PRESS RELEASES
Angel City Jazz Fest 2024
17th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival
Announces 2024 Lineup
Featuring The Otmaro Ruiz Quartet, Kris Davis Trio,
Steve Lehman & Garden of Klōns, Elsa Nilsson,
Sasha Berliner, Mauricio Morales, Jeff Denson &
Romain Pilon Trio, Yafeu Tyhimba, Joy Guidry,
Deron Johnson, Mark Dresser, Thollem McDonas,
Patrick Shiroishi, Brandon Seabrook, Iseul Kim,
Jenny Scheinman, The FES Orchestra, Zony Mash and
Wayne Horvitz’s Electric Circus
In its 17th year, 501 (c)(3) Angel City Arts presents the Angel City Jazz Festival October 11 – 27, 2024, at diverse and popular venues such as REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), 2220 Arts & Archives, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), The Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, Art Share L.A. and The World Stage. Tickets on sale now.
This year’s fall event will host 23 concerts featuring live performances by the Otmaro Ruiz Quartet, Kris Davis Trio, Steve Lehman & Garden of Klōns, Elsa Nilsson, Sasha Berliner, Mauricio Morales, Jeff Denson & Romain Pilon Trio, Yafeu Tyhimba, Joy Guidry, Deron Johnson, Mark Dresser, Thollem McDonas, Patrick Shiroishi, Brandon Seabrook, Iseul Kim, Jenny Scheinman, The FES Orchestra, Zony Mash and Wayne Horvitz’s Electric Circus.
Jazz never stands still. Like improvisation, it’s constantly evolving and reinventing itself. While some festivals focus through a traditional lens, Angel City unapologetically looks forward to encouraging and embracing metamorphosis of the genre. While providing a foundation to innovators Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and Charles Lloyd, Los Angeles never consistently hosted a festival dedicated to post-traditional improvisation until artistic curator Rocco Somazzi founded The Angel City Jazz Festival in 2008. States Somazzi, “Angel City has gone to great lengths to establish Los Angeles as a jazz destination through 17 years of affordable and accessible live concerts throughout the city featuring artists such as Bill Frisell, Archie Shepp, Bennie Maupin, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Vijay Iyer, Ravi Coltrane, Nels Cline, Tigran Hamasyan, Rudresh Mahanthappa and many others.”
The festival kicks off Friday, October 11 at LACMA with a performance by Venezuelan pianist Otmaro Ruiz’s quartet performing a set of original compositions.
Opening weekend continues Saturday, October 12 with highly regarded pianist Kris Davis, who performs with her new trio. The program’s double bill also includes the world premiere of Steve Lehman’s
Garden of Klōns project featuring pianist Cory Smythe and drummer Jonathan Pinson.
The weekend concludes on Sunday, October 13 featuring Swedish flutist Elsa Nilsson and vibraphonist Sasha Berliner. Nilsson will be performing Pulses, a spoken word/jazz piece inspired by an Maya Angelou poem.
The festival’s second leg opens Thursday, October 17 with the Mexico City-born, LA-based bassist Mauricio Morales. He’ll celebrate the release of his forthcoming album, Seven Days, featuring an all-star band that includes guitarist Horace Bray and pianist Luca Mendoza. Bay Area bassist Jeff Denson’s Trio featuring French guitarist Romain Pilon and drummer Clarence Penn will also appear.
On Friday, October 18, Bassist/composer Yafey Tyhimba will premier a new piece commissioned by the Los Angeles Jazz Society. An additional set from keyboardist Diego Gaeta will also take place.
On Saturday, October 19, New York City-based bassoonist Joy Guidry performs material from her most recent album, AMEN. Miles Davis alumnus Deron Johnson opens the evening in celebration of Free to Dance, his new recording comprised of all original material.
Sunday, October 20 concludes the second weekend of programming with a festival exclusive concert that features all solo performances. A diverse cross section of artists are set to appear, including bassist
Mark Dresser, pianist Jonas McDonas, saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi and guitarist Brandon Seabrook.
The concluding third week commences on Thursday, October 24 featuring a double bill of two highly creative NYC-based composers: Jenny Scheinman’s All Species Parade (featuring guitarist Adam Ratner and bassist Tony Scherr), and Iseul Kim’s Liberosis, an adventurous jazz project inspired by her love of tango music.
On Friday, October 25, the Belgium-based big band Flat Earth Society Orchestra celebrates their 25th anniversary with an exclusive Southern California performance. On Saturday October 26, a special festival program titled Angel City Jazz Festival and Vernacular: New Music, is a unique collective that includes of some Los Angeles’ finest local musicians in a program of various ensembles that will engage in spontaneous musical creation.
The festival fittingly concludes on Sunday, October 27 in a special evening hosted by Seattle-based composer/pianist Wayne Horvitz performing in two different contexts. Zony Mash will open with a groove-based quartet featuring Horvitz on Hammond B3 and the program concludes with Horvitz conducting a 15-piece band for his Electric Circus project.
Full schedule, tickets and details at www.angelcityjazz.com.
Friday, October 11:
LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd.
6:00pm Young Artist Competition Winner
7:00pm Otmaro Ruiz Quartet
Saturday, October 12:
REDCAT at Disney Hall, 631 W 2nd St.
8:00pm Steve Lehman & Garden of Klōns
9:15pm Kris Davis Trio
Sunday, October 13:
2220 Arts+ Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd.
8:00pm Elsa Nilsson’s ‘Pulses’
9:15pm Sasha Berliner
Thursday, October 17:
Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd.
8:00pm Jeff Denson & Romain Pilon Trio featuring Clarence Penn
9:00pm Mauricio Morales
Friday, October 18:
The World Stage, 4321 Degnan Blvd.
8:00pm Yafeu Tyhimba
9:00pm Diego Gaeta
Saturday, October 19:
2220 Arts+ Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd.
8:30pm Deron Johnson’s Free to Dance
9:45pm Joy Guidry’s Amen
Sunday, October 20:
Art Share L.A., 801 E 4th Place
8:00pm Mark Dresser solo bass
8:30pm Thollem McDonas solo piano
9:15pm Patrick Shiroishi solo sax
9:45pm Brandon Seabrook solo guitar
Thursday, October 24:
2220 Arts+ Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd.,
8:30pm Jenny Scheinman’s All Species Parade
9:45pm Iseul Kim’s Liberosis
Friday, October 25:
Art Share L.A., 801 E 4th Place,
8:00pm Flat Earth Society Orchestra
Saturday, October 26:
Art Share L.A. 801 E 4th Place,
6:00pm Improvising [in] the West
Sunday, October 27:
REDCAT at Disney Hall, 631 W 2nd Street
8:00pm Zony Mash
9:15 Wayne Horvitz’s Electric Circus
For more information on the Angel City Jazz Festival, please visit:
For media inquiries, please contact:
DL Media · (610) 420-8470
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
Leah Concialdi · leah@dlmediamusic.com
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