Katie was recommended to me by my friend, Nick Vincent, with whom I’ve done the Nilsson Tribute shows. Most recently he did the arrangement for “Nevertheless” for the 8th Annual show. (See it here.)

Katie, it turns out was part of Kenny Burrell’s 85th birthday concert, which gives us something in common, as I sang with him at the 75th and 80th!

She’ll be solo on the 6th, and here’s how she describes her music:

Katie Ward imagines a world in which jazz harmony and glittery synthesizers enmesh in a dreamy balancing act of consonance and dissonance. At times her musical world is chaotic and challenging, but it is matched with a lyrical sincerity that is unabashedly girly and whimsical. She aims to push musical boundaries as far as possible without straying from an emotional core.

I’m looking forward to hearing her live!

Gary is someone I find a delight to be around! His voice is pure and his songs are witty, poignant, and effortlessly musical. I’m exited to have him join us on the 6th for a set.

Read some about him below:

GARY STOCKDALE is a 2-time Emmy-nominated composer, songwriter and singer who composed music for many TV shows and films, including Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Penn & Teller: Bullshit, Spongebob Squarepants, and The Aristocrats (not to be confused with the AristoCATS – this is the one about the world’s dirtiest joke told by the world’s funniest comedians). For some of these, he also wrote and was the primary vocalist on original songs. He was also the composer and Musical Director for the Emmy-nominated Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular, one of the last true TV variety shows. Gary won a BMI Award for Music Composition for his work on the Penn & Teller show.

As a veteran studio singer, his voice can be heard on The Prince of Egypt, Star Wars: Rogue One, Star Trek: Beyond, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, The Simpsons, & Family Guy. He has sung with Justin Timberlake, Adele, Aaron Neville, Neil Young, David Crosby & Johnny Mathis, and backed up Mary J. Blige on the 2018 Oscars. Gary’s onscreen performances include a featured solo in the cult-classic musical TV seriesCop/Rock, a lead vocal in the film Lucy In The Sky (as a singing Shriner),  a singing retiree in the first episode of B Positive, as well as wearing a pink choir robe, backing up Camila Cabello on the Ellen show in 2019.

With Spencer Green, Gary co-wrote the irreverent adult musical BUKOWSICAL, which won Outstanding Musical at the2007 New York International Fringe Festival. Gary also composed the score for the original Off-Broadway productionof PLAYDEAD, directed and co-written by Teller. He was the original keyboard player in the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Gary’s latest record, Keep Letting Go was released in 2018. After working with Gary, award-winning songwriters Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill (You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, Somewhere Out There) called Gary “…one of the greatest singers on the planet.” That quote sure looks nice on a bio!

Garystockdale.com

No shows booked at the moment.

The next act to join us on the 2nd is Lula.

Jami Lula and I go back to the days when I was working retail on Melrose! I think it was my childhood friend, Ivan Knight (a drummer, with whom I played my first professional gig when I was 11!) who told me about this gifted singer from Detroit that he wanted to bring into our circle of musicians. I was puzzled and floored by him right away. He’d do this impromptu sort of Tom Waits gravelly narrative improvisation, then he’d sound like Bobby McFerrin, then something like Kurt Elling (before I knew Kurt Elling’s sound, of course…).

For a short time I was a part of the band, Anything Orange, with Jami, Ivan, and Lula’s bassist, Jeffrey Dean. But I had my own thing to do…. 🙂

Anything Orange, became Orange, then became Lula, I think, when Jami’s old Detroit pal, Gordie Germaine, joined on guitar.

In the interim, Jami would often join me on gigs, with Charlie Colin (later of Train) on upright, and the late “Professor” Dwight Baldwin on percussion. My favorite memory is of us not being able to get into our gig at the 8121 Club on Sunset. A lot of our audience was in same predicament, waiting in line, so we did a mini set right there on the street in front of the Coconut Teaszer! Sometimes you’d find us engaged in similar activities at Damiano’s on Fairfax after playing a gig at Café Largo. We also used to host a songwriters gathering at Highland Grounds around the fire pit on Sunday afternoons. And I can’t forget the fun times with Jami and David Zasloff, showing up in the oddest places, co-creating beauty!

Jami grew into teaching at Musicians Institute Hollywood (MI), teaching voice and songwriting. I always enjoyed being a guest in his classes because I could feel the curiosity and passion that he’d stoked in his students, which fueled mine, while I tried to explain my process to these engaged minds.

Beyond teaching at MI, Jami became involved with Agape International Spiritual Center and other thinkers in the spiritual and human potential movement, where the full potential of his gifts really seemed to flourish. The ease with which his neo-bohemian improvisations flowed when I first met him, now made sense! The man can tap into spirit! I really admire and feel the uplifting power of the work he’s done over the past couple decades performing and speaking nationwide, and in his 10+ releases on Spirit in the House Records.

Find more info about Jami on jamilula.com.

And until June 2, on the subject of Jami Lula, I’ll leave you with words from Agape’s Rev. Michael Beckwith:

“Jami Lula’s music is more than a shiver-inducing experience in sound, it is inspiration itself as an offering just to you. What I love about Jami’s improvisational textures is the intimacy he exudes through his personal intensity, which comes from a direct relationship with life, his love of it, and of humanity.”

– Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith

Lula is Jami Lula, vocals; Jeffrey Dean, bass; and Gordie Germaine, guitar. They play with Phil Parlapiano, and me (Jason Luckett) on Friday, June 2, 2023 @ Lyd & Mo’s Photography Studio in Pasadena.

RSVP on Facebook for more info.