Reviews & Interviews - Salsa Caliente (Bobby Shew) Crosby, Stills and Nash John Denver Caravana Cubana The Magnificent Seven Riding High Fifth Annual Klon Latin Jazz Caravan Bossa Nova Pulses at Guitar Jam Cooling out in Havana  Salsa Caliente Bobby Shew (MAMA) By Jack Bowers It is mildly surprising that Bobby Shew hasn’t recorded until now an album of Latin Jazz. He was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he played the music often as a young man. While his career took him in other directions - to the studios in Los Angeles, the trumpet sections of a number of well-respected big bands, and eventually all over the world as a sought-after solo performer, his love for its fiery melodies and unconventional rhythms never waned, nor did the idea of one day producing a Latin album. That time has now arrived, and as Shew says in the liner notes to Salsa Caliente, “. . . this recording is something I have dreamt of doing since as far back in my musical life as I can remember.” In fact, for this date he has dubbed himself Bobby “El Zapato” Shew. So how does El Zapato fare? Quite well, actually. The chili peppers on the jacket and the record itself denote the average temperature, and the music generally lives up to it. Of course, Shew is an excellent player in any context, and there’s no reason he should be any less so in this one, especially in light of his background. The supporting cast also perform well, with effective solos by tenor/flutist Almario, pianist Levine and trombonist Velasco complementing the slashing rhythmic incursions of Rodriguez, Pasillas, Resto and Sanchez. Of the songs chosen, only Ray Bryant’s “Cubano Chant,” which opens the session, was familiar to me. But no matter; all of them are admirable, including three sunny compositions by Levine (“Linda Chicana,” “Serengeti,” “Santo Domingo”), one each by Cal Tjader (“Paunetto’s Point”), Harold Ousley (“Elation”) and Bill Fitch (“Insight”), and two (“Paloma,” the lively “Mambo Galante” on which Shew and Cracchiolo present their version of “dueling trumpets”) by Robert Washut, director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa. Savor the music, and if you’re not yet satisfied, try Bobby’s recipes for red chili sauce or guacamole, which are included. Some people simply can’t get enough salsa; others (myself included) encounter heartburn after more than one small helping. If you can tolerate the spicier aspects of Jazz, this one’s for you. Track listing: Cubano Chant; Elation; Linda Chicana; Serengeti; Paunetto’s Point; Santo Domingo; Insight; Paloma; Mambo Galante (63:22). Personnel: Bobby Shew, trumpet, flugelhorn; Mark Levine, piano; Jose “Papo” Rodriguez, bongos, percussion; Justo Almario, tenor saxophone, flute; Arturo Velasco, trombone; Ricardo “Tiki” Pasillas, timbales; Michito Sanchez, congas; Eddie Resto, bass; Sal Cracchiolo, trumpet, flugelhorn. Back to top    CS Know ABCs of Good Music by Gary Pettus, Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The (Jackson, MS) Clarion-Ledger, Thursday, June 7, 1990, Pages 3E, 5E A Young-less Crosby, Stills and Nash will live it up Saturday in Jackson. Crosby, Stills and Nash are back together. Again. To a cynic, their 1990 reunion can only bring to mind the term “deja vu.” Déjà Vu, of course, is the name of one of their songs. (“We have all been here before,” etc., etc. ditto.) As a matter of fact, we’ve all been here before before. This reunion is, at the least, déjà déjà vu. At the least. For 21 years, CS and sometimes Y (as in Young; first name, Neil) has been like a faucet: on-again, off-again, and leaking occasional albums in between. So, news of CS’s Live It Up 1990 Summer Tour probably will not stop the earth in its tracks. Or even in its eight tracks. To a steadfast fan, though, news of a Crosby-Stills-Nash reunion may bring to mind the expression, “carry on.” Carry On is also the name of one of their songs. (“Rejoice! Rejoice! We have no choice . . . ”) David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash will rejoice together in Jackson, beginning at 8:00 Saturday night in the Mississippi Coliseum. Tickets are $18 and available at the coliseum box office, Be-Bop Record Shops and the usual out-of-town outlets. Although the venerable musicians have orchestrated various alphabet reunions over the years -- CSN, CS, C, and even the rare S -- it’s been a long time since C,S and N have toured together. Most of their get-togethers either have been one-time appearances or were limited to work on new albums. This show, which started on the road June 1 and doesn’t stop until Sept. 22, offers a mix of old classics and new originals -- gleaned mainly from the trio’s new Live It Up LP. As usual, though, Crosby, Stills and Nash will not have a set set; they choose the order of their songs more from instinct than from an itinerary. After the first few selections, “it’s up for grabs,” Nash said by telephone from Los Angeles. “We like to keep