Steve Tyrell

Steve Tyrell spent decades in the music business as a producer and an executive before he decided to step out on his own as a singer. His resulting two albums (with a third, a holiday CD, about to be released) have reached consistently high positions on the jazz charts. And that's a bit perplexing, since his performance at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday had a lot more to do with rhythm & blues, Dean Martin and Dr. John than it did with, say, Joe Williams or Mel Torme.

While summer in Newport Beach brings to mind crashing waves at the Wedge or sailboats dotting the waters around Balboa Island, for music lovers it's also a time to catch some of the country's best-loved jazz performers in two summer jazz series. From new jazz to smooth jazz, from big band to traditional, the weekly concerts feature artists in a lush and intimate outdoor setting. As the longest-running jazz series in Southern California, the Newport Beach Summer Jazz Series at the Hyatt Regency has again attracted a stellar lineup of artists on Friday nights in the hotel's outdoor amphitheater, including returning regular saxophonist David Sanborn, popular song stylists Steve Tyrell and Bobby Caldwell, as well as hot up-and-coming performers like vocalist Spencer Day. The landscaped Regency grounds, with views of Newport's Back Bay, provide an ideal setting, according to producer and promoter Jim "Fitz" Fitzgerald.

Steve Tyrell has had a long and accomplished history as a top-level record and soundtrack producer. His list of achievements ranges from Linda Ronstadt's "Somewhere Out There" and the hit Bacharach-David film song "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" to the No. 1 single from Fox TV's "The Heights."

Steve Tyrell spent decades in the music business as a producer and an executive before he decided to step out on his own as a singer. His resulting two albums (with a third, a holiday CD, about to be released) have reached consistently high positions on the jazz charts. And that's a bit perplexing, since his performance at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday had a lot more to do with rhythm & blues, Dean Martin and Dr. John than it did with, say, Joe Williams or Mel Torme.

Here in a noisy city that produces some of the world's sweetest sounds, you sometimes need to listen carefully to separate your rhythm from your blues, your oldies from your goodies, your hip from your hop. Tastes in music change as quickly as you can program all the FM and AM buttons on your dashboard. The recording studios of Los Angeles have served as houses of wax for everything from symphonies to surfer tunes. No one knows for sure what the public's ear will care to hear next.

That's the unmistakable tone of satisfaction in the voice of Steve Tyrell, talking now of his most recent ride high onto the pop music charts. Not that Tyrell hasn't been here before, as record producer, songwriter, promoter, and record company executive for musicians as varied as Linda Ronstadt and the Kingsmen.

While summer in Newport Beach brings to mind crashing waves at the Wedge or sailboats dotting the waters around Balboa Island, for music lovers it's also a time to catch some of the country's best-loved jazz performers in two summer jazz series. From new jazz to smooth jazz, from big band to traditional, the weekly concerts feature artists in a lush and intimate outdoor setting. As the longest-running jazz series in Southern California, the Newport Beach Summer Jazz Series at the Hyatt Regency has again attracted a stellar lineup of artists on Friday nights in the hotel's outdoor amphitheater, including returning regular saxophonist David Sanborn, popular song stylists Steve Tyrell and Bobby Caldwell, as well as hot up-and-coming performers like vocalist Spencer Day. The landscaped Regency grounds, with views of Newport's Back Bay, provide an ideal setting, according to producer and promoter Jim "Fitz" Fitzgerald.

Fiddler Mark O'Connor will present a tribute to legendary jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli as part of the Orange County Performing Arts Center's 2002-03 Jazz Club Series. Besides O'Connor's shows March 14-15, the series will feature trumpeter Nicholas Payton (Oct. 25-26); singer-composer Steve Tyrell (Nov. 8-9); the Pat Martino Trio with organist Joey DeFrancesco (Nov. 22-23); the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with singer Dee Dee Bridgewater (Jan. 10); and vocalist Dianne Reeves (Jan. 24-25).

"Mistletoe and Martinis" was the perfect title for radio station KLAC-AM's first anniversary concert celebration of its current "Fabulous 570" format Sunday night at the Universal Amphitheatre. With memories of Ol' Blue Eyes, Dino, Sammy, Mel and Nat drifting through the packed theater, a second-generation Sinatra, Cole and Torme on stage and a program showcasing the Great American Songbook, the notion of grasping a martini and kissing under the mistletoe seemed exactly on target.

Steve Tyrell has had a long and accomplished history as a top-level record and soundtrack producer. His list of achievements ranges from Linda Ronstadt's "Somewhere Out There" and the hit Bacharach-David film song "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" to the No. 1 single from Fox TV's "The Heights."

Here in a noisy city that produces some of the world's sweetest sounds, you sometimes need to listen carefully to separate your rhythm from your blues, your oldies from your goodies, your hip from your hop. Tastes in music change as quickly as you can program all the FM and AM buttons on your dashboard. The recording studios of Los Angeles have served as houses of wax for everything from symphonies to surfer tunes. No one knows for sure what the public's ear will care to hear next.

That's the unmistakable tone of satisfaction in the voice of Steve Tyrell, talking now of his most recent ride high onto the pop music charts. Not that Tyrell hasn't been here before, as record producer, songwriter, promoter, and record company executive for musicians as varied as Linda Ronstadt and the Kingsmen.

This was a transformative year for jazz performance in the Southland. Start with the grand opening of a spectacular new locale -- the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Although there were questions about the sound qualities of Keith Jarrett's performance in November, the venue clearly has the potential to serve as a showcase for world-class jazz acts. Add to that the Cerritos Center's new Sierra Nights series.

Five girls who could hardly be more different from one another tooling around in a pink convertible in the early 1960s, doing some heavy female bonding in the last days before one of them is to marry. . . . That was the premise of "Shag," a charming and little-seen comedy of a few years back, and it also happens to describe the plot driving "Pink Lightning," a less entertaining made-for-TV comedy-drama from Fox (tonight at 8 on Channel 11).