What is Randy Newman doing at a jazz festival? Or aren’t questions like that even worth asking these days?

After all, if I were going to be in San Francisco for the 26th annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, I would probably want to see Newman’s Oct. 17 solo concert at Davies Symphony Hall (even if it is pretentiously titled “The New American Songbook,” whatever that means). He is a brilliant songwriter. He is also a singer and pianist with a style unlike anyone else’s. His recently released new album proves that he’s still on top of his game. So what if his music has absolutely nothing to do with jazz?  Read more »