ourselves spontaneous.” The stage design will be a different matter; it’s being billed as the most elaborate in CS history. “We always let the songs speak for themselves,” Nash said. “We never used dancing girls and smoke bombs. But this time we’ll have more production values. There still won’t be any dancing girls and smoke bombs.” There will be baby-boomer nostalgia; that’s the least you can expect from a band formed in the late ’60s. That’s when Crosby, Stills and the British-born Nash were more or less introduced to each other by Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas. “She said, ‘you know, you ought to meet my friend David Crosby,’” Nash said. “And, of course, I knew him from the Byrds.” “Then she said, ‘you know, you ought to meet my friend Stephen Stills.’ And, of course, I knew him from Buffalo Springfield.” And, of course, Crosby and Stills knew Nash from the Hollies. The question was, if they all left their bands for each other, would the public know them from Adam? The public would, especially after they were joined by Neil Young, another young buck from Buffalo Springfield. Together, they produced such benign rock classics as Our House and Teach Your Children -- both of which Nash wrote -- plus Marrakesh Express, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (which some fans may know as the “doo-doo” song -- “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo”), Woodstock and Love the One You’re With. This is when Nash knew that the singers would mesh: “instantly.” From the moment they sang You Don’t Have to Cry together, he said, he was amazed at their easy harmony -- that mellifluous blend of earnest male voices that all seemed made for each other. That honey-dripping harmony -- the group’s hallmark -- was something the singers never had to work on, Nash said. “We just found each other.” Their vocal compatibility didn’t always reflect their intramural dealings, however. Neil Young was the first to leave for good -- more or less -- becoming a true miner for hits of gold. The others broke off later, then a couple of them came back together, then broke off again. Crosby and Nash found each other repeatedly during this period, collaborating on several records and performances. “He’s very strange, you know,” Nash said of Crosby. “He’s a strange musician,” he said, citing his partner’s folk and jazz influences. “That pushes me and makes me a better musician.” In the mid-’70s, C collected with S and Y; the quartet reformed for a tour and released a compilation record titled So Far. In ’77, ’80, ’82 and ’83, Crosby, Stills and Nash, minus Y, released LPs that produced such Top 40 hits as Just a Song Before I Go, Wasted on the Way and Southern Cross. Meanwhile, Nash was also getting together with the Hollies (in 1983) for a reunion album and tour, and Crosby was getting together with drugs and guns. But Crosby overcame, and so did the band. In the past few years, C, S and N have performed as a group at Farm Aid I and II (held this year) and at the Bridge Benefit. In 1988, Young joined his three ex-confederates on the American Dream album. But this year, the team is Y-less once again. “We wanted to do a CS album, rather than a CSN album,” Nash said. That album is scheduled for release late this month; the tour promoting it will feature backup musicians Michael Finnigan and Kim Bullard on keyboards, Joe Vitale on drums, Jorge Calderon on bass and Michito Sanchez on percussion. Live It Up, the trio’s first album since Allies (1982), “is a very CS record,” Nash said. “We took our basic vocal sound, utilized our technology and made it sound like it was made in the ’90s instead of the ’60s.” It comes from a band influenced by the music of the ’50s -- at least Nash was. He has always been a fan of the Everly Brothers, and once sang with them on one of their albums. “I think (it’s) their Southern drawl,” he said, explaining his fanship. “Their tight harmonies. They were the best, I think.” About a year-and-a-half ago, at a record company luncheon, Nash was seated at a table with Roy Orbison, Little Richard and (deja vu) the Everlys. “We talked about how I learned harmony structures from Phil Everly, about Roy’s song Crying, and Little Richard -- we talked about how important he was to all of us.” Graham Nash had never been there before, and never would be again; Roy Orbison died shortly thereafter. But, surely, meetings like that can only encourage musicians to carry on. Anyway, they have no choice. Back to top    John Denver The week of February 20 at Sony Music Studios was unlike any other. Although film and music history had often been made at the legendary studio complex (The Fox Movietone Studios), this was the first time a double “live” CD, two-hour television special and home video had ever been undertaken in a single session. It simply hadn’t been done. The demands such a project would put on an artist made the idea utterly ridiculous. It would