Angel City Arts today announced the programming for the 2014 Angel City Jazz Festival presented by the Jazz Bakery. Los Angeles’s only non-commercial jazz and new music festival, Angel City, is a celebration of cutting edge music at the city’s most exciting and prestigious venues including LACMA, REDCAT, Blue Whale, The Aratani Theatre, Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School, and Barnsdall Art Park. The festival will feature innovative and original musicians from around the world. The curated programming will balance established jazz artists with emerging talent, and will focus on the past, present, and future of west coast jazz.
The 2014 Festival’s theme is “Full Circle” and highlights the Festival’s commitment to L.A.’s jazz artists and the return to Barnsdall Art Park, the site of the first Angel City Jazz Festival in 2008. The Festival will come full circle on Sunday, September 28 with an all-day free outdoor concert and affordable special programming at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater.
The festival is presented by the Jazz Bakery and is co-produced by Angel City Arts (ACA). ACA is a music presenting nonprofit organization committed to cultivating and revitalizing jazz culture in Los Angeles by producing concerts from established and emerging music innovators. The Jazz Bakery brings a 21-year history of presenting the finest in jazz at their legacy performance space in Culver City. The Jazz Bakery is building a new performance center designed by Frank Gehry next door to the Kirk Douglas Theatre in downtown Culver City. It will become a cultural and architectural landmark joining venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center and SFJAZZ Center as iconic guardians of jazz. The Jazz Bakery currently produces its Movable Feast concert series at venues across Southern California while the new building is being constructed.
Rocco Somazzi, Festival founder and producer adds, ”Angel City is about innovation and this innovation comes when we depart from tradition via experimentation. This year, we are celebrating the Festival coming full circle through the continuous creation of community while maintaining our alternative style and underground programming.”
Ruth Price, artistic director and president of The Jazz Bakery says, “The Jazz Bakery is proud to sponsor The Angel City Jazz Festival and our local musicians with this creative, forward looking programming. We’re honored to inaugurate our NEA Jazz Masters Series at the 2014 festival with Jazz Master Toshiko Akiyoshi’s Trio, and to reach out to our Korean community with the amazing vocalist Youn Sun Nah.”
Tickets are available now at www.angelcityjazz.com.
Angel City Jazz Festival Programming
Bassist Roberto Miranda appears September 19 with his trio featuring Bobby West on piano and Fritz Wise on bass. Roberto is currently a full-time music teacher with LAUSD and is the string bass instructor for the Jazz Studies Program at UCLA. The Festival’s Young Artist Competition Winner will open the show.
On September 20, Korean jazz vocalist Youn Sun Nah performs with Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius, on a double bill with vocalist Dwight Trible and pianist John Beasley at the Aratani Theatre. A resident of Paris, Youn Sun Nah is highly regarded for her remarkable vocal prowess and ability to present each song in her own unique style filled with emotion. In 2013, the Korean government awarded her with a special prize for her contribution to popular culture and the arts.
REDCAT on September 21 features a double bill with the duo of pianist Satoko Fujii and her husband trumpeter Natsuki Tamura along with NYC-based drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom. Fujii and Tamura are one of the most boldly creative and fearlessly innovative couples in contemporary music. Whether together in one of their regular groups or alone they continue to push the boundaries of improvisation and composition. Miller defies all boundaries bringing her individual sound to diverse types of music while preserving their stylistic authenticity. She approaches each of these musical situations with her own stylistic identity and a creative, fresh and energetic approach. Allison was chosen as “Rising Star Drummer” in Downbeat’s 53rd and 58th Annual Critics Poll. Ms. Miller’s performance is made possible in part by a grant from Chamber Music America.
On September 22, Blue Whale will present an evening of music by artists from the LA Based 9Winds records catalog, with multi-instrumentalist and ROVA Saxophone Quartet member Steve Adams in a duo with bassist Scott Walton. One of the most original cornet players to emerge from Ornette Coleman’s bands of the early 60s, Bobby Bradford will appear with his quartet, plus Los Angeles-based woodwind master Vinny Golia will perform with his Septet fusing the rich heritage of jazz, contemporary classical and world music into his own unique compositions.
Blue Whale on September 25 will feature a double bill with Slumgum and Matana Roberts’ Anthem. Slumgum with Trevor Andries on drums, Jon Armstron on saxophone, Rory Cowal on piano, and David Tranchina on bass is the perpetually inventive quartet of adventurous musicians shaped by unbridled imagination and diverse influences that include jazz, free improvisation, world music, and modern classical music. Internationally documented, Chicago-born, New York City-based sound experimentalist Matana Roberts, works in many performance/sound mediums including improvisation, dance, poetry, and theater. A dynamic saxophonist, composer, improviser and mixed media sound conceptualist, she aims to expose the mystical roots and the intuitive spirit raising traditions of American creative expression in her music and art. Roberts is a 2014 Doris Duke Impact Award winner. This concert is presented in part by a grant from Chamber Music America.
