Joon Lee

Austin Peralta's Death Was Fueled By Drugs and Alcohol, Says Coroner's Report

Twenty-two-year-old virtuoso pianist Austin Peralta died shockingly the day before Thanksgiving. Until now, details of the final hours of his life have been mostly a mystery. See also: The Life and Death of Austin Peralta His coroner's report, obtained by West Coast Sound, states that viral pneumo ... More >>

Music Picks: Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge, and Anthrax

The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, March 15 The Black Ryder THE ECHO The Black Ryder come from Australia but sound like they're from 13th Floor Elevators' own personal Texas, a land of endless desert where the guitars echo to eternity and where it's too hot to move fast. The Black Ryder concoct psychedelia that bleeds and bo ... More >>

RG Club: There's a New Jazz Spot in Venice!

Late last year, a modest billboard along Lincoln Boulevard in Venice started touting the pending residency of saxophonist Azar Lawrence... 50 feet below. The newly christened RG Club -- a former dive bar located between an AT&T store and a Jewish community center -- opened in November with Lawrenc ... More >>

John Beasley Is Crazy For Putting a Big Band Together in This Day and Age

Pianist John Beasley has been in Los Angeles for over 30 years, playing pianos in gin joints, movie studios and everywhere in between. He has been a steadily employed sideman since he was a teenager starting out with Sergio Mendes and has most recently released an LP under the name 3 Brave Souls, al ... More >>

We Critique Five Interpretations of Beck's Sheet Music Song "Old Shanghai"

Not too long ago, most folks could read music in this county. Most middle class kids, at least, could bang out some chords on the piano at their parents' cocktail parties. Nowadays, of course, pianos most often serve as furniture. But that hasn't stopped Beck from releasing an "album" that require ... More >>

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Jazz. What Else Would We Talk With Him About?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. As both a Bruin and a Laker, he is a pillar of Los Angeles basketball. On Friday, Nov. 16, he will have his jersey number retired, and a statue of him will be unveiled outside Staples Center. That's fine and all, but we wanted to talk to him ... More >>

Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die

By Joseph Lapin Because there are multiple decades of jazz, it's almost impossible to pick the top 10 albums of all time; the hip cats with their canes and cool shades will throw their used saxophone reeds in my direction and call me a young whippersnapper. Top Ten Jazz Albums for People Who Don't ... More >>

Music Picks: R. Kelly, Leonard Cohen, Cat Power

Angel City Jazz Festival - Ford Amphitheatre - 10/7/12

Angel City Jazz Festival Ford Amphitheatre 10-7-12 Is the Angel City Jazz Festival the best jazz festival in Los Angeles? It depends on how you measure it. If you are going by quality of acts, quantity of acts, accessibility of venue, price of parking or friendliness of crowd, then yes, it is the b ... More >>

Cabeza de Vaca Orchestra presents 'Sunrise' - Downtown Independent - 9/21/12

Cabeza de Vaca Orchestra presents Sunrise Downtown Independent 9-20-12 Jimi Cabeza de Vaca (yes, that is his real name) got his start playing keyboards over ten years ago with South Bay indie rockers dios. His ethereal keyboard contributions pushed the band to the brink of stardom, opening for acts ... More >>

Herbie Hancock Celebrates Peace - Hollywood Bowl - 8/29/12

Herbie Hancock Celebrates Peace Hollywood Bowl 8-29-12 Better than...the Republican National Convention. Let's get this out of the way early: I like peace. Obtaining peace and air conditioning are my two highest priorities these days and peace is winning by a mile. I also like pianist Herbie Hanco ... More >>

Esperanza Spalding & Anita Baker - Hollywood Bowl - 8/22/12

Esperanza Spalding & Anita Baker Hollywood Bowl August 22, 2012 I came into last night's show expecting more from Esperanza Spalding and less from Anita Baker. The audience was clearly prepared for something else. Last night, in what amounted to a generational battle of stage-craft and radio-friend ... More >>

Vocalist Sara Gazarek Takes on Covers and Standards

When jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek first arrived in Los Angeles from Seattle slightly more than a decade ago, she had a tight sense of swing and a demure set of pipes. She was a little unprepared for the expectations of a formal jazz education at USC. "I remember being really embarrassed when I didn't ... More >>

Kevin Toney Cheated on His Wife for Years

Although he was baptized at age 8, Kevin Toney didn't really apply Christian ideals to his life until he was over fifty. Throughout most of his long career, which included being a member of the Grammy-winning jazz group The Blackbyrds as well as being a solo jazz pianist who played with Stevie Wonde ... More >>

Jennifer Leitham Can Swing Like Nobody's Business; Also, She Was Born a Man

Almost thirty years ago jazz bassist John Leitham moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. Two decades later he underwent gender reassignment surgery to become Jennifer Leitham. Tonight, as part of the Outfest Film Festival, Leitham presents a documentary about her decision entitled I Stand ... More >>

Joon Lee: The Jazz Junky

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. Anyone willing to open a jazz club these days must be a little crazy, but if Joon Lee is nuts, he's doing a great job of hiding it. In fact, since its late 2009 debut in Little ... More >>

The Best Los Angeles Jazz Concerts of 2011

Blue Whale​Walter Smith III Blue Whale, December 17 Joon Lee, the modest personality behind Little Tokyo's Blue Whale, is an indispensible part of the local jazz community who books some of the most daring acts in Los Angeles. Saxophonist Walter Smith III, a hard-swinging transplant, was one ... More >>

Music Picks: The Descendents, Stones Throw 15th Anniversary Show,, Princess Pangolin, Brian Setzer

Also, Guns N' Roses, Weingart, Stevie Wonder's House Full of Toys, and others