require television cameras and dolly tracks, miles of cable and a highly specialized recording and technical crew approaching 100. This was nuts! Nonetheless, we dared the impossible. On Tuesday evening, as the final pieces of the set were being lifted into place, lights hung and cables taped down on the cavernous sound stage, we gathered in Rehearsal Room B. Between the nervous jokes and the frantic barking of technical orders, the thump of drums, tuning guitars and piano runs punctuated our conversations. Then silence - a pause. Suddenly, in a quick burst James Burton’s blistering guitar seized the room. Jim Horn responded; his driving sax, mocking and angry. “The Harder They Fall.” Rock ’n’ roll at its best - John’s voice, grabbing and taunting. We all looked at each other. Stunned. John Denver? “Bet On The Blues” followed, the acerbic humor of the lyrics along with John’s sly and witty attack provided counterpoint to the soulful slide of Burton’s dobro and Jim Horn’s alto sax. One after another, new sounds unfolded. “Darcy Farrow” was next. The warm tones of John’s six string enveloped the poignant and tragic story, simply and gently echoed by Pete Huttlinger’s mandolin. Classic John Denver. Two days of rehearsals and nearly forty songs later, the excitement in the hallways at Sony Music Studios was palpable. We could sense the ghosts of years past, those film stars and performers who haunt the studio, pleased and listening through the walls. This was a new John Denver. With a hot new band anchored by old friends and legendary session players James Burton (Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, and Elvis Costello) and Jim Horn (The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles), the sound was astonishing. This was to be more than just another concert; it was to be The Wildlife Concert. For John, an important distinction. “We’re doing this to help support the Wildlife Conservation Society. They’re on the front lines and in the field, doing more hands-on work protecting wildlife and habitat than any other single organization in the world. Helping to produce this concert marks the first time they’ve gone public in this way, and it’s truly thrilling for me to have them as a sponsor. Their people, like George Schaller, are the real heroes of our time.” By Thursday, on the streets outside the studio, winter’s bite had become cold and bitter. As evening fell, cutting winds and driving rains pressed hard against the growing crowd; hundreds of fans had begun to gather outside the studio earlier that morning. The line snaked all the way down West 54th Street. From as far away as Germany and England they came; from Maine to Texas and beyond. In the darkness they stood. Waiting on the wet sidewalk, they kept warm by singing. Tonight it was “Take Me Home Country Roads.” Unforgettable, especially for John. “When I arrived for sound check I was amazed. So many friends and fans patiently standing in line, their faces nearly frozen, singing a song I’d written with Bill Danoff almost twenty-five years ago! I don’t know all the ways that song must touch people, but I’m grateful that I have somehow been able to say something that has meaning for others. I can’t tell you how thankful I am, and how thrilled I still get to know people all over the world are familiar with my songs.” Over the next two nights John Denver returned to center stage and, for the first time in a legendary career spanning more than twenty-five years, recorded these twenty-eight songs, both old and new, in a live, intimate setting. Along with many of his best-loved songs, including “Annie’s Song,” “Poems, Prayers, and Promises,” and “Rocky Mountain High,” other hits like “Calypso” and “Back Home Again” were also captured live for the first time. Through this set of new performances, we’re taken on a journey across the landscape of popular music, embracing an extraordinary range including rock roll, blues, folk, country western, as well as John’s signature ballads and love songs. There are new arrangements and a more immediate sound thanks to the experienced ear of producer Bob Irwin (The Byrds, Carole King) assisted by Kris O’Connor. Heavy production mixing and overdubbing have been replaced with a warm concert sound, allowing the subtlety and character of each song to come forward with more energy and texture. The result, as you can hear, is an intimate and striking portrait of the artist and his music. Old favorites like “Fly Away” and “Matthew” have never sounded better. As John points out, there are other changes in the music as well. “In addition to a new band which provides fresh ideas and a new spirit to some of the songs, I think the greatest evolution has really taken place in my voice. I’m starting to learn how to sing. I’ve also got a different perspective on a lot of the songs. It’s surprising to me the different levels I find, and how a song I wrote twenty years ago can, all of a sudden, take