Here This, Here This! Ye Newe Angel City Jazz Festival, Los Angeles' only alternative non-commercial jazz festival, has announced its 2009 artist lineup for concerts taking place Labor Day weekend (Sept. 6-7, 2009) at the intimate (and affordable!) John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. The Angel City Jazz Festival is a two-day outdoor event featuring innovative and original jazz musicians from the west coast and around the world. The 2009 festival -- expanded from one to two days -- presents established jazz artists as well as lesser known emerging talent, with a focus on west coast creative jazz. The Angel City Jazz Festival was founded in 2007 by jazz promoter Rocco Somazzi (pause for applause), and the first event was held last year at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood. Co-Producing the festival this year is Los Angeles based Cryptogramophone Records (pause for riotous ovation).
Headlining this year's festival will be veteran woodwind player/composer Bennie Maupin [pictured] and Dolphyana, with an all-star band performing west coast premiers of newly discovered compositions by the great Eric Dolphy. Also headlining will be world renowned trumpeter Dave Douglas and Brass Ecstasy, a recently formed band with the unique instrumentation of trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba, and drums. Other artists appearing at the festival are Grammy award-winning pianist Billy Childs' Jazz-Chamber Ensemble, The Nels Cline Singers with Jeff Parker of Tortoise, Nels' percussionist bro Alex Cline leading his cheekily named Band of the Moment, The Larry Goldings Organ Trio, The Satoko Fujii Four, Seattle-based pianist Wayne Horvitz's Gravitas Quartet, pianist Motoko Honda with Butoh master Oguri, Jesse Sharps' The Gathering featuring vocalist Dwight Trible, and many others.
Here's the schedule:
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th
4:00 PM Plays Monk (Ben Goldberg, Devin Hoff, Scott Amendola)
5:15 PM The Satoko Fujii Quartet
6:30 PM Jesse Sharps' The Gathering with Dwight Trible
Intermission
8:00 PM The Billy Childs Jazz-Chamber Ensemble
9:15 PM Larry Karush - solo piano
9:50 PM Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy
Drummer Nate Wood, bassist Edwin Livingston and vibraphonist Nick Mancini perform at ACJF 2008
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th
4:00 PM Alex Cline's Band of the Moment
5:15 PM The Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet
6:30 PM The Nels Cline Singers with Jeff Parker
Intermission
8:00 PM The Larry Goldings Organ Trio
9:15 PM Motoko Honda & Oguri
9:50 PM Bennie Maupin and Dolphyana
Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, the 1200-seat John Anson Ford Amphitheatre is one of the oldest performing arts venues in Los Angeles. But there's more to this choice of venue than just it's rustic and endearing location. ACJF hopes to resurrect the Ford as a nexus for west coast creative jazz. The Ford Theatre was originally known as the Pilgrimage Theater, and in the 1960s and 70s the "Jazz at the Pilgrimage" series on Sundays was a destination for many Left Coast artists like Art Pepper, Mundell Lowe, Chico Hamilton, Henry Franklin, Harold Land, Oscar Brashear, Buddy Collette, Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Don Ellis, Sonship Theus, Charles Owens, Oscar Brashear, George Bohannon, Kemang Sunduza and Bill Henderson. In fact, many -- if not all -- of these concerts were attended by young musicians who would make up the next generation of LA's postmodern creative jazz scene, including two blonde twin teens named Alex and Nels Cline. So, in many ways, it's some sort of spiritual homecoming.
For tix (you know you want them), log-on to www.fordtheatres.org, or call the Ford Box Office at (323) 461-3673. Tickets are priced at $35 for adults, and $12 for full-time students with ID and children 12 and under. Through the Ford's early buyer incentive, adults who buy tickets on or before August 30th pay only $30!
And, as an added bonus having nothing to do with ticket prices, Downbeast will be doing in-depth non-press releasey profiles of each of the 12 acts that will be performing Labor Day weekend. So stay tuned!
Free improv between virtuoso harmonica player Gregoire Maret and pianist/composer Andy Milne at ACJF 2008
