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Tamir Hendelman
“His playing… was so sensitive, introspective and captivating, that you could literally hear a pin drop in an audience of some 500 people.” – Fred Eckstein, LA Jazz Scene, October 2000.
Israel-born pianist Tamir Hendelman has been based in Los Angeles since 1996. His past includes working on a chart-topping album with Barbra Streisand, and performing Oscar Peterson’s “Canadiana Suite” at the Hollywood Bowl, with the great Canadian himself in attendance.
“My musical journey began in Israel at age 6 on the electric organ with a mix of classical and jazz and original songs. When I was 13, my family moved to Los Angeles from Tel Aviv. In LA I composed for and performed in a national Yamaha keyboard competition. One of the judges, composer and pianist Joe Harnell became a mentor. I attended his film scoring sessions, went to jam sessions a Billy Higgins’ World Stage, took harmony classes and attended lessons with Clare Fischer and Billy Childs. So for me, California was really a land of musical opportunities.”
As a high school student, I was encouraged to enroll in conservatory and went east and north. At Eastman School of Music I immersed myself in classical composition and piano, but never forgot about my love of jazz, and my recitals always had some improvisation in them.
I sat in on jazz masterclasses by Lee Konitz and Ron Carter, played in a big band, and arranged. Then, back in LA in the later 90’s I began gradually performing with saxophonists like Teddy Edwards and Rickey Woodard, playing duos with vocalists, like Tierney Sutton and Barbara Morrison, and forming my own trio.
LA has a unique scene- there are many recording and touring artists and the community is supportive of up-and-coming musicians.
The scene in LA has really grown in the last decade with venues like The Blue Whale and now Sam First have been magnets for creative musicians.
I first got to hear Jeff Hamilton live with the great Ray Brown Trio (with pianist Benny Green) at Catalina in Hollywood in the late ‘90s. The energy of the whole group was really something to experience. A few years later, Jeff heard me at a club in a duo with a vocalist. He introduced himself afterwards. Soon I got a call from him that his trio was heading to Japan and the piano chair was open. He invited me to learn a few arrangements and then meet to play them together. I began to learn the trio’s recordings. We then met and played, and I was glad to be invited to join the trio in 2000.
Being in the Jeff Hamilton Trio over the years has shown me many things a trio can be – a musical conversation, a groove, a chamber group or a big band. How to play to make each other sound our best. How to arrange to bring out each person’s musical strengths. In my own trio, I’ve tried to bring those lessons and at the same time, tap into all my influences, and explore some different things.
In 2001, I was invited to join the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, co-led by Jeff, John Clayton and the late, great Jeff Clayton. This was like joining a musical family. Making music with composer, conductor and bassist John Clayton has been a continual inspiration as well. It’s a joy to continue to learn from and be inspired by making music with Jeff and John.
In the summer of 2001, John invited me to learn Oscar Peterson’s “Canadiana Suite” for his new orchestration for a Hollywood Bowl concert in honor of Oscar, who also performed that night. It meant the world to me that John would trust me with this musical challenge. These kind of experiences made it clear to me the kinds of people I wanted to surround myself with as a musician to keep growing.
An Evening of Nat “King” Cole and more…
Starring Eddie Wakes
EDDIE WAKES
No one sings The Great American Songbook
like Eddie Wakes.
The style of music known as The Great American Songbook was built over a five-decade period, starting in the 1920s. Lyrically erudite, melodically sophisticated and harmony rich, the songs reflect upon love with uncommon poetic economy.
Eddie Wakes’ life as a singer is the stuff movies are made of: from performing at the Super Bowl as a youngster, to being discovered years later singing on the street in Los Angeles by Hollywood A-listers. In fact, the first time Eddie Wakes’ recorded a Christmas song, it was for Damien Chazelle’s LA LA Land, after Damien discovered Eddie singing on the street in Santa Monica, CA.
“You don’t hear many voices like his today. Rich, delicate and effortlessly beautiful.” – Damien Chazelle, Director, La La Land
That’s because when Eddie Wakes sings, he turns heads. His vocal style is reminiscent of another time; Wakes has a velvety, wide range baritone that doesn’t sound like other contemporary singers today. He’s a “tremendous singer” says Elvis Costello.
Wakes hails from Topeka, Kansas. Within his own family, a lineage of musical prowess served as his guiding light. He sang with his eight brothers, his father was a pastor and a phenomenal singer – Lionel Hampton asked him to sing with his big band – and Eddie, in turn, honed his skills in the vibrant crucible of church and school talent showcases. Wakes says, “Who were my great influences growing up singing? Well, my older brothers, and of course, the countless icons who influenced them: Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Johnny Hartman, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, even James Brown.
Wakes’ debut album, Street Singer, Vol. 1 featuring members of The Royal Crown Revue and produced by Marvin Etzioni, will be released on Flatiron Recordings in May 2025. Eddie’s about to embark on his most ambitious project to date in support of his debut album, “Street Singer”. Backed by a world-class quartet, Eddie will tour extensively, domestically and abroad.
