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Jim Britt - Jazz Vocalist |
The L.A. Scene
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Who knows the script for their life? My life has
been an amazing journey from a passion for and
career in music to a passion for photography and
a career that surprised me and then again back
to music.
I was born in San Francisco, my Dad,
a well-known ex-boxer, owned a saloon and when
we moved to a small resort town on the Russian
River I began singing in my Dad's bar. Frankie
Laine, Nat "King" Cole were my hero's. I had no
idea of what "jazz" was I just knew that I loved
to sing.
In my teens we moved
to Tacoma, WA where one day I discovered
Clifford Brown and Max Roach, then the Jazz
Messengers, Miles, Coltrane and the music vistas
opened even wider. |
In Seattle, while going to college I met the
wonderful Seattle musicians who would really
become my mentors. Milt Jared, Bill Richardson,
Bob Winn, "Jerry" (now Jerome) Gray, and Chuck
Mahaffey.
After graduation, I
moved to San Francisco and in six months became
a member of a vocal group called The Cables Of
San Francisco. We were an eclectic bunch to say
the least. At one point Jerry Gray was on the
road with us as an arranger and pianist.
In 1968 my wife, two children and I
moved to Los Angeles. I continued to sing in
nightclubs and on the road, but realized that
the music that I really loved was not in vogue
and my passion for photography allowed me to
find another niche. I had always been involved
with music and photography, so it was not a far
stretch to become a photographer/designer and
eventually an Art Director at Motown Records
when they moved to Los Angeles in 1972. From
that time on, singing took a back seat and aside
from a few "sit in's" I didn't sing for 20
years.
In 1991, in my new
2000 sq. ft. studio in the Helm's Bakery
Complex, Ruth Price and I started the Jazz
Bakery. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights we
would hold concerts for audiences of up to 100
people. It was during this time that I began
singing in earnest again. I sent Jerome Gray a
tape of one of the first concerts. His reply was
terse and to the point, but also encouraging and
he followed it up by coming down to Los Angeles
and "woodsheding" me for three days.
In 1994 I left the
studio and the Jazz Bakery and began singing in
clubs around Los Angeles. In November of 1999,
my friend Rick Clemente purchased a restaurant
and invited me to help design and manage the
Jazz Spot. We opened January 7th, 2000. With 5
4x5-foot blow-ups of jazz legends on the black
walls and a 9-foot Yamaha concert grand on the
stage, the Jazz Spot became one of the premier
jazz venues with local and nationally known
artists.
I left the Jazz Spot in February,
2001, and now spend most of the year in Ketchum,
Idaho and part of it in Los Angeles. In
Ketchum, I’m singing with a great pianist, Alan
Pennay and his trio. We’ve worked at the Duchin
Room in the Sun Valley Lodge and are planning
some other gigs around town.
On the
record scene, a live album should be available
soon and plans are to record another studio
album.
Now of
course I haven’t given up my “day job,”
photography. But it too has change direction a
bit as well. See the link to my
photography site. Life is as always,
amazing.
Who could figure?
Go
to Jim's photography site.
See and, if you
like, buy his jazz photos here. |
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"Alone AT Two A.M."
1.
I Want A Little Girl
2. Heart's Desire
3. The Meaning of the Blues
4. Lover Man
5. The Very Thought of You |
6. Body and Soul
7. 'Round Midnight
8. I'm A Fool To Want You
9. Alone At Two AM
10.
One For My Baby
11. I'm Old Fashioned
12. I Want A Little Girl
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Britt - vocals, Plas Johnson - tenor
sax, John Hammond - piano, Johnny
Kirkwood - drums, Tom Warrington -
bass , Eric Von Esson - bass, Bob
Maize - bass, John Mayer - piano
Shopping Cart
All CD's $14.99 plus S&H
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