George Kahn Trio with Courtney Lemmon at First & Hope Downtown Supper Club

A major force in the Los Angeles jazz community since the late 1990s, pianist-composer George Kahn recently released his sixth CD, Cover Up! Made available through his Playing Records label, Cover Up! features Kahn's trio with bassist Brian Bromberg and drummer Alex Acuna, plus occasional guests. The brilliant lineup of players interprets four catchy originals as well as some surprising , recognizable rock tunes that are transformed into jazz.

“People always respond to songs they know,” says George Kahn. “Thinking about it, I realized that I'd always wanted to create jazz versions of tunes that one does not normally hear in a jazz setting. Rather than perform ‘Stella By Starlight' or ‘Autumn Leaves' yet again, I thought it would be fun to play songs that I liked while I was growing up, usually from the late 1960s and early ‘70s and some newer tunes. I settled on songs by Cream, Pink Floyd, Bill Withers and John Mayer along with the Beatles.”...

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A major force in the Los Angeles jazz community since the late 1990s, pianist-composer George Kahn recently released his sixth CD, Cover Up! Made available through his Playing Records label, Cover Up! features Kahn's trio with bassist Brian Bromberg and drummer Alex Acuna, plus occasional guests. The brilliant lineup of players interprets four catchy originals as well as some surprising , recognizable rock tunes that are transformed into jazz.

“People always respond to songs they know,” says George Kahn. “Thinking about it, I realized that I'd always wanted to create jazz versions of tunes that one does not normally hear in a jazz setting. Rather than perform ‘Stella By Starlight' or ‘Autumn Leaves' yet again, I thought it would be fun to play songs that I liked while I was growing up, usually from the late 1960s and early ‘70s and some newer tunes. I settled on songs by Cream, Pink Floyd, Bill Withers and John Mayer along with the Beatles.”

Rather than performing watered-down versions of pop tunes, Kahn created arrangements that reinvented the songs as swinging and hip jazz. “‘Sunshine Of Your Love' was difficult initially, but when I played it in the studio with Brian Bromberg and Alex Acuna, it really jelled. ‘Comfortably Numb' has a very open and interesting chord progression that allows it to work very well as a ballad. The first time I heard ‘Waiting On The World To Change,' I loved the song and realized that it was really a gospel tune although John Mayer does not play it like that. We slowed it down, added a couple of chord changes and there it was.” Also quite unusual is the meshing together of the Beatles' “Yesterday” and Jerome Kern's “Yesterdays.” Rather than play it as a conventional medley, the two songs are combined in a way that keeps listeners guessing as to which song is which.

George Kahn George Kahn has been playing with Brian Bromberg and Alex Acuna on an occasional basis since they met in 2004 and they formed the nucleus of his previous CD “…Compared To What?“ There is clearly a strong chemistry between the three of us. When I thought about doing a new album, they were the first musicians I thought of. I love playing with them, and the groove we get is so natural and infectious.” Tenor-saxophonist Justo Almario and trumpeter John Fumo, who are on four selections apiece, are old friends while the versatile guitarist Pat Kelley adds a great deal to the music on two cuts. Bill Withers' “Use Me” features the young singer Courtney Lemmon. “My wife is a vocal teacher and Courtney was one of her students when she was attending Santa Monica High School around eight years ago, She was also our babysitter at one time and had a great voice even then. She sang a song on my previous CD, studied at the New School in New York, moved back to the Los Angeles area a year ago, and was a natural to feature on the Bill Withers song.”

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