Los Angeles, CA – September 16, 2021 – Angel City Arts ends the 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival with performances from two of the top women jazz players, festival favorite Myra Medford plus the Jamie Baum Septet+1 October 15 at the Skirball Center, 2701 N Sepulveda Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90049, at 8pm. Info and tickets are available at https://angelcityjazz.com/event/myrajamie/.

Myra Melford, whom the New Yorker called “a stalwart of the new-jazz movement” — has spent the last three decades making original music that is equally challenging and engaging. She’s explored an array of formats, among them ruminative solo-piano recitals (as she’ll perform at this show), deeply interactive combos, and ambitious multidisciplinary programs.

Since debuting on record as a bandleader in 1990, she’s built a discography of more than 25 albums as a leader or co-leader, and has been awarded numerous DownBeat poll placings, a 2000 Fulbright Scholarship, a 2012 Alpert Award in the Arts for Music and, between 2013 – 2016, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and the Doris Duke Residency to Build Demand for the Arts.

The Other Side of Air, the most recent release by her quintet Snowy Egret, was named one of the best jazz recordings of 2018 by the New York Times and one of NPR Music’s 50 Best Albums of 2018. “This is music with an endless capacity for elasticity and surprise,” NPR wrote, “along with an affirming spirit of coherence.” http://myramelford.com

NYC jazz flutist/composer, Sunnyside Records artist and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, Jamie Baum, released her 6th CD, Bridges with The Jamie Baum Septet+, in May 2018. Internationally recognized and listed in DownBeat Critics Polls every year since 1999, she’s toured in over 35 countries and worked/recorded with many renown and diverse jazz artists ranging from Randy Brecker, and Roy Hargrove, to Ralph Alessi, Anthony Braxton, and Wadada Leo Smith, and many more.

A brief backstory… The Jamie Baum Septet was formed in ’99 and has been Baum’s compositional muse ever since. With two highly acclaimed CDs and several tours under their belt, Baum expanded the group in 2010 to the current Septet+. Their Sunnyside release, In This Life (2013), was met with much positive attention, Baum noted: “So many wonderful things came from that recording that I could not have anticipated. Not only was I nominated in 2014 by the Jazz Journalists Association for ‘Flutist of the Year,’ but my band, The Jamie Baum Septet+, was nominated as ‘Best Midsize Ensemble of the Year’ – in the same list with only two other bands, The Wayne Shorter Quartet and Steve Coleman’s Five Elements!” https://jamiebaum.com

In addition to Jamie leading and playing flute, her current Septet+ includes Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Sam Sadigursky on alto sax and bass clarinet, Chris Komer on French horn, Brad Shepik on guitar, John Escreet on piano, Ricky Rodriguez on bass, and Jeff Hirshfield on drums.

For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival and to purchase event tickets please visit http://www.angelcityjazz.com/.

Los Angeles, CA – September 15, 2021 – Angel City Arts enters the third week of their 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival with Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Ensemble featuring special guest Dianne Reeves Thursday, October 14 at The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd E, Los Angeles, CA 90068 at 8 pm. Info and tickets are available at https://angelcityjazz.com/event/jazzchamber/.

Billy Childs has emerged as one of the foremost American composers of his era, perhaps the most distinctly American composer since Aaron Copland – for like Copland, he has successfully married the musical products of his heritage with the Western neoclassical traditions of the twentieth century in a powerful symbiosis of style, range, and dynamism. A native of Los Angeles, Childs grew up immersed in jazz, classical, and popular music influences. By the time of his graduation from USC, Childs was already an in-demand performer in the LA jazz scene, soon thereafter he was discovered by trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard. He recorded and performed with a number of other influential jazz musicians including J.J. Johnson, Joe Henderson, and Wynton Marsalis. Thus far in his career, Childs has garnered thirteen GRAMMY nominations and four awards. In 2006, Childs was awarded a Chamber Music America Composer’s Grant, and in 2009 was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was also awarded the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013, and most recently, the music award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2015. https://billychilds.com

Five-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world. As a result of her breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess, and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Reeves received the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings – a Grammy first in any vocal category. Featured in George Clooney’s six-time Academy Award nominated Good Night, and Good Luck, Reeves won the Best Jazz Vocal Grammy for the film’s soundtrack. Reeves has recorded and performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. She has also recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and was a featured soloist with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Reeves was the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the first vocalist to ever perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall. https://diannereeves.com

Child’s Jazz Chamber Ensemble players are Larry Koonse on guitar, Carol Robbins on harp, Daniel Rotem on sax, Dan Chmielinski on bass, Christian Euman on drums, and Sara Andon on flute. They will be joined by Reeves along with Moira Smiley on vocals and Alexander Gedeon presenting a poetry recitation. They will also be accompanied on some numbers by The Lyris Quartet, a string quartet that focuses on the music of living Los Angeles composers. Its members are Alyssa Park and Shalini Vijayan on violin, Luke Maurer on viola, and Timothy Loo on cello.

