The acclaimed Angel City Jazz Festival continues its 2011 run with its first ever show at the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall, an underappreciated gem of the performance spaces along Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The evening will feature the Edmar Castaneda Quartet and Nick Mancini’s trio with special guest Otmaro Ruiz, and on September 30. Tickets are $25 and are available at http://edmarcastaneda.eventbrite.com/.
Edmar Castaneda and his harp
Edmar Castaneda was born in 1978, in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Since his move to the United States in 1994, Edmar has quite literally taken New York and the world stage by storm with his virtuosic command of the Colombian harp. A master at realizing beautiful complexities of time, while skillfully drawing out lush colors and dynamic spirits, Edmar has been characterized as “almost a world unto himself” by The New York Times. The legendary Paquito D’Rivera, Edmar’s frequent collaborator, has remarked “Edmar is…an enormous talent, he has the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple.”
The son of a musician and a mother who nurtured his obvious natural talents, Edmar embraced the noble folkloric traditions of his native land. The “joropo” dance classes which he and his sister regularly attended became for him a master class in movement, accompanied by the harp. Even now, on stages across the globe, one notes how Edmar’s body seemingly engulfs his Colombian harp as he crafts almost unbelievable feats of cross-rhythms, layered with chordal nuances rivaling the most celebrated flamenco guitarist’s efforts.
Edmar will be joined by Andrea Tierra on vocals, Dave Silliman on drums and Shlomi Cohen on soprano sax.
Vibes master Nick Mancini finds himself at the helm of a cutting-edge trio that employs standards and original material as launching pads for his unique and incisive arrangements. Deep, deft and always swinging, this trio leaves audiences with a profound sense of jazz in its truest essence; ever-evolving and timeless.
Considered one of the most important jazz pianists in the current scene, Venezuelan Otmaro Ruiz is known for his versatility and virtuosity. After working intensively in Venezuela with artists such as Soledad Bravo and Ilan Chester, Ruiz moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to join the group of great names of the jazz world such as Alex Acuña, Justo Almario and Abraham Laboriel, with whom still collaborates in diverse projects. This performance will feature the World Premier of Ruiz’ “Chorinho pra Ela”