Local musicians booked at the Jazz Bakery

COOKIN'- The Shanley Wang group brings its jazz sounds to Jazz Bakery in Culver City. From left, Michael Dabach on trumpet, Joey Lefitz on drums, Shanley Wang on piano, Brian Blaker on saxophone and Aaron Kohen on bass. The band members are all Calabasas High School alumni with the exception of Joey Lefitz, who attended Agoura High School.

The Shanley Wang group, a jazz sextet comprised of local musicians, recently performed at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City.

The group is led by Shanley Wang, a recent graduate of Calabasas High School who will attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston this fall.

Other CHS graduates in the band are Brian Blaker on saxophone and Michael Dabach on trumpet, both of whom will attend the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and vocalist Mallory Glaser, a student at the New School for the Arts in New York. Drummer Joey Lefitz, a graduate of Agoura Hills High, is a student at the Berklee College. Bassist Aaron Kohen teaches music at CHS.

The group played two sets to a full house at the Jazz Bakery. Their performance consisted of original pieces and covers of jazz standards, including a tribute to Charles Mingus. All the music was arranged by Wang; the original compositions included pieces by Wang, Blaker and Kohen.

The group will release an album called "Consept" on iTunes in July, containing both original pieces and jazz standards.

Wang said, "I really strived to make the album reflective of the positive, intellectual and emotional messages I wish to broadcast in all my future endeavors. The wide variety of styles in this album is a representation of my belief that music really has no genres- it's either good or potentially good."

He added, "The point of being a jazz musician is to step forward in music in a positive direction."