Album Notes

LM Pagano grew up with a mother who sang with Big Bands in the forties. Ray Brown lived directly across the street from her childhood home; a source of inspiration ever since she could sneak into jazz clubs at a young age to see him, Alan Broadbent, Irene Kral, Carmen McCrae and other great Los Angeles based jazz musicians.

After performing in Europe in her late teens and sitting in with George Shearing at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Ms. Pagano returned to the States to play, and recorded in the rock and roll world.

A brief cabaret career in Los Angeles and New York evolved, with Ms. Pagano dividing her time between the two cities for performances at such clubs as The Hollywood Roosevelt Cinegrill, The Gardenia Room, The St. James's/Argyle Hotel, 72 Market Street, and The Cornelia Street Cafe.

Then the jazz roots that were planted early began to crowd out the cabaret. And won.

Ms. Pagano has been playing with her core quartet for 5 years; Henry Spurgeon, an L.A. based pianist who first cut his teeth playing in Boston and New York, after attending Berkeley School of Music and Julliard, the extraordinary guitarist Larry Koonse from the Los Angeles Jazz Quartet, the lyrical Kevin Axt on bass, and sensitive, superlative drummer Kendall Kay. Her favorite venue at the moment is the highly acclaimed (best jazz club in L.A.- L.A.Weekly Oct. 2001, world's best list Downbeat Magazine Nov. 2001) L.A. jazz club ROCCO, where she has been featured regularly over the past 2 years. She is also playing at different jazz venues around the Southland, as well as in the San Francisco/ Oakland area, and New York City.