For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival and to purchase event tickets please visit http://www.angelcityjazz.com/. For the Angel City Jazz Festival COVID safety policy, please see https://angelcityjazz.com/safety-policy/.

Los Angeles, CA – September 9, 2021 – Angel City Arts ends the second weekend of their 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival with a highly anticipated premiere performance of Elliott Sharp & Jeff Parker as a duo, plus the Muttdoggs with Petra Haden October 10 at Highland Park venue, the Lodge Room, 104 N Ave 56 2nd floor Los Angeles, California 90042, at 8pm. Info and tickets are available at https://angelcityjazz.com/event/muttdogs/.

American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer Elliott Sharp is a central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City and globally for over 30 years, Elliott Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from orchestral music to blues, jazz, noise, no wave rock, and techno music. He leads the projects Carbon and Orchestra Carbon, Tectonics, and Terraplane, and has pioneered ways of applying fractal geometry, chaos theory, and genetic metaphors to musical composition and interaction. http://www.elliottsharp.com

Jeff Parker is recognized as one of contemporary music’s most versatile and innovative electric guitarists and composers. With a prolific output characterized by musical ideas of angularity and logic, he works in a wide variety of mediums – from pop, rock and jazz to new music – using ideas informed by innovations and trends in both popular and experimental forms. He creates works that explore and exploit the contrary relationships between tradition and technology, improvisation and composition, and the familiar and the abstract. His sonic palette may employ techniques from sample-based technologies, analog and digital synthesis, and conventional and extended techniques from over 40 years of playing the guitar. An integral part of what has become known as “The Modern Chicago Sound,” he is a longtime member of the influential indie band Tortoise, and is also a founding member of Isotope 217˚, and Chicago Underground. https://www.jeffparkersounds.com/

Muttdoggs are an experimental project put together by fest favorite Motoko Honda, eclectic drummer and circuit bender Joe Berardi, and legendary SoCal bass player Mike Watt. They’ll be joined on this gig by noted vocalist and violinist Petra Haden.

Mike Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder, a member of the art rock group Banyan and is involved with many other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges. Watt has been called “one of the greatest bassists on the planet.” CMJ New Music called Watt a “seminal post-punk bass player.” Readers of NME voted Mike Watt one of the “40 Greatest Bassists of All Time” and LA Weekly awarded him the number six spot in “The 20 Best Bassists of All Time.” http://www.hootpage.com

Motoko Honda is a concert pianist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist who has created a distinctive sound through her holistic approach to music, and her exceptional sensitivity in relating to other art forms and technologies. Employing a “virtuoso technique paired with her intensely imaginative mind” (LA Splash Magazine), and with stylistic influences ranging from jazz to Indonesian music to contemporary prepared piano with electronics, Motoko’s compositions and structured improvisations are intended to affect the skin, organs and minds of the listener rather than simple recitations of rhythmic and harmonic themes. Called both a “keyboard alchemist” (LA Times), and the “embodiment of a muse” (Metaljazz), Motoko’s performances transport audiences on sonic adventures that transcend the boundaries and conventions of contemporary music. https://www.motokohonda.com

Joe Berardi has a long history in the Los Angeles experimental underground music scene, both as composer and performer. Mainly known as a drummer/percussionist, he also plays a variety of instruments, from keyboards to marimba to the occasional cello and viola, along with homemade instruments, sound objects, samplers, synths and toys. His side business, F Hole, provides an outlet for his work in electronics. He creates, builds and sells circuit bent instruments, effects pedals and other sound-making devices, and uses these instruments in his improvisations and recordings. Since first coming into prominence as a member of the groundbreaking avant-rock band The Fibonaccis, Berardi has been involved in a wide assortment of musical ventures, from rock and pop to experimental and free improvisiation. His unique style and use of percussive objects and found sounds within the traditional drum kit have made him a highly sought collaborator. http://www.noncredo.com

