Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Lynn Willard: Talkin' with the Master

"I'm so excited about this!" It's Lynn Willard on the phone, talking about his latest band. He calls it the Storey/Willard Project.

"When people hear this music, man, they're gonna (expletive deleted.)"

"Jim Storey's song writing is like an undiscovered gem," he says. How did the two meet? "He started coming to the gig at the Turquoise (Willard works there with a loose arrangement of jazzers there on Thursday nights in Pacific Beach) and I asked him about doing a one-on-one. He brought some of his original music to the first session, and I said wow."

"His tunes are just a real gas."

So is Lynn Willard. In fact, Willard's a rare guy. Both he and his jazz piano are well-respected studies in intensity. An original musician and an unapologetic jazz free-thinker, he has a massive and vibrant chord vocabulary, and his solo voice is both fluid and interpretative.

Otherwise, Willard doesn't phone much, and when he does, I'm always glad to hear from him. Consider that the Iowa transplant has been the keyboardist in the greater majority of my favorite local jazz outfits over the past 25 years or more.

I first came to know of Willard during the late '80s when he was in the band Neon, a dazzling electric jazz group fronted by co-founders Bruce Cameron and Hollis Gentry.

"Then, I toured with Cameron right after Gentry and Nathan East left the band."

The short list: Willard has also performed with Gilbert Castellanos in Unido, with Jaime Valle in Equinox, with Dave Scott, Storm with Tommy Aros, and ESP. For six years he played Croce's in the Gaslamp with Glen Fisher con Alma, a charismatic Latin jazz band that commanded the attention of passersby within earshot on Fifth Avenue.

What's in the future for this new group? "The first thing is to get the music recorded. And with all of our travel and gig schedules, it will just have to be in the moment." I ask him about rolling tape during live performances but he has other ideas. Willard wants their debut to be with a studio album rather than live.

"Live can come after the music has been lived in for a while."

Storey/Willard Project debut: Thursday, September 20th, Inn at the Park, for the next KSDS Jazz Party. With Gary Nieves on drums and visiting NYC bassist Vince Guarna.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/12/31422/

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

San Diego Fix it Clinic, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade

Events December 14-December 18, 2024
Next Article

The greatest symphonist of them all

Havergal Brian wrote over 30 of them

"I'm so excited about this!" It's Lynn Willard on the phone, talking about his latest band. He calls it the Storey/Willard Project.

"When people hear this music, man, they're gonna (expletive deleted.)"

"Jim Storey's song writing is like an undiscovered gem," he says. How did the two meet? "He started coming to the gig at the Turquoise (Willard works there with a loose arrangement of jazzers there on Thursday nights in Pacific Beach) and I asked him about doing a one-on-one. He brought some of his original music to the first session, and I said wow."

"His tunes are just a real gas."

So is Lynn Willard. In fact, Willard's a rare guy. Both he and his jazz piano are well-respected studies in intensity. An original musician and an unapologetic jazz free-thinker, he has a massive and vibrant chord vocabulary, and his solo voice is both fluid and interpretative.

Otherwise, Willard doesn't phone much, and when he does, I'm always glad to hear from him. Consider that the Iowa transplant has been the keyboardist in the greater majority of my favorite local jazz outfits over the past 25 years or more.

I first came to know of Willard during the late '80s when he was in the band Neon, a dazzling electric jazz group fronted by co-founders Bruce Cameron and Hollis Gentry.

"Then, I toured with Cameron right after Gentry and Nathan East left the band."

The short list: Willard has also performed with Gilbert Castellanos in Unido, with Jaime Valle in Equinox, with Dave Scott, Storm with Tommy Aros, and ESP. For six years he played Croce's in the Gaslamp with Glen Fisher con Alma, a charismatic Latin jazz band that commanded the attention of passersby within earshot on Fifth Avenue.

What's in the future for this new group? "The first thing is to get the music recorded. And with all of our travel and gig schedules, it will just have to be in the moment." I ask him about rolling tape during live performances but he has other ideas. Willard wants their debut to be with a studio album rather than live.

"Live can come after the music has been lived in for a while."

Storey/Willard Project debut: Thursday, September 20th, Inn at the Park, for the next KSDS Jazz Party. With Gary Nieves on drums and visiting NYC bassist Vince Guarna.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/12/31422/

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bebop all night long: it's Kyle Myers

Next Article

Meet the band: this is Dive Bomber

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader