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Iliana Rose and her Cuban jazz Band performs at the Left Coast Wine Bar in Glendale every Friday night. I is a very charming place, located across the street from the new Americana shopping center. Left Coast is or Harvard and Brand Blvd. It's a great location, with some street side tables and chairs, great for sunny days or balmy California evenings. The wine bar serves a variety of wines and beers.
The menu includes appetizers and cheeses, a variety of sausages, mixed olives, hot sandwiches and desserts.
The music is presented in a comfortable area upstairs with small tables and art work on the walls. On the night I attended, Iliana Rose sat at the piano and sang, accompanied by good sidemen: Sergio Gonzales on cajon drums and bongos, Roy Alnashef on congas, Aleks Peck on guitar, (Iliana's husband) David Zasloff-trumpet and Margarita Hermosillo sitting in on guitar and vocals.
Rose is a first generation Cuban American. Her parents were born in Cuba and Rose was born in Miami. She has a ten-piece band with 3-horns that plays a lot of music festivals. Rose studied jazz voice at the University of Miami, She is very influenced by her Cuban roots and has been in Los Angeles about six years. Rose loves playing Cuban standards so she puts the Left Coast Wine Bar in a very festive mood. She's a very charming performer with a good sense of humor, as well as being a talented pianist and singer. She sings in 5 languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and English. Rose has a lot of charisma and I enjoyed the group's energy and spirit.
Rose began the evening with a medley, starting with "What A Difference A Day Makes," singing in Spanish and English, with a solid air of conviction. Peck added a marvelous guitar solo and Zasloff added tasty licks with his muted trumpet. Then the tune went into a vamp style with lots of percussion from Alnashef and Gonzales. The group did a Cuban version of "Jingle Bells," putting everyone into a holiday mood before segueing into "The Peanut Vendor" in a jam session style. It was an uplifting version and everyone got a chance to, solo on this one.
Margarita Hermosillo joined the band playing guitar and singing "Veinte Años," which means "20 Years." She sang in harmony with Rose. It was beautifully done. The set closed with "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" which means "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps." The song was made famous by Nat King Cole. The tune was lively, with a danceable groove to it.
Rose sang and played with a lot of zest as Zasloff played muted trumpet then did a fine solo. He also did some interesting scatting in a coro style. Rose sang with lots of soul as the tune went into a montuno, with Alnashef on conga solo and Gonzales showing off his skill with the cajon drum. It was a very entertaining evening of Cuban Jazz.
The Left Coast Wine bar is a quaint, charming place, with a relaxed, comfortable vibe. Check it out soon. It's a nice place to stop by for wine and a snack or a longer evening of music. Check the calendar section for the month's listings.
- LA Jazz Scene
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Bio
"Rose sang and played with a lot of zest..."
"...lots of soul..."
"It was a very entertaining evening of Cuban jazz."
"She's a charming performer with a good sense of humor, as well as being a talented pianist and singer."
Iliana Rose is nothing short of a fantastic musician. As an accomplished piano player, percussionist, clarinetist and vocalist, she performs with her band and sits in with some of the finest session players in Los Angeles and Miami. As a percussionist her timing is phenomenal and impeccable. She never misses a beat.
As a singer her voice is pure, warm, sensual and beautiful to listen to. Iliana captivates an audience in English, Spanish and even a little Portuguese and has a unique ability to phrase that is given only to natural born jazz singers.
Born in Miami, and raised by Cuban parents and grandparents, Iliana is steeped in Cuban rhythms and culture. She is a genuine prodigy who started playing music at the age of four only to later graduate from the prestigious University of Miami with a double major, one in Studio Music & Jazz Voice and another in Clarinet Performance.
She then moved to Los Angeles where she presently lives composing music for films, orchestrating and arranging for twenty five piece Latin jazz bands, working as a recording engineer, producer, lyricist and is the voice behind several radio commercials. Plus she was an on-air personality for a nationally syndicated radio show!
Iliana Rose is a complete entertainer. She is spontaneously funny and able to make intelligent hilarious conversations with audience members and it is impossible to resist her charm. In addition to all her talent she is also amazingly beautiful, a diva with a midriff meant to be revealed. When she performs you can’t take your eyes off her. Her presence commands your attention. We won't soon forget this curvaceous Cuban babe!
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