Lawrence Jones

Elliot Lawrence, who was born in 1925, formed a big band at the very end of the swing era, much too late to make a strong impression. A fine pianist/arranger/composer, Lawrence primarily wrote for radio and television. In the 1950s he recorded quite frequently for such labels as Decca, King, Columbia, Groove, Vik, Camden, and, particularly, Fantasy, cutting six records for the latter label during 1955-1957 with big bands. This CD has all of the music from the LP Swinging at the Steel Pier, five cuts from Plays Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel Arrangements (just the Kahn charts), and a few selections from Plays for Swinging Dancers and Dream on…Dance On. The music, which features arrangements by Tiny Kahn, Al Cohn, Johnny Mandel, and Gerry Mulligan, is essentially updated swing along with some melodic dance music.

Fresh off their appearance at the 2020 international Blues Challenge semifinals, where they proudly represented their hometown of Santa Clarita, California, Jim Gustin and Truth Jones (Jeri Goldenhar) are set to release their third album, “Lessons Learned.” The eleven new tracks reflect the group’s diversity, talent and experience growing up in the melting pot of Southern California. The new album is a collection of driving blues, funky soul, sultry jazz and American rock ‘n’ roll that speaks to the tales of wild nights in bar rooms, Sunday mornings in church, times of heartbreak, and years of struggle and the wisdom received that fill the songs delivered by two powerful and emotive vocalists. Gustin and Jones are backed by the muscular rhythm section of bassist Scott Duncan and drummer Chuck Strong, along with versatile keyboardist Steve Alterman, and the dynamic saxophonist Lawrence Tamez.