Already boasting two ostensibly blow-'em-away gigs by pianist Freddy Kempf and woodwind master Paquito D'Rivera during the winter, the Ventura Music Festival has just added another dimension to the officially pre-festival fun by soliciting applications from high school students to play onstage with D'Rivera during his Valentine's Day set at Ventura High School.
Leaving a gap of more than month between Kempf's performance (on January 11th at the Community Presbyterian Church in Ventura) and that of D'Rivera and his new apprentice might leave a bit too much time for Latin and jazz education enthusiasts to hold their breath.
Although the official 2nd season hasn't started for Los Angeles's Festival of New American Musicals, the first Festival-sponsored event, 7th & Schwartz, will be playing at the Performing Arts Center of Thousand Oaks High School today and tommorrow, December 13th and 14th, respectively.
The musical, conceived by Thousand Oaks's voice coach, takes the audience through an Across The Universe-style tribute to and revue of the works of composer Stephen Schwartz, will feature student performers from ten high schools and seven middle schools singing songs from Wicked, Enchanted, Godspell and other Schwartz classics. The night performance on the 13th will be hosted by on- and off-Broadway star Michael Arden, who will be performing in a production of Wicked by the Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles; the afternoon performance on the 14th will feature a discussion about the TOHS's creation with the author of Wicked, Winnie Holzman. Schwartz himself, who is an honorary co-chair of FNAM's Board of Directors, will undoubtedly be in the audience himself.
Roots festival favorites Uncle Earl, the all-female string band, announced that it won't be touring in 2009 so that members can focus on individual projects. Abigail Washburn's duties with the Sparrow Quartet have complicated the band's scheduling the last two years, but the reasons are probably deeper than that, especially because the email announcing the news suggests that she is also slowing down that band's appearances next year while she pursues more travel in China and a duo album with cellist Ben Sollee.
Each of the other members also has outside projects. Kristin Andreassen performs with Sometimes Why and as a solo performer. Rayna Gellert has a variety of things in the works, including work on a documentary soundtrack and collaborations with Toubab Krewe and Loudon Wainwright. KC Groves has a new solo album and is working with two other bands, The Moody Sisters and Dangerfields, where she'll be join by, among others, former G'Earl Sharon Gilchrist. Read more »
I recently provided answers to some survey questions from a college student about the economics of the live music industry, which gave me a chance to write down some of my thoughts about the underlying appeal of festivals and the likely impacts of the economic downturn on the festival market. It struck me that some of those answers would be interesting to also post to the site. Comments are welcome.
What is it about festivals that intrigues you?I believe that as our lives become more isolated and mediated by technology, we are seeking out immersive experiences that connect us with "live" communities and give us a sense of participation in a technicolor, multi-sensory world. Festivals are uniquely suited to providing this kind of experience in a contained weekend-long break from our otherwise humdrum, cubicled existence. Read more »
We here at Festival Preview have always striven to be a non-partisan publication. I think I speak for everyone when I say that personal bias has never gotten in the way of our mission to bring festival news to the masses. It is certainly not our place to shed negative light upon any subject on which we are reporting. So with that in mind, let's discuss the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix, which started on October 10 and runs through November 2nd. The aspect of this event that's of interest to us is the concert series, which features nothing less than a wonderful...no, divine lineup of artists.
This evening will feature alternative rock band Weezer, who within the last decade have become rock superstars thanks to their Blue, Green, and most recent Red album. It's true that groups like Metallica and The Beatles have done the color concept albums at some point during their careers, but keep in mind that they only bothered to do it once. Weezer, on the other hand, went above and beyond and dared to do it not once, not twice, but three times. Not to mention, songs like "Island in the Sun", "Pork and Beans", and of course, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" are consider by many to be some of the most influential lyrical gems produced since Dylan's heyday. The band's intrigue is magnfied by their geek image (specifically shrimpy vocalist Rivers Cuomo's thick-rimmed spectacles), ironically giving them leverage to shoot a music video at the Playboy mansion. Be sure not to miss the chance to experience these alternative rock classics, made even sweeter by Cuomo's newly-sprouted upper lip fur. Hef would agree. Read more »
The Grand Canyon Music Festival has won the ASCAP Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous programming and here’s what’s in store for the second weekend of it’s 25th Silver Anniversary Season. Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, 13, 2008.
The festival presents pianist Joel Fan and the Enso String Quartet. These artists have garnered much high acclaim, The Boston Globe calls them “superb”, “extraordinary” says the Village Voice. Joel Fan is described as “versatile and sensitive pianist” by the New York Times.
Fans taking in the sounds at a previous, quite sunny Sedona Jazz On The Rocks Festival.
The 27th edition of the Sedona Jazz On The Rocks Festival, the best and most thorough jazz celebration in Arizona by a significant margin, will start off with a pre-film dinner at 5:30 p.m on Tuesday, September 23rd. The film to be shown immediately afterwards will be a jazz documentary, entitled Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon, with the first night finally being capped by a performance by local band Soundscape Sedona.
From there, the festival will claim restaurants, clubs, and resorts across the small north-central Arizona town of Sedona, including a full day of jazz on Saturday, the 27th, at the festival's traditional home base venue, the Radisson Poco Diablo Resort.