JACKIE GIBSON. “Songs at the Brill Building.”

Fri., Nov. 17.  JACKIE GIBSON.  “Songs at the Brill Building.”  1619 Broadway on 49^th Street in New York was to the popular music of the late ‘50’s and ‘60’s as Tin Pan Alley was to the popular music earlier in the 20^th Century, with the Brill Building’s girl groups and teen idols supplying popular music’s grist post-50’s-Elvis and pre-Beatles.  By 1962, the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses, including publishers, printers, songwriters, demo-cutting studios, and promoters…all in one building.  Lieber and Stoller, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Phil Spector, and Carole King are among the many artists who have come to be associated with the Brill Building Sound, brought back to our collective awareness in this show.    Enhancing the show even further are invited guests Larry Davis, John Ciccolini, and Judy Barrat; and Ms. Gibson has even assembled her own girl group, “The AquaNets,” comprised of Lorraina Marro, Tiffany Bailey, and Kimberly Scott-Moseley.  Steve Rawlins, (musical director and originator of the show concept,) supports on piano; with Craig Copeland on guitar; Gordon Peeke on drums; and John Hatton, AKA Spazz (who used to play for Ms. Gibson back in the 80’s in her original rock band,) on bass.

Ms. Gibson was part of L.A.’s Folk Movement as a teenager, appearing alongside the likes of Joni Mitchell at venues such as The Troubadour and Ciro’s.  Over the years she has performed all over greater Los Angeles, including at The Gardenia, and, proud of her Latina heritage, she has also been a vocalist on KMEX’s Nosotros.  She is the creator of Jazz del Corazon, marshalling her talent and those of others to provide financial support for those in the local music community in extreme need.  She is currently collaborating with singer/songwriter Wayne Moore on an upcoming children’s book, and is writing a book about her mother, Dr. Helia Israel Benavides Olivera, M.D.  She is a member of the Children’s Hospital Monrovia Guild, and a member of the non-profit group Theatre Americana, which performs for various charities around the Southland. Jazz reviewer Scott Yanow has said of Ms. Gibson, “….Gibson…has a voice that is both passionate and soothing, full of honest emotions…”  and celebrated vocal coach Terri Baker has enthused, “…So great to hear a singer who knows what she’s singing about…and…you feel it 100%.”