on whole new meanings for me. Sometimes it happens when I’m in the middle of performing it. All of a sudden I think of something or see something I never did before.” There are other aspects of this recording that make it especially noteworthy. The newer songs. Undiscovered gems like “Eagles and Horses” with Chris Nole’s spectacular tumbling piano bridges, the enchanting imagery of the new “Song For All Lovers” and “Falling Out Of Love,” with its lilting sax, whose melody belies a painful subject. Alan Deremo’s spectacular bass solo on “Me And My Uncle,” and Michito Sanchez’s driving percussion on “Amazon” offer fans and new listeners alike, thrilling moments. Just as compelling, the solo performances, John Denver alone with his guitar on “Whispering Jesse” provides a wise and eloquent counterpoint to the youthful idealism of “I Guess He’d Rather Be In Colorado.” Best of all, John at the piano, alone but for a string quartet, singing “For You” - a love song whose stunning melody and grace is, perhaps, matched only by “Annie’s Song.” The subtle vulnerability and passion in his voice creates an extraordinary intimacy. Then there’s “Wild Montana Skies” with Pat Hawk’s rich alto harmonies and Burton’s masterful guitar bridge. For John, the western songs hold a special place in the repertoire. “When I grew up the music that my father listened to, the music I was raised on, was called “Country Western.” And in the years since then it’s gotten to be very much “Country” music. They took the West out of it. But I like this notion of the American West. There’s nothing in the world like its people, its splendor, and its spirit. And the songs that I’m proudest of are the songs that to some degree or another express or represent that spirit.” Back in the mid-1970s who could have imagined - John Denver playing rock roll and the blues, composing for the piano, accompanied by a string quartet, or by a jazz saxophone replacing a bluegrass fiddle. Miraculously, the transition has been made without compromise. The music has not so much changed as grown. Today, the sound is more interesting. The palette richer, more diverse. How many other bands in popular music today include both banjo and saxophone - or feature recorders the way we hear them on “Amazon?” But for all of the music, John Denver remains an enigma. He is no longer America’s “Country Boy.” Ironically, he did not start out that way either. The songs, like rediscovered old friends, are at once familiar, yet have a fresh, new quality to them; the performances are more relaxed and reflective. Perhaps most interesting, his music has endured, no small feat in an industry infatuated with everything new. Several decades later, songs written in the tumult of the 1960s folk scene still captivate us and are taught to kids in schools and summer camps everywhere; songs like “Sunshine On My Shoulders” have become a part of our cultural fabric. A scrawny young kid in the early years, John traveled alone on the wings of a dream. Guitar in hand, he grew in the legendary folk club circuit of the 1960s, honing his craft, testing himself with protest songs and satire at the Cellar Door in D.C., the Bottom Line here in New York, and the Troubadour in L.A. There was the audition for Milt Okun, who saw potential in the young folk singer and gave him his first break with the Chad Mitchell Trio. Shortly thereafter, John would find his own song writing voice at the age of 22 with “Leaving On A Jet Plane;” later to become a number one hit single for the luminary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. His meteoric rise in the 1970s, his domination of the pop-music charts, was a phenomenon the music industry had rarely seen since the Beatles. John Denver was everywhere, by 1975 he was the biggest selling recording artist in the world. Today, his record sales, 14 gold and 8 platinum albums in the U.S. alone, continue to make him one of the top-selling artists in the history of the music industry. His impact has been felt in other ways as well. John Denver’s Greatest Hits, at the time only the third album in music history to sell over ten million copies, ignited a popular celebration of the outdoors. The album cover itself helped launch a fashion trend! Remember the kid sitting in the grass with his down vest and hiking boots? Remember the early 70s? Nobody wore that stuff then! The album ignited a popular consciousness that celebrated nature. Because of its massive appeal, it significantly helped to popularize the conservation ethic in American culture. We all bought that record. We all bought down vests and hiking boots. For John, the motivation was simpler. “As a kid I was really shy. I spent a lot of time either outdoors or alone with my guitar. The outdoors was my first and truest best friend. Whether it was in the desert in Arizona when I was in grade school, or wheat harvest in Oklahoma, or later working in the lumber camps in the Pacific