Jane Monheit "The Merriest"
Blue Note Los Angeles1492 Ivar Avenue, Los Angeles 90028
Jane Monheit brings The Merriest to Blue Note Los Angeles for a holiday-season vocal set. Billed on her own, the evening’s available details do not specify an accompanying lineup or formation. Expect the focus to be on Monheit’s singing and her songbook sensibility, in a room built for close listening.
Raised in Oakdale on Long Island, New York, Monheit is a jazz and adult-contemporary vocalist known for warm, swinging readings of the Great American Songbook, standards, classic pop, and Latin and bossa nova material. Her collaborators have included Tommy Flanagan, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Terence Blanchard, John Pizzarelli and Christian McBride. AllMusic calls her “a dazzling jazz singer with a highly resonant voice and swinging style.” The New York Times has praised “a voice of phenomenal beauty,” while All About Jazz heard “great chops, a terrific voice.” JazzTimes noted her “stretched notes” and “dusky mewing,” qualities it found capable of working as either assets or liabilities.
A small, dimly lit basement club tucked into a Hollywood corner, Blue Note Los Angeles is a dedicated jazz and live music space with a long-standing reputation for intimate, high-quality performances. The room is modest, with a few rows of seats facing a stage where the music is the focus. It's a place to listen, not to socialize, with the audience often quiet, absorbed in the musicians. Drinks are available, but the atmosphere is centered on the music. Shows are ticketed, with multiple sets each night, and the evening unfolds with a steady rhythm of live music, not casual conversation.