that can be as aggressive and raspy as Peter Brotzman. Coltrane's later style was strongly influenced by Sanders. Sanders first really captured the publics attention while playing with expressionistic and wide-open free jazz in John Coltrane's late ensembles of the mid-'60s. Sanders' later music has become more lyrical and soulful while continuing to explore new harmonic terrain.