Andrew Gilbert is a Berkeley-based freelancer who has written about arts and culture since 1989 for numerous publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, East Bay Express, Berkeleyside, and KQED’s California Report. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he experienced a series of mind-blowing epiphanies listening to jazz masters at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in the late 1980s, performances he remembers more vividly than the gigs he saw last month.
Andrew Gilbert on social media
Much like Ernest Hemingway’s famous description of how bankruptcy happens (“Gradually and then suddenly,” he wrote in The Sun Also Rises), the pervasive presence of … Read More “Live Review: 2019 Monterey Jazz Festival”
Mark Winkler wanted another bite of the apple, and Bobby Troup’s zesty book of rhythm patter, swooning ballads, and novelty numbers provides plenty of creative … Read More “Mark Winkler: I’m With You: Mark Winkler Sings Bobby Troup (Café Pacific)”
Vocalist Tony Lindsay is best known for his two-decade-plus tenure in Santana, a run that included Carlos Santana’s career-reviving monster hit Supernatural. But don’t even … Read More “Michael O’Neill Quintet with Tony Lindsay: Pacific Standard Time (Jazzmo)”
Taking in the recent loss of João Gilberto, trying to put his pervasive influence and incalculable contributions into perspective, seems just a little bit easier … Read More “Eliane Elias: Love Stories (Concord Jazz)”
The profusion of exceptional jazz singers who’ve come into their own since 2010 shouldn’t obscure the stellar vocalists who emerged in the 21st century’s first … Read More “Sara Gazarek: Thirsty Ghost (MRI)”
Since releasing her 2005 debut album, Easy on the Heart (Jazzopolis), Judy Wexler has carved out a jewel-like niche as a gracefully swinging singer who brings penetrating insight … Read More “Judy Wexler: Crowded Heart (Jewel City Jazz)”
Intentionally or not, the opening track of Somewhere is a bit of misdirection. Sounding like a suave supper-club crooner, Peter Eldridge eases into Cindy Walker’s “You Don’t … Read More “Peter Eldridge/Kenny Werner: Somewhere (Rosebud)”
Los Angeles jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton doesn’t deliver every recording wrapped in a conceptual bow, but her discography is studded with well-executed thematic projects, including … Read More “Tierney Sutton Band: ScreenPlay (BFM Jazz)”
It’s tempting to describe Claudia Villela as a musician’s musician, considering that some of her most ardent fans and supporters are also her most illustrious … Read More “Claudia Villela: Into the Fire, and Out Again”
As a co-founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, Philip Bailey has spent much of his career in the verdant delta where jazz flows into R&B … Read More “Philip Bailey: Love Will Find a Way (Verve)”
Some albums arrive without precedent, a world unto themselves. While bringing to mind the sophisticated, jazz-infused post-Tropicalia songs of Brazilian composers like Guinga, Milton Nascimento, … Read More “Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini: Setting Rays of Summer (Cressman Music)”
Patrice Jégou doesn’t yodel or throat-sing on her second album, If It Ain’t Love, but the Canadian-born vocalist leaves little doubt that she could produce a polished … Read More “Patrice Jégou: If It Ain’t Love (Prairie Star)”
There are any number of Northern California jazz festivals that have been around longer than the one in Healdsburg, but none save the granddaddy of … Read More “Concert Review: Carla Bley and Ethan Iverson at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival”
Mary Stallings tends to inspire superlatives, and Songs Were Made to Sing is sure to coax another chorus of well-deserved, overdue praise. Released on the verge … Read More “Mary Stallings: Songs Were Made to Sing (Smoke Sessions)”
Since arriving in New York from her native Santiago, Chile in 2009, Camila Meza has gradually emerged as a singular artist with boundless creative ambition. … Read More “Camila Meza: Ámbar (Sony Masterworks)”
When guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli last paid tribute to his primary musical inspiration with 1999’s P.S. Mr. Cole, he was in his late thirties, and Nat … Read More “John Pizzarelli Trio: For Centennial Reasons: 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole (Ghostlight)”
With the release in 2000 of his impressive first album, Edge of This Earth, pianist Art Hirahara made it clear that he saw himself as … Read More “Art Hirahara: Bowing Before Giants”
Must-have albums that fuse jazz and strings
