Jazz will abound and will be very much alive on the Los Angeles Coast for the inaugural SANTA MONICA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL. It coincides with the 100th birthday of the historic Route 66, which ends in the city of Santa Monica. Curating the major jazz event is none other than the legendary bassist, multi Grammy-winner, NEA Jazz Master and now Artistic Director/Producer, Stanley Clarke. He’ll be included in the lineup for two of the festival’s four concerts that start on May 1st with keyboard wizard Hiromi at the downtown Los Angeles Orpheum Theatre.
The Artistic Director assembled other colleagues such as cosmic saxophonist Kamasi Washington to headline on May 9th at Tongva Park, along with his group, consisting of longtime friend, former Police drummer, Stewart Copeland, hip-hop/jazz/electronica pianist Kiefer and dreamy trumpeter/vocalist Keyon Harrold. Electronic/funk KNOWER (full band show), fusion ensemble Miles Electric Band, and composer/song writer Sam Smylie will also be on the lineup that day.
The day before, May 8th at the Broad Stage, SMIJ will present a tribute to John Coltrane, commemorating his centennial. It will feature fast ascending saxophonists Isaiah Collier and Lakecia Benjamin, along with Tenor Madness. That group comprises legacy players: Hubert Laws, Marvin “Smitty Smith, Eric Reed, Aaron Shaw, Emilio Modeste and Clarke. Additionally, on May 3rd SMIJS will host a free concert on the Third St. Promenade, encompassing Elijah Fox, Genevieve Artadi, Duffy XUhlmann, Billy Mohler, Instant Alter, Varad Sahasrabudhe, Aidan Farrell and the Samohi Jazz Combo.
“It’s going to be fun,” Clarke commented by phone from his home, “music is interesting and kind of a spiritual part of me.” The legendary bassist has lived in neighboring Topanga Canyon for about 30 years and made his first appearance at the Santa Monica College adjacent Broad Stage in 2017. It was founded and sponsored initially by super philanthropists and art patrons, Eli and Edythe Broad, and opened in 2008. Remarkably, the venue’s artistic team immediately bonded with the extraordinary bassist and local resident, and claimed him as their own.
That was the beginning of the astounding relationship between them, and Clarke performed there biennially. In 2023, he began a three-year residency that involved teaching (one of his biggest loves) and working with Santa Monica College and Santa Monica High School students. They took a giant leap in 2024, by producing The Future Sounds of Jazz one-day festival. It included appealing up-and-coming artists such as, Cameron Graves, Connie Han, Ruslan Sirota, Jahari Stampley, Judith Hill, Gretchen Parlato with Gerald Clayton, and THE GEMINI PROJECT with Isaiah Collier and Jeremiah Collier. Additionally, the mega-bassist performed with the SMC Jazz Combo and Jazz Residency Students from Santa Monica High School.
Rob Bailis, Artistic and Executive Director of the Broad Stage assessed, “That went incredibly well. We learned a tremendous amount from that pilot and the thing we took away from it was the end of night jam with Stanley anchoring. That’s when we completely saw the magic and vibe of what was completely different about doing festival work [compared to a concert].”
The mega bassist responded, “It was really nice and touching to see these kids do their thing. I told them (the creative team), I will do this for you, but on the third year, you’ve got to go bigger—off campus.” That was a confluence of thoughts for Clarke, because he had strolled around the Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica pier area. After dining and/or shopping many times there with his wife, he would say to her, “This reminds me of Nice, France. I can’t understand why they’ve never had a festival here.”
Clarke proposed putting on a big festival that “wasn’t too big or small” to the Broad Stage Board and Creative Team. It would be in the style of European jazz festivals, whereby the city, neighbors, tourists and people who never been to a jazz festival would get involved. Bailis noted, “When Stanley joined us as an Artist-in-Residence, he shared with us this vision he had been dreaming of for many years. He also wanted build it in the context of the arriving generation receiving their cultural inheritance in full.”
