2009 Angel City Jazz Festival Set For Labor Day Weekend

August 6, 2009

Who: Dave Douglas, Bennie Maupin, Billy Childs, Nels Cline, Larry Goldings, Wayne Horvitz, etc.
What: Jazz Concerts - The Angel City Jazz Festival
When: Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 6-7 2009. 4PM-11PM
Where: The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood CA
Tickets: adults $35 ($30 before Aug 31) children under 12 and under & students with ID $12
Contact: Don Lucoff - DL Media - 610-667-0501, don@jazzpublicity.com
Web: angelcityjazz.com, www.fordtheatres.org
Press Materials: cryptogramophone.com/AngelCity.html

Angel City Jazz Festival Set For Labor Day Weekend
LA's Only Alternative, Non-Commercial Jazz Festival

The 2009 Angel City Jazz Festival is set to take place on Labor Day weekend, September 6-7, at the intimate and affordable John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, CA. Headlining this year's festival will be veteran woodwind player/composer Bennie Maupin and Dolphyana, with an all-star band performing West Coast premieres 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, The Larry Goldings Organ Triowith Peter Bernstein on guitar and Bill Stewart on drums, The Satoko Fujii Four
with Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, and Mark Dresser on bass, Seattle based pianist Wayne Horvitz'sGravitas Quartet, pianist Motoko Honda & Butoh master Oguri, Jesse Sharps' The Gatheringfeaturing vocalist Dwight Trible, and many others (see full schedule below).

Festival director Rocco Somazzi says, "We're honored to be presenting great artists like Dave Douglas, Bennie Maupin, Billy Childs, and Nels Cline in the beautiful and historic Ford Amphitheatre. Bringing creative jazz back to the Ford is a great thing for Los Angeles and a big step up for the Angel City Jazz Festival."

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 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, and the first event was held at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood. Co-Producing the festival this year is Los Angeles based Cryptogramophone Records.

Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, the 1200-seat John Anson Ford Amphitheatre is one of the oldest performing arts venues in Los Angeles, with a rich history of West Coast jazz. The open-air theater sits atop a 45-ac.re park-like setting in the beautiful Hollywood Hills, and is a great venue for family entertainment, and picnicking under the stars. The Ford Ampitheatre was originally known as the Pilgrimage Theater, and in the 1960s and 70s the "Jazz at the Pilgrimage" series was a destination for many West Coast "cool" jazz artists like Art Pepper, Mundell Lowe, Chico Hamilton, Harold Land, Oscar Brashear, Buddy Collette, Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, and Don Ellis. The Angel City Jazz Festival resurrects this historic venue as a nexus for West Coast creative jazz.

In addition to the music, this year's festival will feature Live Painting by Unification Theory. In the picnic area of the Ford Amphitheatre from 4pm to 11pm both days of the festival, visual artists Fumiko Amano, Favianna Rodriguez and Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca will be painting live, inspired by the music being performed during the festival. All live paintings will be available for sale at affordable prices ranging from $20 to $100. Proceeds will benefit the Angel City Jazz Festival.

For tickets, 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 of before August 30th pay only $30.

The Ford Amphitheatre is located at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068, Just off the 1010 Hollywood Freeway across from the Hollywood Bowl and south of Universal Studios. The grounds open two hours before showtime for picnicking. The Ford offers a number of dining options: a variety of food and beverages is available on site, and box dinners for evening events may be ordered in advance. Patrons are welcome to bring their own food and drink. The Ford is disabled accessible. Portable wireless listening devices are available upon request.

On-site stacked parking costs $5 per vehicle for evening shows. Free non-stacked parking serviced by a free shuttle to the Ford for evening performances only, is available at the Universal City Metro Station lot at Lankershim Blvd., and Campo de Cahuenga. The shuttle, which cycles every 15-20 minutes, stops in the "Kiss and Ride" area.

This event is part of the Ford Amphitheatre 2009 Season, a multi-disciplinary arts series produced by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission in cooperation with Los Angeles County-based arts organizations. For a complete season schedule, directions to the theater and parking information, log-on to www.FordTheatres.org

Festival Schedule

Sunday, September 6th 4PM - 11PM
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

Monday, September 7th 4PM - 11PM
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

For information, please contact:
Don Lucoff / DL Media: don@jazzpublicity.com
610.667.0501
www.jazzpublicity.com


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