Northwest, nature has always felt like my best friend. And because of that, when I began to try to express myself, it was a perfectly natural thing to use images from nature. I think that is one of the things that allows the songs to reach so many people all over the world.” Along with the environmental movement he gave voice to, John Denver has grown up. In addition to being the first non-classical music artist to receive the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Award in 1993, “For a life dedicated to music and humanity”, he has established two foundations of his own, Windstar and Plant-It 2000. Plant-It 2000 has been remarkably effective in reforestation efforts around the world, planting more than 250,000 trees in the last two years alone. Today, John Denver is more than a performer and singer/songwriter. He’s an American icon. The mere mention of his name evokes an immediate image even among those few who are not familiar with his music. Regardless of ethnic heritage, generation, race, or social class; in Hong Kong or on the streets of New York City, most of us think we know who John Denver is. In Manhattan, the cabbies still beep their horns, “Hey, JD!” To understand why is perhaps to understand ourselves. Maybe it’s the idealism or his signature optimism - that sense of hope that is so American - today, so easily scorned; given short shrift in these cynical times. Nonetheless, it is that part of the unique American character that is so admired by people around the world. How else can one explain the monumental and enduring global popularity of songs like “Take Me Home Country Roads” and “Annie’s Song” today in Russia, China, and even Patagonia. But to know John is to listen to his songs. It is in the music that he’s most at home, most himself. There was a special magic within the hallways and inside the mixing and editing rooms at Sony Music Studios that cold week in February; but especially so on the main soundstage where the warmth shared between John and the audience was memorable. Those of us lucky enough to be there will never forget. Fortunately, I think we’ve captured it here. Take a moment and listen. You will be surprised. The Wildlife Concert is the music of John Denver. An American voice. A wandering soul - Maxim Langstaff April 1995 New York City Back to top    Caravana Cubana Printed in the Monday, February 21 edition of the Los Angeles Times, page F5 Back to top   Guitarists Cesar Rosas (left) and Rick Trevino with Latin musical collective Los Super Seven at the Bowery Ballroom. N.Y. Post: Jim Alcorn MUSIC REVIEW by Dan Aquilante on LOS SUPER SEVEN The magnificent seven riding high     The Latin musical collective Los Super Seven should be a little more accurate with its name. First: By the end of Tuesday's Bowery Ballroom concert, the band had swelled to a dozen. Second: This pan- American ensemble isn't super -- it's magnificent.     This is a no-fooling, no-stops, all-star lineup.     Among these greats, count Raul (roll the "R") Malo of the Mavericks, country tenor Rick Trevino and Los Lobos principals Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo.     There's hardly a pretty face in the band, but these artists are doing what Jennifer, Ricky and Shakera have been unable to accomplish with basically standard pop -- make Latin music cross into the mainstream.     The show, like the band's just release album, "Canto," opened with Malo working on his best Elvis inflections on the Tango "Siboney." The slow meter and syncopated rhythm of the percussion and voice composition folded into Malo's booming baritone, giving the piece a sultry, seductive quality that you didn't have to be Argentinean to appreciate.     Hidalgo and Rosas certainly are the best-known of the Seven, and their fans were there in mass, but if the cheers and whistles were the barometer, it was the nimble-voiced Rick Trevino who cranked up the crowd the most.     Trevino's two-step "El Que Siempre Su Maiz," played early in the evening, was smooth and allowed the packed house to get up and dance.     When Ruben Ramos, the dapper silver fox of Tejano music, wasn't flirting with ladies on and off the stage, he sand excellent backup and was terrific during his vocal lead on "Company Gato."     Under these vocal highlights, the guitars, percussion, piano, bass and flute -- the canvas on which the singers painted -- often bloomed into full jams that allowed both instrumental and vocal soloists to shine.     The percussionists were contributed by everyone in the band at one time or another, and provided the foundation to the evening. Alberto Salas instinctively played the piano like the percussion instrument that it is.     Was the evening too ethnic? No.     