Remembering Rita Guerrero

Film · Music
RITA, THE DOCUMENTARY, an intimate and music-fueled documentary by Arturo Díaz Santana that captures the energy and artistry of the brilliant lead singer of Santa Sabina, Rita Guerrero (1964-2011), will screen at the Hola Mexico Film Festival on Thursday, June 6 at The Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood. Santa Sabina, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, will perform following the ...

Los Angeles lore thru music & photography @ Central Library

Music · Visual arts
Josh Nelson: The Sky Remains, May 4, 2019, singer Kathleen Grace out frontCentral Library downtown Los Angelesphoto courtesy of Mark Christian Miller, Corniche Entertainment A wonderful Saturday afternoon: a chance to unplug, be with people, and simply simmer in a stew of creativity, while taking in a jazz concert in the cozy confines of the ...

Jazz review: Chilly night at the Ford warmed by ‘Spring Quartet’

Music
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Spring Quartet: DeJohnette, Lovano, Spalding, Genovese For a jazz super group, the Spring Quartet is something of a phantom. Most Angeleno jazz fans had never heard of the quartet, but they all know the names of saxophonist Joe Lovano, drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Esperanza Spalding and pianist Leo Genovese. When the group performed at the ...

One man’s ‘Bliss’ … @ Fluxus Fest

Music
… is this woman’s The Marriage of Figaro. More to the point, focus on the final few minutes of Mozart’s sublime operatic score. Take that rapture and loop it for twelve hours – a Fluxus-Festival endurance feat — and you have Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson‘s Mozart madness starting at noon, at REDCAT, on May 25. ...

Orpheus-themed event blends music, poetry, film @ The Edye

Film · Ideas & Opinion · Music
Black Orpheus (1959) dir Marcel Camus The tragic love of Orpheus for Eurydice has inspired poets, artists, and musicians—among them Rainer Maria Rilke, Christophe Willibald Gluck, and in our own time choreographer Mark Morris and composer Philip Glass, whose 1993 Orphee Suite was inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1950 film. An interesting event exploring the Orpheus ...

REVIEW: ‘I Married An Angel’ at City Center’s Encores!

Dance · Music · Reviews · Theater
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Sara Mearns, Mark EvansRodgers & Hart’s I Married an Angel Director-Choreographer Joshua Bergasse Over the past few seasons Sara Mearns has found a home at City Center for projects outside of (and sometimes very far removed from) her “day job” as one of New York City Ballet’s leading ballerinas. At Fall for Dance she has ...

A grandaughter’s devotion: Mariana de Moraes at the bluewhale

Music
photo courtesy mariana de moraes In her upcoming performance at the Little Tokyo jazz club, bluewhale, chanteuse Mariana de Moraes is admirably fronting an evening of Brazilian samba, bossa nova, Brazilian jazz, Afro-Samba, and poetry. And she is doing more. She is honoring her grandfather, Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980) a giant of Brazilian culture history. ...

Stylin’ songs straight-ahead: Catherine Russell @ Segerstrom 2

Music
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Songstress Catherine Russell It’s very common for today’s young jazz singers to want to sound like instruments, instrumentalists, and/or innovative vocalists. There are legions of developing singers who worship at the altars of Betty Carter, Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. But each of those trend-setters evolved into very personal stylists only after years of trial-and-error. ...

First dibs: Pam Tanowitz world premiere for Martha Graham Dance Company

Dance · Music · Reviews
(Untitled) Souvenir (2019) choreographer Pam Tanowitz for Martha Graham Dance Companyphoto Luis Luque We got it first. That is wonderful. Untitled (Souvenir) enjoyed its world premiere in Los Angeles on March 2, 2019, in the context of a rich and historic dance concert delivered by Martha Graham Dance Company. The venue was the glowing, still-newish Younes ...

‘My take’: MJ’s choreographer Vince Paterson speaks out 5

Dance · Music
Vince Paterson, Michael Jackson, ‘Smooth Criminal’ Ed. note: We are pleased to invite the hugely accomplished and talented choreographer Vince Paterson for this guest column written in response to the two-part documentary, “Leaving Netherland” now on HBO. I am repulsed by the number of people ready to nail Michael Jackson to the cross — without ...