(EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE) — Westwood , CA — Friday, January 19th, 2024 — It was an amazing evening with Juliard trained, and Grammy nominated drummer Sammy Miller at the Nimoy Theater this past Friday. Sam leads a six piece orchestra jazz band. They are master level musicians. Playing an everyman joyful show, Sammy does a lot of talking. He does a sort of stand-up comedy. It’s similar but less on punchlines, and more on quirky personal observations. The music is very rhythmic. Sammy sings and plays drums front and center. It was an evening in Jazz standards and originals.
Let me take a moment to mention the UCLA Nimoy Theater. This is a state of the art performing arts space in the heart of Los Angeles’ Westwood neighborhood. Named after legendary Star Trek actor, Leonard Nimoy, the new Nimoy is formerly the Crest theater was made possible by a generous gift by Susan Bay Nimoy. She was in attendance. I introduced myself and asked her if I could take a selfie. She said “Thanks but no.”
Sammy is about taking music to kids. He’s about bringing the joy of music to musicians, listeners and everybody. One song was a clever shout out to local radio stations, someone would shout out “KLOS!”and the band kicked off Foxy Lady by Hendrix.
Molly Miller is Sammy’s sister. She sat in with the band on this night. She is phenomenal. Molly had an arch top Gibson and her preference for soloing is a sort of Zappa-esque arpeggio style in an unknown mode. Molly has huge technical chops and I didn’t hear her miss a note. Ben Flocks on alto sax has great chops. This guy can really blow.
Really fun to watch Corbin Jones on bass. His performance was masterful. This guy was amazing. He was playing a beautiful upright bass and he had his bow out on several occasions.
David Linard played piano. I could’ve listened to him play piano for an hour. This guy is great.
The Nimoy Theater is an inspirational place for artists. This state of the art performance space has events frequently. Check out their calendar here. The Experience Magazine highly recommends the Nimoy Theater.
