Category: Concert

Yuko Mabuchi Trio & Branford Marsalis Quartet in Orange County

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Yuko Mabuchi Trio and Branford Marsalis Quartet ushered in the New Year in Orange County with great jazz.  Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa produces one of the most important jazz series in the country.  I drove up from my home near San Diego to attend the Yuko Mabuchi Trio/Branford Marsalis Quartet performances on January 25th in the 1800 seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.  I’ve been attending concerts for many years in North America, Europe and Asia and this performance will remain among my greatest memories of live jazz.  Segerstrom Center uses two concert halls for its jazz series.  The more intimate 300-seat Samueli Theater hosts most of the musicians on the jazz series, which recently included Cecile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling and The Kenny Barron Quintet.  But for Ahmad Jamal last year and the recent Yuko Mabuchi Trio/Branford Marsalis Quartet performances, Segerstrom needed the large Continue Reading →

How do talented musicians reach new audiences?

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How do talented musicians reach new audiences? This is a question we ask every day at Yarlung.  As the music “industry” continues to “evolve,” we must reevaluate how we increase visibility for new music and our musicians on a regular basis.  (I use “industry” and “evolve” euphemistically, as you may have guessed.) The music industry of recorded music, especially in its more sophisticated forms of classical music and jazz, has largely ceased to be a “business” like it was in the heyday between say 1940 and 1990.  “Evolve” is a euphemism for “disintegrate.”  People no longer spend money on recordings the way we did in prior decades.  We acknowledge this, and find other ways to help our musicians reach new audiences. Five years ago, “Social Media” seemed to be the key.  Large print ads no longer sold albums in significant numbers, but interactive media did hold the promise of engagement Continue Reading →

New Year’s Eve Concert at Hesperia Hall

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Hall members welcomed in the New Year with another in a series of New Year’s Eve concerts organized by resident Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records.  This year’s offering swerved away from previous concerts when, following a short medley of songs played on the Renaissance pipes by Adam and Rotem Gilbert, the stage was turned over to jazz pianist Yuko Mabuchi.  She started off with a jazz arrangement  of three Japanese songs and then charmed us with Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are “and a pair of Duke Ellington numbers, “Take the A Train” and “Satin Doll.” Bassist Ilai Gilbert and keyboard player and Master of Ceremonies Billy Mitchell then joined Yuko with a rousing cover of “Route 66” with vocals by Billy and the audience. Dancing broke out, and from there the concert was in full swing. A base solo by Ilai in a Sonny Rawlins tune was followed Continue Reading →