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The
BUZZ
at Vibrato...
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 The
First Time was Fun!
(Let's do it again!)
Drummer-Singer-Entertainer Willie McNeil bought his impressive musicianship and entertaining personality for the first time to Vibrato on his birthday, July 15th, to celebrate along with his jazz quartet and a sizable, sophisticated, rhythm-savvy following. Every downstairs table was reserved and the parking lot in front was completely full, on a Wednesday, yet, and in the middle of July! Willie’s extensive and profound grasp of Cuban and Caribbean rhythms along with swing and funk and his solid technique mixed with responsive improvisational skills and high energy make him an instant favorite with audiences. As a bandleader, he's had quite a history of residencies in hot clubs, from long tenures at King King and Forty Deuce to the supper club days of the former Hollywood speakeasy (once Rudolph Valentino's rumored haunt) reborn as Club 86, and Willie's current regular gig at downtown LA's elegant hang, The Edison. Although the Vibrato sets were low-keyed by design, I was told by one Vibrato regular, a Bel Air neighborhood leader and entertainment research/analysis powerhouse who considers Vibrato his "dining room," that he was particularly impressed with how Willie reaches out and communicates with the audience and is so accessible, "not lost in his own world... like some other musicians."
Swing, blues, R&B and Latin music, especially Cuban styles such as timba, are among Willie's specialties, which include his own compositions, sometimes mixed with funk. For six years he led the house band (his veteran LA band Sono-Lux) at hip Hollywood club King King on Tuesday nights, called "Royally Rhythmic" by the Los Angeles Times, and declared the "Best Tuesday Night Dance Club" by Los Angeles Magazine several years running. "King King...the musicians' hangout draws a cool but unpretentious crowd with its live music. The house band, Sono-Lux, cooks up Afro-Cuban jazz that seriously sizzles..." - Best of LA (N.B. - Killer conguero Joey De Leon used to sit in regularly!) |
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Willie
is probably best known for his band The Solsonics and their
critically acclaimed CD Jazz in the Present Tense, for his
partnership in the internationally known ska band Jump With Joey,
his reggae drumming, or his 6-year tenure as the musical director
of the legendary Hollywood burlesque club Ivan Kane’s
Forty Deuce.
He has performed with acts as diverse as John Mayall, Joe Strummer and Ernest Ranglin; in videos with Placido Domingo, Prince, Neenah Cherry and the Royal Crown Revue; and has been featured on TV in Forty Deuce on Bravo, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Roof, Jules Holland in London, Nova in Hamburg, and Music Scene Los Angeles (as Host) in Tokyo. He has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Hamburg Jazzfest, Saarbrucken Music Festival and Brighton Jazz Bop; Disney Hall Grand Opening, Capitol Records 50th Anniversary, and the Golden Globes Reception, to name a few. “His ability to switch from Latin to reggae to straight-ahead swing is inimitable.” – Paul Lines, Founder, Pasadena Jazz Institute. Willie is a veteran of 21 tours, nearly half in the US, the rest international, and over half of them leading his own groups: Hey Wooley, Jump with Joey (co-led with Joey Altruda), and several tours with his band The Solsonics (including a US tour with Queen Latifah). This July, 2009, he's on his way to Japan, and then Chicago. I hope he returns to Vibrato soon. If you enjoy performers with personality as well as talent, originality and chops, you will love Willie McNeil! |
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Memorable events at Vibrato this spring included two nights of powerful performances by Vibrato owner, legendary trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert and his wife, internationally renowned singer Lani Hall (both nights sold out in 2 hours!) See story here -- and an amazing unscheduled set by Stevie Wonder (see it here) |
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| A few of the noteworthy performances at Vibrato recently: Shelly Berg (visiting from Florida) burning up the place with his Trio, w/Tom Scott and Gregg Field; Estaire Godinez, a smoldering Latin chanteuse who is also a hot percussionist; Quincy Jones presented amazing young Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, attended by will.i.am, Josh Groban, Quincy, Billy Dee Williams, Alan and Marilyn Bergman and many more; a Hunt Cellars Winemaker's Dinner with brilliant cult wine maker David Hunt (above) with music by the great Theo Saunders Sextet; phenomenal Arturo Sandoval's surprise visit to solo with the Bob Mintzer Big Band! | ||||
| Vibrato this fall features:... scintillating Barbara Morrison Oct. 25th, the first U.S. performance of jazz pianist and Montreux winner Isfar Sarabski Oct. 26th; masterful trombonist Bill Reichenbach on Oct. 30th, original entertainer Tony Galla on Oct. 31st, unrefusable entertainment and his Il Padrino wines by Gianni Russo (from The Godfather) Nov. 2nd; hot Latin soul by Poncho Sanchez Nov. 3rd, fiery guitarists Strunz and Farah Nov. 10th, the rich sound of Bob Mintzer's Big Band Nov. 24th; Vibrato Opera Gala on Nov. 30th ...and more top entertainment all through the month. | ||||
| Make your nights more beautiful at Vibrato... | ||||
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Willie’s tight, seasoned quartet
includes Mike Boito on keyboards
and Derrick Davis on Saxophone,
who have both been performing with Willie for nearly 20 yrs.,
along with Mike Uhler on bass. Their experience as a group
allowed them to smoothly follow the plan for this first evening at
Vibrato, which was to tread lightly and rein in the funk, soul, R&B,
reggae, and Latin, all of which they can wail
on, and concentrate mostly on jazz standards, with some lovely excursions
in the last two sets. The music, especially the technically and
rhythmically superb percussion solos and riffs were very
well-received by an attentive audience, with frequent eruptions of
well-timed applause. Next time, though, I would love
to hear the band let loose in some of their favorite genres... after all,
aside from musical knowledge and technical mastery,
passion is what makes a
performance compelling -- ask
any conductor or first violinist! 