Ford Amphitheatre (Hollywood, CA)
An elite, all-woman ensemble of Southern California's finest jazz musicians will bring this year's Kickin' Brass theme to life in Hollywood at the beautiful Ford Amphitheatre. Master saxophonist Carol Chaikin will lead this year's Lady Jazz Ensemble in a repertoire of popular jazz and blues tunes that also showcase her talents as an arranger.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
All dates for this event have expired.
The last event was Friday September 28, 2007 / 7:00pm. (view all dates)
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It was a really fun evening, and we were blessed that a shuttle was available to make the evening less stressful. The singers were terrific, and the band had its moments.
The women were a great combination of great music.
The horn section kicked...brass.
smoking!!
It was a great event.
The 1241-seat outdoor Ford Amphitheatre is set against a backdrop of cypresses and chaparral in the Hollywood Hills. It is relatively intimate: no patron is more than 96 feet away from the stage. Music, dance, film, theatre and family events are presented during the summer months. The Ford Amphitheatre Season is a program of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
The powerhouse horn trio is rounded out with trombonist and recent UCLA alumni Robyn Javier and special guest Tanya Darby, one of New York’s most accomplished trumpet players.
This year’s honoree is 80-year old Clora Bryant, the only female trumpeter that ever recorded with Dizzy Gillespie. Her vocal rendition of What a Wonderful World made popular by Louis Armstrong is guaranteed to be one of the highlights of the evening.
Nedra Wheeler will put the feminine exclamation point on Boogie Stop Shuffle and Nostalgia in Times Square, two compositions by legendary bassist Charles Mingus. Pianist Karen Hammack will showcase her wares on the baby grand in tribute to the genius of Horace Silver’s Filthy Mc Nasty and The Jody Grind. Drummer Maria Martinez and percussionist Estaire Godinez will provide the pulse and rhythm throughout the performance on Quincy Jones’ Pleasingly Plump and other tunes guaranteed to engage this year’s audience in another groundbreaking performance by Some of the best jazz musicians in the business, who happen to be women™. The gorgeous and talented vocalist Sweet Baby Ja’i will add icing to the cake with several renditions selected to showcase her versatility, including her signature performance of Black Drawers made popular by another local legendary blues diva, Linda Hopkins.
ABC7’s Jane Monreal and L.A.’s Gentleman of Jazz™ James Janisse return as co-hosts for the second consecutive year. Historical facts about women in jazz will be delicately interwoven throughout the performance by this talented duo in the signature edutainment format of this critically-acclaimed all-woman jazz showcase produced by The Instrumental Women® Project (IWP). The Annual Lady Jazz™ Concert has the distinction of receiving the L.A. Times “Best Bets” designation for recommended weekend jazz entertainment during five of the first seven years of production. “There is nothing else like it in the country,” according to UCLA Ethnomusicologist Dr. Cheryl L. Keyes, who served as the music director for last year’s sold out performance. An accomplished pianist, flutist, vocalist, arranger and composer, Keyes is regarded as one of the foremost experts in the genre and is the creator and instructor for the popular Women in Jazz course at the university.
A dedicated core group of volunteers and growing fan base, coupled with support by a growing number of community media sponsors like the L.A. Watts Times Newspaper and T.H.E. Magazine, has propelled IWP’s Lady Jazz™ showcase into position as an established and respected regional jazz production. IWP is a Pasadena-based, nonprofit 501(c)(3) program of Congressional District Programs dedicated to educating the public about the role of women in jazz as instrumentalists and creating opportunities for performances and increased visibility.
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