Ortega Career Undergoing Rebirth With Gigs in France

Riding the re-release on CD this year of music from his mid-1960s albums “Revelation” and “New Dance,” Encinitas saxman Anthony Ortega left Sunday for performances in France. The CD was released by the Switzerland-based Hat Hut label and is widely available in Europe, adding to Ortega’s career rebirth.

Last week, Ortega was elated by the star treatment he has been accorded by the French music people after years of toiling in San Diego clubs for little more than mouthpiece money.

“Yeah, gee, what a switch,” Ortega said last week. “I can’t even get to first base around here, and over there, they treat you like a king--at least I’ve heard they do, and they said they would.”

Certainly, the money is better. Ortega will make $1,500 each for performances at jazz festivals in Rouen and Sorgue on June 26 and 29, and he will also play nightclubs in Paris and in two small French towns.

Around San Diego, Ortega most often plays straight-ahead jazz, favoring a repertoire of popular standards, but in Europe, he is better known for the searing, free-form experimental music he made on the re-released 1960s albums.

Ortega said he hopes to strike a balance between traditional and progressive jazz for his French appearances. He is also hoping to meet the owner of Hat Hut at one of the festivals, envisioning the possibility of a new recording.

“If he’s there, maybe we’ll talk turkey,” Ortega said.

Del Mar guitarist Peter Sprague is back in town after touring the Midwest and East Coast with fellow Braziljazz band members Kevyn Lettau and Michael Shapiro in support of Lettau’s debut solo album, released earlier this year.

Sprague was pleased by the treatment the band received in places like Cleveland, New York City, Cincinnati, Washington and Kansas City, Kan.

“It was really exciting to see how Kevyn is a star,” Sprague said of the former San Diego singer, who now lives in Los Angeles. “We were in New York City and a lot of people came to our concerts. Kevyn’s record is selling like crazy, and it’s on the Billboard charts. The last I heard it was at 16.”

Based on some of the calls that came into WQCD while the pair were doing a live interview on the light jazz station in New York City, Lettau and Sprague seem to be tapping a broader audience than they ever dreamed possible.

“There were two calls that stood out,” Sprague said. “The most touching was a man who called and said, ‘The way I learned about your record, I heard my 2-year-old daughter singing this song, and I said, ‘What is that?’ I finally found out it had been on the radio.”

The musicians were impressed when the man held the girl to the phone and she warbled a near-perfect rendition of the Brazilian-flavored “Whenever Your Heart Wants to Sing,” from Lettau’s new album.

Nova Records, Lettau’s label, is waiting until the momentum of her solo debut recording dies down before it releases the new, already-recorded Braziljazz debut. Nova has also asked Sprague to record an album of his own, and he hopes to hit the studio in the fall.

With things going his way, the only hitch for Sprague is the tendinitis he has developed in his right index finger, the one he uses for finger picking all those Brazilian-flavored tunes he likes. He’s hoping rest, ultra-sound treatments and three weeks of vacation in Mexico and Hawaii will ease the pain.

KIFM has something that Fashion Valley Shopping Center wants: an audience of well-educated, well-heeled, predominantly female 25- to 50-year-olds who spend a good portion of their spare time and money at shopping malls.

The mall’s series of free summer outdoor jazz concerts is designed to capitalize on this common target market. Opening its fifth season this Sunday afternoon with a performance by keyboard player Dan Siegel, the series seems to have the desired effect, according to the mall’s Marketing Director, Marilee Bankert.

According to Bankert, the mall has had excellent results with its ads on KIFM, but the results of the concert series, presented in conjunction with KIFM and promoted on the station, are even more tangible.

“On Sundays when we have music, we’re up 25% in terms of traffic over a normal Sunday,” Bankert said. “We get more than 19,000 cars through our lots, instead of the normal 15,000 or so.”

Because of the tremendous response, the mall has moved the concert series from a location next to the main tower to a stage set up outside the Broadway.

Siegel’s new album, “Going Home,” includes guest vocals by Kenny Rankin. His mild brand of music attracts a broad audience--his last several albums have all made the Top 10 on New Adult Contemporary charts.

After Siegel, the series continues with Grant Geissman (July 14), Tim Weisberg (July 28), Doug Cameron (Aug. 11) and Yutaka (Aug. 25).

The verdict is in: San Diegans love Brazilian music. Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto “broke every attendance record” at Elario’s with her appearances June 7, 8 and 9, with a number of fans turned away at the door of the packed club, according to Rob Hagey, the club’s talent coordinator. Brazilian-born singer Kenia also sold out the house for shows June 5 and 6.

On the heels of these successes, the club hopes to capitalize again with performances by Brazilian percussionist Airto and his wife, vocalist Flora Purim, Aug. 7, 8 and 9.

RIFFS: San Diego pianist Bob Hamilton--an ex-studio musician who contributed to hits by Gladys Knight, Tommy James and others--plays his favorite straight-ahead jazz at 8 tonight in the San Diego City College Theater, with a simulcast on KSDS-FM (88.3). Hamilton appears in a quartet including special guest Kevin Quail on trombone.

Nieman’s restaurant in Carlsbad debuted a new Sunday afternoon entertainment menu featuring jazz with a performance last Sunday by Max Bennett and Freeway from Los Angeles. The new jazz policy continues this Sunday with a 2-to-5 appearance by San Diego-based Tobacco Road.

Saxophonist James Moody makes his annual appearance at Elario’s for five nights starting Wednesday.