NEA Jazz Master Toshiko Akiyoshi will perform at REDCAT on September 26 with her trio including Paul Gill on bass and Aaron Kimmel on drums. Over the course of a six-decade career, pianist, bandleader, and composer-arranger Toshiko Akiyoshi has made a unique and vital contribution to the art of big band jazz. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in DownBeat magazine’s Readers Poll. This concert is presented by The Jazz Bakery, and is funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Opening the show will be award-winning pianist and composer Cathlene Piñeda, a fresh and innovative contributor to the Los Angeles jazz scene. This performance will mark the premiere of a new work commissioned by the Los Angeles Jazz Society featuring a collaboration with most recent Poet Laureate of Los Angeles Eloise Klein Healy.
Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School on September 27 will present a legendary double bill with Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith’s Silver Orchestra and Anthony Braxton Trio. Silver Orchestra is an ensemble consisting of twelve instrumentalists created with a vision to explore musical languages and systems with a developed experimental performance practice for a larger ensemble. The music is the result of the particular view of its creator Smith. Anthony Braxton is recognized as one of the most important musicians, educators, and creative thinkers of the past 50 years, highly esteemed in the creative music community for the revolutionary quality of his work and for the mentorship and inspiration he has provided to generations of younger musicians. His trio features Taylor Ho Bynum on trumpet and the voice of Kyoko Kitamura.
On Sunday, September 28, Barnsdall Art Park will present an all day event with several unique musical presentations. The daytime suggested donation concert features the Brad Dutz Quartet, Gavin Templeton Trio, Michael White Trio, Daniel Rosenboom Quintet, and the Azar Lawrence Trio.
The evening performances at the Barnsdall Art Park Gallery Theatre will showcase LA-based pianist Josh Nelson’s Discoveries, Cuban pianist Aruán Ortiz will perform with his trio, pianist Craig Taborn, and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum’s West Coast Ensemble.
The evening finale is the Arthur Blythe Tribute & Benefit Concert on featuring Oliver Lake on alto saxophone; Bob Stewart on tuba; Curtis Stewart on violin; Gust Tsillis on marimba; Nick Rosen on bass; Dave Binney on alto saxophone; Dwight Trible on voice; Queen Bey on voice; Andy Langham on piano; Cecil Brooks III on drums; Alex Cline on drums. Blythe recently underwent a serious kidney operation, which affected his ability to walk and swallow foods. He is also struggling with Parkinson’s disease. Proceeds from this concert will be donated to Arthur Blythe to help cover health care expenses. Blythe said, “I really appreciate all the support from all of these great friends and musicians. It helps me to get strong and I look forward to the night of my music and I want to thank everyone for thinking about me. All of your support really matters.”
Angel City Jazz Festival Schedule
Roberto Miranda Trio; Young Artist Competition Winner
LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
Friday, September 19, 6:00pm
Free
Youn Sun Nah/Ulf Wakenius; Dwight Trible/John Beasley Duo;
Saturday, September 20, 8:00pm
The Aratani Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles
$35, $20 Students
Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom; Satoko Fujii/Natsuki Tamura Duo
Sunday, September 21, 8:00pm 9/21 – 8pm
REDCAT, 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles
$25, $15 Students
Steve Adams Duo; Bobby Bradford Quartet; Vinny Golia Septet
Monday, September 22, 8:00pm
Blue Whale, 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St #301, Los Angeles
$15
Matana Roberts Quintet; Slumgum
Thursday, September 25, 8:00pm
Blue Whale, 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St #301, Los Angeles
$20
Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio; Cathlene Piñeda Group;
Friday, September 26, 8:00pm
REDCAT, 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles
$35, $20 Students
Anthony Braxton Trio; Wadada Leo Smith’s Silver Orchestra
Saturday, September 27, 8:00pm
Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School, 200South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
$45, $25 students
Barnsdall Art Park Celebration Saturday, September 28
The Barnsdall Gallery Theatre at 4800 Hollywood Blvd is a 299-seat proscenium stage theatre owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affair’s Community Arts Division. It is located inside the Barnsdall Art Park. Concerts in the Gallery Theatre are ticketed. Music happening on the outdoor stage in the Art Park is not ticketed, although a $20 donation is encouraged.
Outdoor Stage Concerts
Brad Dutz Quartet; Gavin Templeton Trio; Michael White Trio; Daniel Rosenboom Quintet; Azar Lawrence Trio
2:30pm
Suggested donation of $20
Barnsdall Gallery Theater
Arúan Ortiz Trio; Josh Nelson’s Discoveries
4:00pm
$35, $20 Students
Craig Taborn; Taylor Ho Bynum’s West Coast Ensemble
6:00pm
$35, $20 Students
Arthur Blythe Tribute/Benefit Concert
8:00pm
$35, $20 Students
1/2 day pass is $55, $30 Students and includes:
• Josh Nelson’s Discoveries + Aruán Ortiz Trio
• Craig Taborn + Taylor Ho Bynum’s West Coast Ensemble
Full day pass is $80, $45 Students and includes:
• Josh Nelson’s Discoveries + Aruán Ortiz Trio
• Craig Taborn + Taylor Ho Bynum’s West Coast Ensemble
• Arthur Blythe Tribute/Benefit Concert Arthur Blythe Tribute/Benefit Concert
The 2014 Festival is made possible through generous contributions by the LA County Arts Commission, The Herb Alpert Foundation, Media The Foundation, The Shifting Foundation, LA Jazz Society, LACMA, CalArts, Chamber Music America, and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
