Big sounds will be buzz from multiple venues over the next week as jazz notables Henry Grimes, Wadada Leo Smith, Ravi Coltrane, and John Abercrombie highlight this year's Angel City Jazz Fest.
The festival kicks off tonight at REDCAT with a much anticipated performance by bassist Henry Grimes and a formidable combo including trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, and LA-based vocalist Dwight Trible. Grimes made a name for himself with the likes of Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, and free jazz pioneers Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor decades ago, before vanishing from the scene in 1967 and roughing it for the next three decades in downtown LA. Dwight Trible, who has made a name for himself over the years as a prodigal performer and vocalist, opens the show with pianist John Beasley.
Sunday's program at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater features a fully-fleshed out evening of jazz and experimental music, with five notable groups performing over the course of the evening.
This is a can't-miss night of music and anyone who finds themselves moved by music and improvisation can expect to be blown away repeatedly. Consider the talent present on night two of Angel City Jazz Fest and for just $40 ($12 students): Ravi Coltrane (son of John and Alice and CalArts alum) / Ralph Alessi Quintet; Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet; Tim Berne, Nels Cline, and Jim Black (aka the Sons of Champignon, who will literally rock your socks off); the Vinny Golia Sextet; and pomo instrumentalists Kneebody.
The full Angel City Jazz Fest program runs through October 8 at venues including Royal/T, Musicians Institute Theater, Barnsdall Art Gallery, and LACMA, where a set of Ed Ruscha paintings will come to life alongside music and poetry.
More info at angelcityjazz.com.
