Talbert in Benefit for Visiting Nurses Assn.; Recording Arts’ Roast at Sportsmen’s Lodge

In what could easily be described as the best kind of home cooking, composer-arranger Tom Talbert leads his septet in the living room of his Laguna Beach home this Sunday in a benefit for the Visiting Nurses Assn. of Orange County Hospice.

The 4 p.m. performance--dubbed Jazz in the Afternoon--marks the fourth time in as many years that Talbert has opened up his doors for the association, a volunteer organization that provides emotional support and periodic respite to the terminally ill and their families.

“I can’t think of a more worthwhile charity,” said Talbert, who’ll play pieces from his “Louisiana Suite” (Sea Breeze) LP. “VNA has a tough time because people don’t want to talk about dying, so the organization doesn’t get a lot of exposure.”

“Tom supports us tremendously,” said Linda Conway, VNA’s volunteer coordinator. “Last year we had 155 people attend.”

“I have a big house,” Talbert said. “It has good acoustics and we get such a good audience. They’re very attentive and involved and that affects the group. It’s always been very good musically and a lot of fun.”

The benefit, for which a donation of $40 is requested, kicks off the association’s annual “Light Up a Life” fund-raiser, where the public “can honor loved ones, both those living and those in memory, by placing a light on our 35-foot tree, which is lighted outside our office in the City of Orange throughout December,” said Conway.

Information: (714) 771-1209.

Such dubious honors as “best phone hog,” “best studio tan” and “most impressive warm-up (instrumental)” will be awarded Sunday at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in North Hollywood, 1 p.m., when the L.A. Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presents the first “Yo Cat” roast.

The program--emceed by the Don Rickles of jazz, trumpeter-comedian Jack Sheldon--will both salute and ridicule musicians who make their living primarily in the town’s recording studios. Tom Scott, musical director of “The Pat Sajak Show,” will be the roastee-of-honor, and musical interludes will be provided by singer-comedienne Marie Cain, among others.

“Yo Cat” admission is $15 for academy members, $20 for non-members. Information: (818) 843-8253.

To support the International Assn. of Jazz Appreciation’s “Jazz Goes to School” program, bassist Leslie Baker and tenorman Ricky Woodard will lead quartets at 5 p.m. this Sunday and next at Webster’s Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. Cover charge is $8 for non-members, $5 for members, with musicians admitted free. “Jazz Goes to School” will again offer performances by local jazz musicians in Los Angeles elementary and junior high schools in January. Information: (213) 469-5589.

A week ago Sunday it was Bob Cooper Day here in Los Angeles. Two days before that, the mellow-toned saxophonist’s trumpet-playing buddy, Snooky Young, was similarly feted by his hometown of Dayton, Ohio.

“Yeah,” said the longtime member of “The Tonight Show” orchestra, “they gave me a key to the city and a proclamation from the mayor, and then Bob (Cooper), (pianist) Ross (Tompkins) and (singer) Ernie Andrews and I, plus a couple of local musicians, gave a concert at the Dayton Art Institute. It turned out great, with a full house and people really responding.”

The 71-year-old Young, whose most recent release--”In a Mellotone” (Fantasy/Galaxy)--is co-led with Cooper and features Andrews, takes off this weekend to play a jazz party in Aspen, Colo.