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Cat walkin' with the Simi Valley Jazz Club
Well, if you ask the members of the Simi Valley Jazz Club, they'll tell you the composition includes equal parts good music, good food and good company- and the groups enjoys all three on the fourth Sunday of every month at Paul's Italian Villa. "It's a place to go on a Sunday afternoon if you like music, listening and dancing to jazz," said Lorrell Cooper, 64, president of the club. "You can have a good time and it doesn't cost all that much." The group begins every monthly meeting at 1 p.m. with a jam session in which every musician in attendance may participate. "Jazz is improvisation based on an existing song," Cooper said. "You make it up as you go along based on a melody. Louis Armstrong, Mills Davis and Dizzy Gillespie are an inspiration." This freeflowing session is followed by a performance by a professional jazz band, which varies from month to month.
Over the years the group lost access to both venues and members simply gathered to hear cool jazz any place they could find it. "We lost the place at the Elks and bumped around Simi for eight months, but we couldn't find a place to meet in Simi," Cooper said. "We went to Thousand Oaks. So you have the Simi Valley Jazz Club meeting in Thousand Oaks, which I didn't like." Cooper made a concerted effort to find a local venue when he became president of the club in 2006. "When I become president I kind of pushed and bumped and found Paul's. The owner, Paul Molé, is a big bandleader himself and likes the jazz," Cooper said. "We came back to Simi Valley in June, and within four months we doubled the size of the club." Most members of the nonprofit club are senior citizens or "notquite-seniors," Cooper said. Past club president Terry Iozzia, 74, would like to see that change. "We're trying to get young people involved. In our last session the music director from Simi Valley High School brought a group of young musicians," Iozzia said. "We're looking forward to hearing them play again." Iozzia, who's retired from the restaurant business, moved from Simi Valley to Ventura 11 years ago. Even so, she comes to Simi every month for the club's gathering. "We have a lot of the same group from the beginning so we've known each other for years," Iozzia said. "I consider them friends." The jazz club gives nonprofessionals like Cooper an outlet to play with fellow musicians. During his service in the Navy, Cooper played trombone with a fleet band. "We made a couple of Mediterranean cruises. We played for the king and queen of Greece and Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier," Cooper said. "We played concerts for a lot of big people over in the area. It was better than the average tour of duty in the service." Cooper and his wife, Shirley, have lived in Simi Valley for 39 years, raising a family that now includes five grandchildren. As a captain in the Los Angeles City Fire Department for much of his life, Cooper didn't have the time to devote to his beloved instrument. Going to the jazz club after his retirement in 1999 helped him rediscover his musical talents, he said. "I quit playing and I didn't touch my horn for 32 years," Cooper said. "When I retired I found out about the jazz club. I started going there and got back into playing with groups. Now I have my own quartet and play all the time." This month's meeting on Feb. 25 features Mark Tortorici and his nine-piece band. Future jazz bands scheduled to perform for the Simi Valley Jazz Club are The Jimmy McConnel Quinetet in March and the Nightblooming Jazzmen in April. Admission is $6 for members, $9 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.simivalleyjazzclub.com. |
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