Remarkably, there has never been a full-fledged jazz festival held in Santa Monica, a destination known for being picturesque, casual, having accessible beaches, fine dining, and its’ popular Promenade and historic pier. The closest thing to one was Jazz at Santa Monica Civic ’72, which included a historic box set, initially only sold through mail order until 1991, when it became available in record stores as a three-disc set. It encompassed icons: Ella Fitzgerald, The Count Basie Orchestra, Oscar Peterson and many others. Additionally, Santa Monica has had several summer concert series such as, Jazz on the Lawn and The Santa Monica Pier hosts Jazz Night, along with short-lived clubs The Ash Grove on the Pier and The Vic.
Unlike those previous efforts, The Santa Monical International Jazz Festival’s main objective includes attracting younger audiences and families. In that regard, Clarke stressed that early in the day when the festival shows first open up, (except the Orpheum) “we’re going to have high school bands and soloists who are taking a shot at becoming professional musicians, and we hope people will bring their kids. I would love to see people from Santa Monica, LA, Compton or wherever to take a drive over. There’s going to be lots of food, [music, kid stuff and good times]—it’s a real, real festival and it’s for them.”
Bailis added that Clarke’s involvement ensures that the artistic caliber of the festival will be high. Also, it has three producing groups, the Broad Stage, City of Santa Monica and SM Productions (Clarke and Martin Fleischmann). Bailis, closed saying, “The City is 100 percent behind the festival and coming in as a full partner by offering the Third Street Promenade (between Arizona and Santa Monica Blvd.) and Tongva Park, which will be sealed off as a ticketed location. This is really an amazing gift they’re giving us to keep the venues safe and everyone as comfortable as possible.” For more info go: www.smjazzfest.com, stanleyclarke.com/ and broadstage.org.
By Dee Dee McNeil
On March 16th, a warm California Sunday evening, I attended the concert of KEM. What a riveting and exciting experience.
Kim Lamont Owens is a soulful singer, an artist simply known as “KEM.” His voice and music cross borders and genres. He’s often classified as an R&B soul singer, but his style and songwriting could easily be interpreted as smooth jazz.
KEM’s roots are planted deeply in today’s USA music capital of Nashville, Tennessee. He was born there. However, KEM moved to Detroit, Michigan (another music capital of the world) at five years old. There, he was raised in both Southfield, Michigan and in the city of Pontiac, just outside of Detroit.
KEM’s first gold record was his debut album as an artist, called “Kemistry.” He sponsored the recording himself by working as a wedding band singer, waiting tables, and using his American Express card.
As an independent artist, KEM’s music was so unique and infectious, it received plenty of attention and airplay. People loved his sound. Consequently, the resulting popularity teased Motown Records. Here was an independent artist who could make the ladies swoon like Marvin Gaye, but also had a jazzy edge, a tone similar to Al Jarreau. Motown wanted him on their label.
When Motown re-released his debut album, it sold more than 500,000 copies and was quickly certified Gold by the RIAA. But that was just the beginning.
His next release hit the airwaves in May of 2005. It was certified Platinum. You may remember his hit single, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” that rose up the adult contemporary radio charts. It was so popular, he won the Billboard Music Award for “Top Adult R&B Single of the Year.”
This unique artist has continued to write and record music, while gaining international notoriety. In 2026, he continues his legacy with a brand-new album titled “Alkemy.” When I heard that KEM would be performing at the Los Angeles Blue Note Club, I was excited to see him “live” in a small club venue. I find these intimate settings to be much more conducive to experiencing an artist than the large arenas, especially when it comes to jazz.
Photo © by Maricea Muhammad
The BlueNote Los Angeles holds 200 people. It was sold out. We arrived half an hour early and almost all the seats were full. A deep, navy blue hue hung over the excitement in the room. Because of the intimacy of the club, there were no bad seats. KEM’s quartet took to the stage. Then, the artist appeared. He looked amazing in a three-button dress suit, (a single button in the middle and two beneath it on either side of the jacket). The vocalist looked stylish and cool when he entered the room from a backstage door. His butter-smooth voice melted over the expectant crowd as he opened his show with, “You’re On My Mind.” KEM immediately captivated the crowd.
