In the days before Covid, piano virtuoso Irving Flores was one of the busiest cats in town. “Yes, I was playing every day,” recalls Flores. “But, just like that, it all collapsed from all that ...

Jazz concert impresario Daniel Atkinson has experimented with all types of presentation ideas in the 32 years he’s been bringing music to San Diego. It’s been a while, however, since he focused a show on ...

Victor Baker knows guitars. For one thing, he’s been playing them professionally for years. For another, back in the late ‘90s, he decided to start building them as well. “I was teaching a ton of ...

In the days before the pandemic, it would have been exceedingly difficult to find a San Diego musician with a busier schedule than blues and jazz vocalist Whitney Shay. “I was doing at least 20 ...

Calling Yale Strom a polymath somehow seems inadequate. He’s a violinist, composer, educator, author (working on his 15th book), award-winning documentary director, playwright, and now, the latest inductee to the San Diego Music Hall of ...

North County concert impresario Kenneth Rexrode had zero experience in the music business when he was approached nearly ten years ago by a local country-music singer. “His name was Tony Suraci, and he wanted me ...

Farewell to Fresh Sound : New music champion and concert impresario Bonnie Wright bids adieu to her Fresh Sound series with a farewell show featuring award-winning percussionist Steven Schick on November 19 at Liberty Station. ...

Bassist Mackenzie Leighton’s presence on the San Diego jazz scene has grown exponentially over the past few years, to the point where he’s been able to land some very high profile gigs with Peter Sprague, ...

Multiple San Diego Music Award-winning percussionist and producer Nathan Hubbard has always kept a lot of irons in the fire. So when San Diego shut down in March 2020 because of the pandemic, he lost ...

When studying for his doctorate at the University of Southern Mississippi. SDSU percussion lecturer (and Ropeadope Recording artist) David Whitman took one piece of his instructor’s advice to heart. “He said, ‘If you want to ...

Jazz concert impresario Daniel Atkinson has been presenting music with Jazz at the Athenaeum for 32 years, showcasing national talent for eight annual events in the Athenaeum Library, and six more at the larger Scripps ...

Jazz concert promoter and Dizzy’s operator Chuck Perrin began showcasing (mostly) jazz talent back in April 2000 — first at the Culy Trucking Warehouse, within spitting distance of Petco Park. Seven years later, a construction ...

There’s an old joke that says the only way to make a million dollars in jazz is start out with two million. Given that, and given the reality of post-pandemic life, it seems like opening ...

Three years ago, jazz-vocal chanteuse (and native San Diegan) Sacha Boutros pulled up stakes and moved to Paris, France, frustrated by the lack of opportunity for performance in her hometown. Now she’s back, at least ...

Jazz guitar man Jaime Valle has been a force on the San Diego scene for many decades. That stayed true even after he moved to the picturesque Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende. I ...

In the days before the pandemic, guitarist Louis Valenzuela was on his way to becoming a ubiquitous force on the San Diego jazz scene. He ran a popular jazz jam session on Monday nights at ...

Anyone who has attended local jazz concerts over the last 40 years is familiar with the stealthy visage of longtime professional photographer Michael Oletta, who got his start in concert photography back when he was ...

“It’s inspired by Homeric poetry, especially the Odyssey,” explains flute virtuoso and UCSD professor Wilfrido Terrazas, in regards to his latest solo flute album Itaca, which was released last December. “It is both a real ...

There are a ton of San Diego musicians who have found themselves involuntarily unemployed since mid-March of 2020, when live gigs virtually dried up all over the country. What to do during all the downtime ...

I have a vivid memory of the last live concert I attended in town. It was a show featuring pianist Anthony Davis, bassist Mark Dresser, and trombonist Michael Dessen held in the acoustically pristine Conrad ...

For years, San Diego’s favorite destination for jazz on a Wednesday night was the jam session curated by trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos at Panama 66. He would feature performances in the early evening by students from ...

Another victim of the Coronavirus was San Diego’s all-jazz radio station KSDS 88.3. The station, which operates on the campus of San Diego City College, had only 48 hours to totally retool into an automated ...

Of all the collateral damage suffered in the last 12 months, the music industry has been hit particularly hard. Everyone has lost gigs, and many venues have shuttered permanently. But for trumpeter John Reynolds, a ...

The San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir managed to release their third album in December of 2020. Quite an achievement, one would think, given the circumstances of Covid-19. But, says conductor Ruth Webber, “Had it not ...

Back in December, local singer Leonard Patton’s voice was heard on a national commercial for a Pizza Hut jingle (doing a take on “The 12 Days of Christmas.”) It was recorded at Singing Serpent studios ...

“I was at an Alex Cline concert when the air-conditioning suddenly came on and immediately the whole vibe changed. That got me to thinking about how the other senses might influence the way we perceive ...

“I’ve decided to revive the San Diego Underground,” says bassist Benjamin Wanicur, referring to his monthly jam session that used to operate out of 3rd Space on Park Avenue. Wanicur’s revival has an important new ...

Saxophone icon Charles McPherson unveiled his latest album Jazz Dance Suites on his own Chazz Mack Music label on September 24. It’s his 30th effort as a leader. The album is dedicated to his ballet-star ...

Singer Whitney Shay headlined a recent live show (complete with a real audience) on August 15 in the overflow parking lot of the Del Mar fairgrounds. It was one example of where live music might ...

Claudia Gomez keeps a lot of irons in the fire. She’s a musician and a tap dancer, and she taught at Tap Into Yoga & Reiki all over San Diego until just before the pandemic ...

“I should say first and foremost, that I always just wanted to play music in general and I really didn’t have any barriers between genres,” says musician Nathan Hubbard. “The first two CDs I bought ...

Jazz guitarist Peter SpraguePeter Sprague had just returned to San Diego from a Danish tour with vocalist Sinne Eeg when the pandemic struck, and the musician soon found himself on lockdown with the rest of ...

Trombonist Mike Benge has been a director of music at Helix High school for ten years, and the 40-year-old musician was also hyper busy leading the San Diego Latin Jazz Collective and touring with the ...

Eighteen-year-old drummer Carmen Murray recently auditioned for six college music programs back east. A student at San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills, she’s been playing the drums for eight years, ...

“We were strongly encouraged to come up with a band name,” says singer Leonard Patton, discussing the new cooperative group he formed with Danny Green, Justin Grinnell and Julien Cantelm, who dropped their debut album ...

Local music fans might have done a double-take while watching Sir Elton John’s performance at the 92nd annual Academy Awards ceremony of his song (which won an Oscar) “I’m Going To Love Me Again,” when ...

La Mesa harpist Tasha Smith Godinez came to her instrument as a child growing up in the East County. “I actually started with the violin when I was three years old. My older brother was ...

Not worried about being perfect “We did 10 songs, and we booked the studio (Tritone in Glendale) for two whole days, which gave us enough time to incorporate a few arrangements from [pianist] Josh Nelson, ...

“It’s a little scary to be doing this,” confessed musician Fernando Gomez, speaking of his journey from jazz drummer to electronic-dance-music solo artist with a new single titled “Let It Happen.” “Because all of my ...

“The album dropped on September 12,” says Sure Fire Soul Ensemble bandleader Tim Felten. “And it hit #1 on the Contemporary Jazz charts.... It’s awesome to be recognized at that level, and I’m super confident ...

“It’s something I’ve been putting off for years,” confessed pianist Ed Kornhauser, referring to the completion of sessions for his first album as a leader. It features all original music. “I’ve been writing music as ...