News Update 3/8/25
Hi Everyone –
Join me for a once-in-a-lifetime concert of folk music pioneer Jack Landrón on March 15th in Santa Monica, with Munyungo Jackson on percussion, Nedra Wheeler on bass, Mitch Greenhill on guitar, and John Sawoski on keyboards and musical directing.
Click here to put it on your Google Calendar for March 15th at 235 Hill Street, Santa Monica, CA. Tickets are only $20, available at the door (cash only).Jack’s decades-long career in folk music, storytelling, activism, and performance began in the 1950s, taking him from Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts (alongside Joan Baéz and Bob Dylan), to Mississippi (where he became Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s personal assistant, registering Black voters) to theater, film, and TV acting in New York City and Los Angeles, with countless other adventures along the way.
I also wanted to share a few other things I’ve been doing.
Recent Live Performance Highlights (click the links for photos, video, audio, and more information):
- National Touring Broadway Shows at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa:
- Dec 2024 – Back to the Future – check out my “KeyComp” video
- June 2024 – Funny Girl
- March 2024 – MJ the Musical
- Dec 2024 – Big Band Holiday Concert with Grammy-winning Jazz Vocalist Sara Gazarek
- Oct 2024 – Election-themed recital with soprano Michele Patzakis
- Sep-Oct 2024 – Little Shop of Horrors at South Coast Repertory
- June 2024 – “Music of Hope” performances with bassoonist Allen Savedoff of The Pacific Symphony, on a blue piano
- June 2024 – John Sawoski musical directed Kritzerland 127, a tribute to the late Richard Sherman, at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, CA
- May 2024 – On May 22, 2024 KRITZERLAND 126: BACK TO BACHARACH celebrated BURT BACHARACH at Catalina Jazz Club, #Hollywood! Music Directed by John Sawoski, singer JASON GRAAE, steals the show with his Tom Jones / Broadway mash-up! – Check out the video
- May 2024 – “Back to Bacharach” at Catalina Jazz Club (Music Directed by John Sawoski) featuring Broadway and Hollywood stars Jason Graae, Joan Ryan, Kerry O’Malley, Brittany Anderson, Adrienne Stiefel, Robert Yacko, and more.
- June 2022 – John Sawoski played keyboards for vocalist Debbie Wileman’s West Coast debut at Catalina Jazz Club.
Fun Stuff:
- Flashback to Oct 2010 – My singing debut at the Stanford Reunion, performing “Everybody Wants To Be Sondheim” by Alan Chapman
- August 2024 – Funicolare Monte San Salvatore in the Rain (John Sawoski, piano with video). See also my YouTube Channel
- May 2024 – “What’s New Pussycat?” with Jason Graae
- January 2024 – Happy Fun Music with Indian TV Star Terrence Lewis
In the Studio:
- Nov. 2024 – New audio recording of John Sawoski’s choral piece “From Many, One” and Sheet Music Now Available
- Sept 2024 – John Sawoski recently played keyboards on several orchestral recording sessions at Warner Brothers and EastWest studios in Los Angeles for a new musical (opening in 2025 on London’s West End) called “Jo – The Little Women Musical” Click here to listen
- Feb 2024 – Trying to keep my 2024 New Years resolution to do happy fun music at all times by releasing more music for streaming
- Dec 2024 New song by Ryan Moore, arranged and co-produced by John Sawoski.
Special Video: This is Broadway actor Aaron Lazar, with whom I was fortunate to work on the 2023 (Broadway-bound) revival of The Secret Garden at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. He is seen here at Carnegie Hall in New York City, singing “The Impossible Dream” in a very moving and dramatic command performance, after being diagnosed with ALS. His subsequent album was nominated for a Grammy.
You can find the music of John Sawoski on most music streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal.
If you’d like to consider hiring me to arrange, orchestrate, produce, or play on your recording project, please see https://lapianist.com/orchestration-and-production-services/ (the password is available by clicking here)
If you are interested in having me accompany for your rehearsals or performances, please click here.
Hope to see you all soon.
Sincerely,
John