On stage, the silky-smooth vocalist made his audience feel comfortable. He spoke to us as though we were old friends or family. The singer and composer shared a story about meeting his mentor, Al Jarreau. He told us the KEMestry LP had just been recorded. To make ends meet, he was waiting tables at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Detroit, Michigan. That’s when he heard that George Duke, Roberta Flack and the artist he admired, none other than Al Jarreau, would be performing at that hotel. He had a couple of copies of his still unreleased (but pressed up) independent album with him. His plan was to meet and greet George Duke and Al Jarreau, and to give each one a copy of his newly recorded music.
As fate would have it, KEM spotted Al Jarreau standing in a quiet part of the hotel, smoking a cigarette. Hesitant but determined, he approached Jarreau. They shared a conversation. Al was warm and receptive. Before KEM could tell Al that he was a singer and had a debut project that would soon be released, Al began to tell him a story about how a tune he had recorded called “Blue in Green” developed from a relationship between the iconic pianist and composer, Bill Evans and jazz legend Miles Davis. The stories that Al Jarreau shared captivated the younger artist. KEM was stunned and happy about meeting his inspiration and impressed with how laid-back and cool the superstar had been. He even forgot all about giving Jarreau a copy of his new album.
The next time KEM ran into Al Jarreau was when he opened for Jarreau at the Long Beach Jazz Festival. It was like reuniting with an old friend. Al Jarreau embraced KEM and remembered him. They shared another conversation. This time Al Jarreau suggested that he and KEM record an album together. He said they should call it “AlKEMy,” a combination of their names, their original music, and a blend of their voices. Sadly, the world lost Al Jarreau on February 12, 2017. But the dream KEM had of recording with his vocal mentor lived on.
Nearly a decade later, this dream album is coming to fruition. When KEM met with Robert Glasper, a Grammy winner, an in-demand record producer, pianist, songwriter and musical arranger, Glasper suggested they re-arrange KEM’s trademark hit records “Love Calls” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
KEM gave Glasper free range as his producer for this Motown project. He performed it for us during his BlueNote performance. Another beautiful song from this new album was “In My Dreams.” It had a rich, lovely melody.
KEM performing at BlueNote with bassist, Al Turner and Ron Otis on drums. Photo © by Maricea Muhammad
All those wonderful background voices you hear on record were played on the synthesizer by Demetrius Nabors, KEM’s talented pianist and keyboard master A sweet saxophone solo opened the next tune “I Think About Us” played by Jamal Mitchell.
The crowd reacted to each and every song, shouting encouragement and pleasure from the audience. Their voices raised in appreciation when he began singing “How Did You Find Your Way Back Into My Life.” During the instrumental break, KEM left the stage and walked comfortably through the audience, finding couples and challenging various men to sing the line “…back in my life…” The audience loved it and so did the spouses who were being sung to.
KEM talked about feeling gratitude and empathy. Those emotions thread their way through his musical productions. He chuckles when he tells the attentive crowd that he had wanted a record deal for years. Finally, at age thirty-five, he was offered one. It came after paying years of dues. But he admits, it was the perfect time. By then, he was at an age when he could really appreciate success.
The other thing that completed his circle of life was love. He met and married his current wife. Together, he told us, they completed their family with eight children.
In tribute to Al Jarreau and the project they had talked about doing, KEM includes some of Al’s original music during his ‘set.’ One of Jarreau’s huge hit records was “We’re In This Love Together.” It was a crowd-pleaser. Everyone started singing along with KEM.
Ron Otis was dynamic on drums all night, punching the rhythm and instigating the funky grooves. Randy Bowen was super talented on guitar, adding strength to the tight rhythm section. Al Turner added his magic, locking hands with the drummer, playing both electric and double bass, with Demetrius Nabors on keyboards. KEM’s band was fire!
This talented artist offered us his whole heart and soul during the performance. KEM will be touring worldwide to promote this new album. When he comes to your city, try to catch him ‘live.’ It’s a wonderful experience.
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