As a singer, instrumentalist and composer, Petra Haden has built an impressively varied and accomplished discography. She has released a number of albums which often showcase her unique talent for constructing complex, evocative A-cappella arrangements by inventively layering multiple tracks of her own voice. She is a former member of the alt-rock quartet That Dog and since has collaborated with a broad array of artists including Bill Frisell, the Foo Fighters, the Decemberists, and Susannah Hoffs. As one of the triplet daughters of the late, legendary jazz bassist and composer Charlie Haden, Petra grew up around music and learned about harmony at a very young age Her early fascination with the violin and other instruments led her to develop an uncanny ability to use her voice to recreate the sounds of the instruments she heard, and to develop elaborate pop, jazz, blues and classical arrangements based on those sounds. http://www.petrahaden.com

For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival and to purchase event tickets please visit http://www.angelcityjazz.com/.

Los Angeles, CA – September 8, 2021 – Angel City Arts continues the second weekend of their 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival with the Orenda Records Fest Saturday, October 9 at Echo Park area venue, 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057 (formerly the beloved Bootleg Theater) at 8 pm. Info and tickets are available at https://angelcityjazz.com/event/orenda-records-fest/.

Since 2014, Orenda Records has been a catalyst for creativity and expression in the Los Angeles music scene and beyond. Beginning with a group of core artists, the label has grown quickly, encompassing a huge range of stylistic approaches to inventive music-making from across the US and Europe, and is fast approaching its 100th release! For this special performance at the 2021 Angel City Jazz Festival, Orenda Records presents a lineup of artists that represent both the original core and new horizons of the label and the Los Angeles music scene with Jon Hatamiya’s Big Band, the Bridge to Everywhere project directed by composer Derrick Skye, the Cathlene Pineda Quartet, Alexander Noice’s NOICE, and label founder and artistic director Dan Rosenboom’s Quartet.

Trombonist, composer, and B.A.C. Endorsing Artist Jon Hatamiya (Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Michael Bublé, Kyle Athayde Dance Party) is one of the most promising trombonists to come out of the Sacramento area and is rapidly making a name for himself on both the New York and California music scenes. He was recognized in Jet Magazine as the only trombonist on Wynton Marsalis’s list of “Who’s Got Next”, which highlighted the next generation of emerging jazz artists. Jon recently released his debut album as a leader More Than Anything on Orenda Records in early 2020, as well as an electronic EP Some Might Say (Revisited) in December 2020.

Jon Hatamiya’s Big Band will premiere a new piece commissioned by the Los Angeles Jazz Society for their Jeff Clayton Memorial New Note Award. The Big Band players are Jon Hatamiya – trombone/composer/arranger; Saxes: Alex Hahn, Albert Baliwas, Devin Daniels, Chris Sullivan, Nicole McCabe; Trombones: Steven Robinson, Lemar Guillary, Ido Meshulam, Jake Kraft; Trumpets: Ryan DeWeese, Rigo Velez, Harry Ostrander, Aidan Lombard; Rhythm: Adam Hersh – piano/synths, Colin Cook – guitar, Yunus Iyriboz – guitar, Logan Kane – bass, and Colin McDaniel – drums.

Bridge to Everywhere celebrates cultural diversity by bringing people together to experience interwoven musical traditions to foster a more inclusive society. Bridge to Everywhere is a Los Angeles-based classical chamber ensemble and arts organization dedicated to supporting composers, performers, and educators who celebrate cultural diversity through interwoven musical traditions. Through collaborations, performances, and education programs, the organization strives to build bridges between instruments, genres, cultures, and people. Founded in 2015 by artistic director Derrick Skye, Bridge to Everywhere has been presented by Boston Court Pasadena, Brand Library & Art Center, Compose LA, Miles Memorial Playhouse, Eagle Rock Music Festival, Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, and has worked with Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, American Composer’s Forum, Salastina Music Society, and Bridge Projects. The ensemble has premiered and performed works by Derrick Skye, Reena Esmail, Juan Pablo Contreras, Philip Graulty, James Waterman, Anna Kouchnerov, and Poovalur Srinivasan.

