Dave Grisman, August 31, 7pm
For forty years, Dave Grisman has been making what he refers to as “dawg music”: a mélange of highly intricate and harmonically advanced bluegrass, folk and jazz. A truly exceptional mandolinist with roots deep in the jazz ensemble, “Quintet of the Hot Club of France,” Grisman was already playing saxophone, piano and mandolin by the time he’d reached his teens. While attending New York University in 1963, he played with Maria Muldaur and John Sebastian while serving a tour of duty in the “Even Dozen Jug Band.” Several years later, he headed westward to San Francisco. There he hooked up with Jerry Garcia and played on the Grateful Dead’s classic album, American Beauty. Soon after that, he joined Garcia in Jerry’s bluegrass side project, Old and in the Way. Since then, Grisman has worked on many other projects and to this day, continues his output of superlative music.
Twilight Dance Series, Santa Monica Pier, 310.458.8900, www.twilightdance.org.
Christian Jacob Trio, August 31, 8/10pm
An alumnus of Maynard Ferguson’s band, Christian Jacob is a captivating pianist whose sound is apt to remind one of a hybrid of Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner. Born in Lorraine, France, Jacob began playing classical music at age four and immersed himself in the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. By the time he’d reached nine or 10, he’d discovered jazz and in turn, was hooked for life. Several years later, he attended the Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique. Christian continued playing jazz during his years of rigorous study, working in combos in Paris and Lorraine. It was around this time that he discovered Dave Brubeck and Oscar Peterson – Both of whom influenced him greatly. Not too long after this, he graduated from Boston’s Berklee College of Music. In 1987, he joined Maynard Ferguson’s “Big Bop Nouveau Band” as Musical Director and spent much of the ‘90s writing and arranging for Ferguson. Don’t miss the opportunity to see this supremely talented artist.
The Vic, 888.451.2221, www.thevicforjazz.com.
