GREAT HAMRMONICA!

I KNOW MOST PEOPLE DON’T GET EXCITED ABOUT HARMONICA MUSIC, BUT THE ABOVE VIDEO OF A CARNEGIE HALL PERFORMANCE IS IMPRESSIVE. IT’S A LITTLE LONG, BUT WORTH THE WAIT FOR THE LAST PART OF THE PERFORMANCE.

THE HEAT IS ON!

THE HEAT IS ON!

February 8th, 2008
8:00 PM
Thousand Oaks Civic Plaza
Fred Kavli Theatre
2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362

An explosive theatrical concert backed by an 11- piece orchestra based on the life of movie star, Rita Hayworth, The Heat Is On! examines the life, loves & career of one of Hollywood's most electrifying sirens -- starring Quinn Lemley in her critically acclaimed tour-de-force performance that "seduces to ovational roars!"


The Heat Is On! explores Miss Hayworth's infamous marriages to Orson Welles and Prince Aly Khan, her turbulent relationship with Columbia Pictures movie mogul Harry Cohn, her ascent into Hollywood stardom in the '40's, her relationships with Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes & her final struggle with Alzheimer's.

Miss Lemley takes you by the hand with Hayworth, as she invites you into the crevasses of her heart to share the flip side of her life through monologues and Hayworth's music (Long Ago and Far Away, Put The Blame On Mame, I'm Old Fashioned, Zip, The Lady is a Tramp & Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered), backed by an electrifying 11- piece Big Band, dance and five costume changes.

Spellbinding ... Drop-Dead Gorgeous & A Great Performer" --Will Friedwald, Village Voice

PASSING OF A GREAT JAZZ SUPPORTER!

PASSING OF A GREAT JAZZ SUPPORTER!

As some of you have seen on my site, I love having dinner and listening to performers at Hollywood’s well-known Catalina Jazz Club. I'm sad to report the owner and founder of the club, Bob Popescu, has passed away.

Bob was a great supporter of jazz and has given opportunities for countless jazz artists. I have been going to his club (named after his beautiful wife) for a number of years, and it was the place I really fell in love with jazz.

He will be missed, but definitely not forgotten.

The website for the club is
www.catalinajazzclub.com if you feel inclined to write or send condolences.

Los Angeles Times Obituary:
By Jocelyn Y Stewart

Bob Popescu, co-owner of the Catalina Bar & Grill, who converted a former Italian restaurant into a jazz supper club, then quickly sealed its reputation as a premier night spot by convincing jazz great Dizzy Gillespie to play there, has died. He was 77.

Popescu suffered a heart attack Saturday at his home in Los Angeles, said his wife, Catalina."Bob was a visionary," said bassist Richard Simon. "This town hasn't always been hospitable to ventures such as his in a niche as fraught with uncertainty as jazz, but he managed to create a space that was hospitable to both local musicians and the name groups that visit from other parts of the world."

The Hollywood club that Popescu and his wife created occupies a unique chapter in the history of jazz in Los Angeles.By the mid-1980s, Hollywood was in the throes of a decline, and Shelly's Manne-Hole, a once popular Hollywood jazz club, had gone silent.

Popescu and his wife, both Romanian immigrants, had pooled their resources to open a restaurant on a shabby stretch of Cahuenga Boulevard, not far from what had been Shelly's Manne-Hole.

Business was not booming, and as they searched for ways to increase their customer base, the couple heard one suggestion that resonated: jazz.

Neither Popescu nor his wife had experience running a jazz club; Popescu had made his living as a contractor. So they enlisted the help of local jazzman Buddy Collette, whose advice on how to create a fine jazz club included such elements as the bandstand, lights and sound system.

With his building skills, Popescu was able to convert the space quickly. Catalina Bar & Grill opened in 1986, a fledgling new jazz spot with premier supper club dreams.

"Bob was always very courageous as a promoter," said Collette, who was the club's first performer. "He said, 'I would like to hire Dizzy Gillsespie.' I said, 'It will cost you a lot of money' . . . Dizzy didn't come cheap."