The Orenda Records Fest Bridge to Everywhere group includes Rachel Iba – Violin, Nikki Shorts – Viola, Chris Votek – Cello, Rachel Mellis – Flute, Mark Gutierrez – Bass, Philip Graulty – Guitar, James Waterman – Percussion, and Saili Oak –Voice

Cathlene Pineda is a highly sought pianist and composer in the Los Angeles area. In June 2020, Orenda Records released Cathlene’s third album of original music, Rainbow Baby, which chronicles her progression through motherhood, birth, and loss. It was hailed by Jazz Times as “beautifully articulated.” DownBeat said, “The majority of Rainbow Baby comes off as a blue exploration of Pineda’s psyche; the music’s no less gorgeous or entrancing. The emotional backing of California pianist Cathlene Pineda’s Rainbow Baby is startling…the courage to write music about such a personal experience should be recognized.”

In addition to Pineda, her Quartet on the Orenda Records Fest are Kris Tiner – Trumpet, David Tranchina – Bass, and Tina Raymond – Drums.

Alexander Noice is a composer, guitarist, producer, and bandleader based in Los Angeles. Known for his highly personalized style of composition and playing, best displayed by his ensembles NOICE and Falsetto Teeth, Alexander has been a highly sought musician in the creative music scene in Los Angeles and abroad for the past decade. Noice has performed and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, and South America performing with many notable artists such as Charlie Haden, Wadada Leo Smith, Vincent Gallo, Art Ensembles of Chicago’s Famoudou Don Moye, Vinny Golia, and Dan Rosenboom to name a few. His newest project, simply called NOICE, is a Los Angeles-based ensemble that seamlessly melds art rock, electronica, post minimalism, and jazz into a singular, mesmerizing sound. The ensemble is celebrated for its electrifying live performances – acrobatic in its execution and cinematic in scope. They released their debut NOICE album in 2019 to critical acclaim.

NOICE on the Orenda Records Fest includes Argenta Walther – Voice, Karina Kallas – Voice, Gavin Templeton – Alto Saxophone, Miller Wrenn – Bass, and Andrew Lessman – Drums.

Dan Rosenboom is an internationally recognized trumpet player, composer, and producer. He is known as a prolific member of the Los Angeles creative music scene, having released more than 25 albums of original music as a solo artist and bandleader, and has supported over 60 artists across nearly 100 releases on his label, Orenda Records. Rosenboom frequently performs on major film and television soundtracks, highlighted by the latest Star Wars trilogy, with such notable composers as John Williams, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, and Alexandre Desplat. He has also performed often with such elite ensembles as the LA Philharmonic, the LA Chamber Orchestra, and the LA Opera. His own music eschews genre distinctions and draws from such disparate influences as jazz and Black American music, metal and experimental rock, contemporary classical music, folk music from around the globe, and a broad range of progressive music from the avant-garde. He studied music at the Eastman School of Music, CalArts, and UCLA, earning advanced degrees. The Los Angeles Times has called Rosenboom “a musician dedicated to exploration and expression, regardless of anyone’s imagined boundaries,” and “a phenomenon.”

Players in the Dan Rosendboom Quartet for the Orenda Records Fest are Joshua White – Piano, Richard Lloyd Giddens Jr – Bass, and Mark Ferber – Drums.

For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival and to purchase event tickets please visit http://www.angelcityjazz.com/. For the Angel City Jazz Festival COVID safety policy, please see https://angelcityjazz.com/safety-policy/.

Los Angeles, CA – September 7, 2021 – The second weekend of Angel City Arts 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival kicks off with their popular FREE event in partnership with Jazz at LACMA, bringing Los Angeles’ legacy African-American big band, the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra to the museum’s outdoor stage Friday, October 8 at 6 pm. This concert is a special celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, which was founded by revered pianist Horace Tapscott in 1961. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Jazz at LACMA concert series. Info on the free, walk-up event is available at https://angelcityjazz.com/event/papa/.

The Arkestra (Ark or PAPA for short) started as a collective of jazz musicians and other artists who were fired up like no other. The Ark was also formed as a response to the racial inequality in the US. Artists subjected to prejudice who saw opportunities denied to them found an outlet to express themselves via the Ark (perhaps influencing later groups like the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music and the Art Ensemble of Chicago). The ensemble began with a few people rehearsing in Horace’s garage, and they were soon doing free shows at parks and churches, workshops at schools, and other public events. Since its inception, the Ark has been performing with an ever-expanding roster of talented artists. Some notable members include: Kamasi Washington, Phil Ranelin, Sonija “Maia” Harper, Arthur Blythe, Adele Sebastian, Kamau Daaood, and Dwight Trible just to name a few. The Ark is currently mixed with veteran members as well as young musicians, all led by Mekala Session, with the help of Jamael Dean, both second-generation Arksters, and the elders of the group. It’s quite likely that Ark members who have led Los Angeles’ recent Black Jazz Renaissance will be playing on the gig.

