{"id":3862,"date":"2017-12-06T11:49:42","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T19:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/culturecrash\/?p=3862"},"modified":"2017-12-06T11:52:38","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T19:52:38","slug":"la-saxophonist-danny-janklow-at-the-blue-whale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/culturecrash\/2017\/12\/la-saxophonist-danny-janklow-at-the-blue-whale.html","title":{"rendered":"LA saxophonist Danny Janklow at The Blue Whale"},"content":{"rendered":"

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FOR the last few years, much of the attention to the resurgent Los Angeles jazz scene has gone to Kamasi Washington, a titan of a tenor saxophonist who I had the pleasure to see at the Hollywood Bowl over the summer. His communal, late-Coltrane, South Central approach to the jazz tradition is for real, powerful, even — a word I try to avoid — inspiring.<\/p>\n

But there is more to the revived LA scene than Washington, and the non superstar players are the ones who really give a music community its dimension. There are surely others, but to my casual acquaintance, a whole other level of fine players with strong live presences include drummer Matt Mayhall, bassist Miles Mosley, and guitarist Jeff Parker. And, alto sax Danny Janklow<\/a>, who I saw a few nights ago at the Blue Whale.<\/p>\n

Janklow’s show was the record-release party for his new LP, Elevation. He’s a friendly and appealing leader onstage, and commanded an exceedingly good band. This is what we used to call (do people still use this term?) “straight-ahead” jazz, with just a touch of ’60s avant-gardeism and a few forays into funk. (The group included a vibraphonist and the bassist put down his upright for a song or two to groove on what i think was a Fender.) As strong and locked in as this crew was, the highlight was guest pianist Eric Reed, perhaps still best know for his work with Wynton. Swinging, lyrical, forceful — it was a real pleasure to see him solo.<\/p>\n

Janklow himself seems to me in the Cannonball Adderley school — bluesy, melodic, supple — with at times the instincts of a late-period Art Pepper. That is, he often starts out with a brief, singable melody and then builds his songs to big, expressive emotional climaxes.<\/p>\n