The players needed no translation. They spole in a voice any man, woman or child could understand. It was a near-perfect evening of music, and one hopes the band will play in New York one more time before the players of this collective break up and head back to their home bands. Back to top   FIFTH ANNUAL KLON LATIN JAZZ CARAVAN THE SCENE     Jose Rizzo often refers to Tolú as a powerhouse salsa band. He is not exaggerating. Any band comprised of a rhythm section of Joey De Leon, Michito Sanchez, and Ricardo "Tiki" Pasilas, a brass section of Harry Kim and Arturo Velasco, pianist Joe Rotondi, guitarist John Peña, and saxophonist Justo Almario, is capable of playing with sheer power. They all rank among the finest Latin jazz musicians in the world.     Tolú appeared at the Mint in West Los Angeles. Their last selection before the first intermission was "Mambo Barbara," from their album Rumbero's poetry. It was an impressive display of energy and power reminiscent of the great fifteen piece swing bands of the Big Band era. The packed nightclub was transfixed. Their selection before "Mambo Barbara" demonstrated Tolú's ability to generate an equally intense emotional response playing romantic music. Their interpretation of the melodically beautiful "La Historia de Un Amor," with a soulful clarinet solo by Almario, brought down the house.     Justo Almario led the band. He left his native Columbia in 1969 to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he developed a long time association with Mongo Santamaria, eventually settling in Los Angeles where he and percussionist Alex Acuna formed a group of musicians in the early 1980s who met to informally jam and improvise Latin music. They named it Tolú after a beach on Colombia's Caribbean Coast near Almario's hometown of Sincelejo. Due to scheduling conflicts, the group has been only sporadically active. But over the last three years they have been making a concerted effort to keep together.     Tolú plays a unique blend of compositions. They combine Brazilian, Calypso, and South American music with jazz and Latin rhythms to create an innovative Pan American sound that is starting to reach across the globe. Let's hope they do stay together to achieve the exposure they richly deserve so they can continue to make a significant contribution to Latin jazz and build on their rapid growing popularity. Back to top Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2001 Bossa Nova Pulses at Guitar Jam Oscar Castro-Neves joins John Pisano for a high-spirited evening. Jazz Review By Don Heckman Special to the Times     The best jazz bargain in town--John Pisano's guitar jams at Spazio in Sherman Oaks--was especially rewarding Tuesday night. The ever-energetic guitarist, his versatility well-established over the years via gigs ranging from the Tijuana Brass to Joe Pass, was accompanied in the front line by the equally gifted and experienced Brazillian artist Oscar Castro-Neves.     Add to that the bass playing of Abraham Laboriel, the keyboard work of Frank Zottoli and the percussion of Michito Sanchez, and the ingredients for a first-rate evening were firlmy in place. Although another important Brazilian guitarist, Dori Caymmi, was unable to make the performance, the results nonetheless delivered the sort of engaging, high-spirited, musical experience that is beginning to draw ever-larger crowds to the weekly guitar events.     Typically, the flow of the performance was largly spontaneous. Starting out with a set featuring Pisano and the rhythm section, the music roved easily from "Tangerine" to "How Insensitive" with Pisano interacting smoothly with Zottoli's unusual combination of keyboard sounds, Sanchez's colorful percussion timbres and Laboriel's always energetic bass solos.     When Castro-Neves joined the group for the balance of the evening, the pendulum swung in the direction of Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. And in Castro-Neves--who was present in Rio, as a very young man, when the music began to emerge in the '50s--the performance gained an irresistable subtext of rhythmic subtlety.     Sitting side by side, smilingly tossing phrases back and forth, the guitarists played a range of Antonio Carlos Jobim classics, "Chega De Saudade" among them, throwing in some arrangements from their past performances together (includng a delicate rendering of the Chopin C minor Prelude).     In the final set, Castro-Neves added a vocal interpretation of his own "Chora Tua Tristeza," written when he was 16, that turned out to be one of the evenings unexpected highlights. In a classic example of what makes the guitar nights so fascinating, the song--completely unfamiliar to the other players --began solely with Castro-Neves' guitar and voice. But by the time he was halfway through, Pisano had picked up on the chords, soon joined by Laboriel and Zottoli, with Sanchez adding crisp rhythmic accents, all of it resulting in a joyous celebration of the pleasures of musical spontaneity. John Pisano's Guitar Night at Spazio, 14755 Ventura Blvd., 2nd Floor, Sherman Oaks. Tuesdays, 8 to 12 p.m. No cover; two drink minimum. (818) 728-8400. Back to top