For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival and to purchase event tickets please visit http://www.angelcityjazz.com/. For the Angel City Jazz Festival COVID safety policy, please see https://angelcityjazz.com/safety-policy/.

Los Angeles, CA – September 2, 2021 – Angel City Arts first weekend of their 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival hosts the Corey Fogel Group, and Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones Saturday October 2 at Echo Park area venue, 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057 (formerly the beloved Bootleg Theater) at 8pm. Info and tickets are available at https://angelcityjazz.com/event/coreyfogelamirthakidambi.

Amirtha Kidambi is invested in the creation and performance of Creative Music, from free improvisation and avant-jazz, to experimental bands, Carnatic voice and new music. She is a composer, vocalist, scholar, educator, activist and organizer, informed by anti-racism, decolonization and anti-capitalism and is the co-organizer of Musicians Against Police Brutality and co-founder of South Asian Artists in Diaspora (SAAID). As a bandleader, she is the creative force behind the protest infused band Elder Ones and vocal group Lines of Light, receiving critical praise from such publications as The New York Times, Pitchfork, Downbeat and The Wire Magazine. Kidambi topped the categories of “Rising Star Vocalist”, “Rising Star Composer” and “Rising Star Jazz Group” in the Downbeat Critics Poll for 2019 and “Female Vocalist” in El Intruso’s International Critics Poll. Kidambi is a key collaborator in Mary Halvorson’s latest sextet Code Girl, Angels & Demons with Darius Jones, duos with Luke Stewart, Maria Grand and Matteo Liberatore, and several projects with William Parker. Kidambi had the opportunity to collaborate with and receive mentorship from Muhal Richard Abrams and Robert Ashley before their passing. She has released records as a leader and collaborator on Northern Spy and Astral Spirits. http://www.amirthakidambi.com.

Amirtha plays the harmonium, synthesizer, and sings with her group The Elder One who include Max Jaffe (Normal Love, Leverage Models, Unnatural Ways) on drums, Matt Nelson (tUnE-yArDs, Battle Trance, GRID) on soprano sax and electronics, and Eva Lawitts (Stimmerman, Sister Helen, Three Body Problem) on bass.

Corey Fogel is a percussionist, composer, and visual artist living and working in Los Angeles. He is active in many genres such as rock, jazz, noise, folk, and chamber music, and creative contexts including performance art and video. Recent collaborations include: Julia Holter, Tashi Wada, Yoshi Wada, Patty Waters, Abigail Levine, Simone Forti, Odeya Nini, Archie Carey, Raven Chacon, Michael Winter, Maya Dunietz, John Butcher, John Russell, Misha Marks, Brian Allen, Alexander Bruck, Patrick Shiroishi, Liz Glynn, Jennifer Levonian, Chris Speed, Mark Dresser, Ezra Buchla, Tony Malaby, Devin Hoff, John Dieterich, and Carlin Wing. Fogel’s works have been presented at The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Human Resources LA, Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles; The Wulf, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca, REDCAT, and New Music for Strings Festival: Reykjavik. His performance work was also included in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival. Corey was awarded The California Community Foundation 2014 Fellowship in Visual Arts, and is currently finishing his PhD in UC Irvine’s Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT) program. He was recently Time, Space, Money Artist-in-residence at Human Resources LA, where he installed a new body of graphic score murals for improvising musicians. https://www.coreyfogel.com

The balance of the Corey Fogel Group includes Beth Schenck (Eivind Opsvik + Jeff Davis, Kelly Watson, Phil Rodriguez Group (Underbelly)) on alto sax, Blue Note recording artist Judith Berkson (Kronos Quartet, Wet Ink, Yarn/Wire) on piano and vocals, and Mattie Barbier (RAGE Thormbones, gnarwhallaby, wasteLAnd music) on trombone and electronics.

For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival and to purchase event tickets please visit http://www.angelcityjazz.com/.