lauracoylemusic

Saturday at Ray's on the River

with L.A. Tuten and Laura Coyle

Micah Cadwell

and Matthew Kaminski on Piano

our friend Tempe sang "La Vie En Rose," Bill Willson on piano

visit my website for my upcoming dates, so you can enjoy an evening of jazz and cocktails (and wonderful food) with us at Ray's

photos by Clayton Daspit

and be sure to check out Matthew Kaminski, pianist and Micah Cadwell, guitarist, and click to find out more about L.A. Tuten (as if bass weren't enough, he plays tuba too.)

Dennis Irwin

NYC bassist Dennis Irwin passed away on Monday, you can read about him at this link at the NY Times. Donations to help jazz musicians in need can be sent to the Jazz Foundation of America. And visit this you tube link to see a tribute to Dennis.

jazz appreciation

On Monday February 4th there will be some of Atlanta's best jazz vocalists and musicians performing at SOJA's (Southeastern Organization for Jazz Arts) first Jazz Appreciation Night at Star in Castleberry Hill, near downtown Atlanta. This event will take place on the first Monday night of every month. For more details, see SOJA's website

Takana and Hiro

I'm a little behind in my posting, but back on Jan 6th we had a great time at the Sunday brunch with lots of special guests, the first being Takana Miyamoto on organ,

and she brought her friend and collaborator Hironobu Saito, wonderful jazz guitarist from Japan, visiting Atlanta from his home in NYC.

Jazz guitar and organ make such a great combination, reminding me of one of my favorite records, "Boss Guitar" with Wes Montgomery, Mel Rhyne on organ, Jimmy Cobb, drums. I think I've listened to it about 700 times and it's the reason I like to sing Besame Mucho in 6/8 - I can't help hearing it that way after Wes.

You can tell everybody was having a good time and playing soulfully from these shots - there was a whole lot to smile about that Sunday.

And if that wasn't enough, we had the pleasure of hearing a couple of tunes from vocalist Charley Valentine.

After that we were joined by Clarence Reynolds, a vocal student of Takana's, with a gorgeous sound and then Melvin Jones came to sit in for a few tunes.

what a Sunday - I'm glad I brought my camera! Which reminds me Victor Goines was there too! But he didn't play - I got to talk cameras with him though. Some day I'm going to really learn to use this thing. Hope to see you soon-

happy holidays!

This has been a big year for me, a monumental first year as a member of Bernard's band. We have such a great time, he's taught me a million things about becoming a jazz singer and performer and I can't wait to see what the new year will bring. I'll be away for the Christmas brunch, but it will be happening this Tuesday, and I'll be back with the band on January 6th. See you then!

And I'll leave you with a shot of London Arrington, who sat in with us today and wowed everyone with his gorgeous voice.