- June 25th

Pianist George Kahn returns to the Catalina Bar & Grill with his quintet. The evening celebrates the release of George’s 6th CD, Cover Up. The CD, produced by Brian Bromberg, is a collection of notable contemporary music that George has created jazz arrangements for, along with original compositions.

Some of the selections include Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” John Mayer’s “Waiting For The World To Change,” and a rendition of Bill Withers’ “Use Me” with Courtney Lemmon on vocals. The album features Larry Steen on Bass, Harry Kim on Trumpet, Clayton Cameron on drums and Andy Suzuki on Sax.

Catalina’s is located at 6725 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood; the show starts at 8pm.

Biography:

When a young musician’s sources of inspiration are jazz greats like Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, Joe Sample, Vince Guaraldi and Wynton Kelly, you’d figure that his own music would turn out to be pretty special…and in the case of jazz pianist and composer George Kahn, you’d be right. His music captures the feel of the West Coast Jazz scene of the 50’s & 60’s, but with a contemporary edge. George has incorporated many styles including bebop, smooth jazz, blues, Latin and New Orleans rhythms.

Having majored in Music Composition at Brandeis University, George brings a classically trained sensibility to the jazz form. In his music today, George creates a musical environment where there is room for experimentation and spontaneity. His music, unlike a lot of jazz, is not
about how fast or complicated the music is — it’s a forum where he can communicate feelings and emotions with his audience. George’s musical mission is to recapture the magic of jazz from the earlier periods “before synthesizers and sequencers roamed the earth”.

In 1999, George formed Sudhana Music Publishing and his independent record label, Playing Records, as an avenue to share his music. He has released five self-produced CDs: Conscious Dreams (a jazz/new age configuration), Out of Time (a jazz recording featuring the late Billy Higgins on drums), Freedom Vessel (featuring Dave Carpenter on bass and Joe Labarbera on drums), and Midnight Brew (featuring Grammy-nominated trumpeter Bobby Rodriguez, Peak recording artist Eric Marienthal, and Telarc recording artist Tierney Sutton). His latest album “…Compared To What?” was released in October 200 4, and once again features Eric, as well as woodwind guru Justo A lmario , drumme r and percussionist Alex Acuña, bassist extraordinaire Bri an Bromberg, and trumpet player John Fumo. The album is already get ting radio play o n b oth jazz radio stations and various internet radio broadcasts, suc h as RADI OIO.COM.

“…Compared To What?” has received airplay on over 150 jazz radio st ations across the country, and reached #39 on the JazzWeek radio charts as 2005 began. It was c hosen ONE OF THE TOP 5 JAZZ ALBUMS OF 2004 by RADIOIO.COM, and has b een in medium to heavy rotation on many stations including KKJZ in Long Beach.

Inspired by the Internet to mass market and distribute hi s music through alternative channels, George has truly connected with the o nline music audie nce. On MP3.com, mp3.com/georgekahn reported over 275,000 listens and do wnloads. With the demise of MP3.com in 2003, George started his own we bsite www.georgekahn.com, garnering OVER 600 hits per day by December of 2004. Her e people can check out the music and information, and have a forum to interact with George.

Los Angeles Jazz Meccas like The Baked Potato, Lu naria, T he Jazz B akery, and Catalina Bar and Grill are among the clubs where the l ocals com e to hear G eorge Kahn’s jazz stylings. Recent gigs included a performance at the TASTE OF BRENTWOOD FESTIVAL in 2004, and the PLAYBOY JAZZ FESTIVA L as pa rt of THE PASADENA SUMMERFEST in May 2002.

With the subtlety of Dave Br ubeck and the positive drive of Vince Guaraldi, George Kahn’s pia no mus ic is an independent jazz pleasure. Join George and his band (A lex Acuñ a, Brian Bromberg, Justo Almario, Eric Marienthal, and John Fumo) as t hey ad d to the evolution of Jazz with his 5th release,
“…Compared To Wh at?” “There is a constant that runs through his music: It’s always hip.” Alfredo Cruz, Jazz Broadcaster.

[Source: www.allaboutjazz.com]

Best Selling Albums from George Kahn:

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