Photo: Tim Sassoon

Pianist John Beasley has been in Los Angeles for over 30 years, playing pianos in gin joints, movie studios and everywhere in between. He has been a steadily employed sideman since he was a teenager starting out with Sergio Mendes and has most recently released an LP under the name 3 Brave Souls, alongside funk kingpins Ndugu Chancler and Darryl Jones.

For the last four Wednesdays in January at the Blue Whale, however -- starting tomorrow night -- Beasley will be offering up three completely different ensembles under his own leadership including, for the first time, his own big band.

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Jazz pianist Austin Peralta died yesterday, at age 22.

The son of Venice Beach skateboarding legend Stacy Peralta, his iconoclastic lineage gave him a unique perspective, with his long blonde hair more reminiscent of the boardwalk than the practice room.

Nonetheless, Peralta was a regular presence on Southern Californian piano benches, popping up on short notice with his band in a Westside lounge, as part of Kamasi Washington's double-barreled ensemble in a well-amplified club or the occasional pick-up gig including an appearance the night he died.

He also worked with Flying Lotus, who announced Peralta's passing on his twitter account early this morning:

it kills me to type that we lost a member of our family, Austin Peralta. I don't really have the right words right now.

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Iconomy LLC

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, legendary UCLA and Lakers center, six-time NBA MVP and Bruce Lee foe, has had a passion for jazz his entire life. Raised in New York, Abdul-Jabbar had the opportunity to soak up the center of the jazz world at one of its most vital periods. He regularly crammed himself into the tiny tables at the Village Vanguard as a teenager and nowadays manages to take in shows at the equally tight quarters at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

See also: *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Jazz. What Else Would We Talk With Him About?
*Top Ten Jazz Albums for People Who Don't Know Shit About Jazz

To supplement our recent interview, Abdul-Jabbar also offered up his list of essential jazz albums. It is a solid list of classics, in no particular order, that belong in anyone's collection.

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Iconomy LLC

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. As both a Bruin and a Laker, he is a pillar of Los Angeles basketball. On Friday, Nov. 16, he will have his jersey number retired, and a statue of him will be unveiled outside Staples Center. That's fine and all, but we wanted to talk to him about jazz.

Your father was a musician. Were you always surrounded by jazz?

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Pianist and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe is a man of the world. Splitting his childhood between New Zealand and Japan, he has also called Boston and London home before settling here in sunny Los Angeles.

Today he'll be celebrating the two year anniversary of his monthly residency Church at the Del Monte Speakeasy, where he has been regularly performing small miracles. Specifically, he's gotten jazzbos on the dance floor, and gotten booty shakers to soak up acoustic bass solos.

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SJ O'Connell

Angel City Jazz Festival
Ford Amphitheatre
10-7-12

Is the Angel City Jazz Festival the best jazz festival in Los Angeles? It depends on how you measure it. If you are going by quality of acts, quantity of acts, accessibility of venue, price of parking or friendliness of crowd, then yes, it is the best jazz festival in Los Angeles. Last night, to close out three fantastic days of bookings across the L.A. basin, the Angel City Jazz Festival hosted a night of new and old at the pastoral Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood under the banner of "Artists & Legends."

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Cecil Taylor wants to break some strings

October 5,6,7,13,14
Angel City Jazz Festival
LACMA, UCLA, Redcat, Ford Amphitheatre

The theme of the fifth annual Angel City Jazz Festival is "artists and legends" which might as well be the theme for L.A.'s whole jazz scene in October. Legendary L.A. trombonist Phil Ranelin hits LACMA on Friday night while guitarist Anthony Wilson reprises the awesome trio he put together at his Blue Whale residency last April (organist Larry Goldings, drummer Jim Keltner) on the 6th at the Redcat. The 7th sees a long-awaited return from saxophonist Archie Shepp as part of a four-band line-up at the Ford. The following weekend sees guitarist Bill Frisell (13th) and pianist Vijay Iyer (14th) at Royce Hall. A truly amazing lineup.

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Kiel Scott

Christian Scott is spending a weekend in L.A.

Fridays, September 7th, 14th, 21st
JazzPop w/ Mark Dessen, Vinny Golia, Aram Shelton
Hammer Museum

The Hammer Museum likes to sneak in great jazz performances with little fanfare, don't they? This is Bay Area bassist Lisa Mezzacappa's seventh year curating the JazzPop series, moving it one month later than the usual sweltering August run. I'm not sure where the "pop" part comes in, but Mark Dessen, Vinny Golia and Aram Shelton will bring three boundary-pushing sets to Westwood's boxy, stone palace. This is a great free series for an expanding scene and a challenging start to your weekend. What better way to follow up happy hour?

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SJ O'Connell

Herbie Hancock Celebrates Peace
Hollywood Bowl
8-29-12

Better than...the Republican National Convention.

Let's get this out of the way early: I like peace. Obtaining peace and air conditioning are my two highest priorities these days and peace is winning by a mile. I also like pianist Herbie Hancock. He's a jazz treasure who happens to live in town and has been the creative chair for the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the last couple of years. Last night, however, Mr. Hancock and a crew of unbelievably gifted bandleaders took to the Hollywood Bowl stage for a night of confusion that left their message of peace a little muddled.

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