Popescu was prepared to underwrite the performance, figuring it would yield untold dividends. Getting Gillespie to accept the invitation to play at a club few had heard of before was a matter of Popescu doing what he did best.

"He loved people. He loved the music," Catalina Popescu said of her husband. "With his sweetness and his heart, Dizzy couldn't resist him."

Gillespie played the club right onto the nation's jazz map.On Easter weekend in 1987, a who's who from the jazz world -- Benny Carter, Miles Davis, Cedar Walton -- made their way to that shabby stretch of Cahuenga in search of the Catalina Bar & Grill.

"Each chair was filled with a big celebrity. They all showed up to see Gillespie," Collette recalled. "Once they did that, they wanted to know, 'Who is this guy Bob Popescu?' "

Born May 23, 1930, in Alunu, a small village in Oltenia in south Romania, Popescu earned a degree in electrical engineering from a university in Bucharest.In 1969, when the nation was under communist rule, he defected to the U.S., settled in Los Angeles and acquired citizenship. When he returned to Romania five years later, he met Catalina and they later married.

Over the years, Popescu helped bring scores of people from Romania to the U.S. He sponsored them, helped them adjust to their new nation and opened his home to them.The couple also developed a reputation for being real friends of the jazz world, Collette said.

"Bob and Catalina have really been in the vanguard as far as giving hope to the young and undiscovered, as well as giving latitude and encouragement to both local and touring musicians," said Simon, the bassist who often performed at the club.

The elegant club, which moved to Sunset Boulevard at McCadden Place in 2003, also is a frequent host for events benefiting charitable and jazz education organizations, such as Collette's JazzAmerica.

Catalina Popescu is the face most identified with the club while her husband, humble and shy, worked behind the scenes. He continued to book performers for the club and answer the phones.

"That was his life," his wife said. We were "always fighting for this, to keep it alive and to make it happen -- and we did. That was only because of his love for this place and his dedication."

In addition to his wife, Popescu is survived by a son, Michael, and a grandson, also named Michael, who both live in Romania; a brother; and two sisters.

MI-5: VOLUME FIVE ON DVD!

MI-5: VOLUME FIVE ON DVD!

BBC’s MI-5 Volume 5 comes out today, with Rupert Penry-Jones returning as agent Adam Carter leading a team that will be mostly familiar to those who’ve watched religiously through season 4, but completely alien to someone who last tuned in during, say, season 2. That’s right, the mortality rate on this show remains exceptionally high, which keeps it fresh in its fifth "series" (as they say in England, where they also refer to this show by the better title Spooks).

It’s taut, suspenseful, quality television, where anything can happen and even the main character is never safe. As of Season 4, MI-5 had lost a bit of the more realistic edge that separated it from 24, but was still a long way from devolving into the soap opera of that program. As usual, the last season ended with a cliffhanger, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what happens next...

Update: www.doubleosection.blogspot.com

CINEMA RETRO COVERS DEADLIER THAN THE MALE

CINEMA RETRO COVERS DEADLIER THAN THE MALE

www.doubleosection.blogspot.com tells us the January issue of the stylish and glossy magazine Cinema Retro (whose publishers and contributors include such spy luminaries as Lee Pfeiffer and Ray-mond Benson) features a cover story on the greatest Bond knock-off film ever, Deadlier Than the Male, and its sequel Some Girls Do! The magazine's website promises new, exclusive interviews with stars Elke Sommer and Richard Johnson in a ten-page feature. Deadlier Than the Male is a film worthy of a lot more attention than it's ever gotten, and it’s special that someone is finally bothering to tell its story.

McELWAY BASKETBALL STORY!

INSPIRING SPORTS STORY!

LOVEJOY!

FOR ALL THOSE SOCCER JUGGLING FANS -- LOVEJOY OF THE HAMMERS!

HAMISH MACBETH!

GREAT GENTLE MYSTERY SERIES (THE BOOKS, HOWEVER, ARE BETTER THAN THE TV SHOW)!