THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20th 7:30-11:30
@ THE MINT 6010 Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, Ca. 90035
323.954.9400
I can hardly believe it - the 10th Alternajazz Festival has already come and gone! Leaving a feathering wake of flyers, posters, sheet music, and the wafting echo of accordion and pirate shanties (courtesy of pirate, Doug Legacy). It was weird and wonderful - a cornerstone night for me, beginning the Alternajazz residency at The Mint, and also coming full circle presenting Otmaro Ruiz, who was the headliner for AJ 1 back in ‘03!
Now, in just 11 days we will put on the 11th ALTERNAJAZZ FESTIVAL! and here are the incredible bands…
Louis Taylor Quartet (master horn player) - 7:30
Brad Dutz Quartet (expect odd sounds and wierd things) - 8:30
Barbara Morrison (she owns the stage, and speaks to your heart) - 9:30
Raya Yarbrough (me!) - 10:30
Read all about them…………
Barbara Morrison
9:30pm
The incomparable Barbara Morrison has dazzled international fans with music from traditional Jazz and Blues to Gospel and Pop. Her melodic voice, with its two-and-a-half-octave range, is known worldwide, as are her rich, unique, soulful and highly spirited interpretations of both, familiar Jazz and Blues classics and
original contemporary tunes. Equally as striking is Ms. Morrison’s ability to belt out down-home,soul stirring Blues. Her impassioned renditions of old and favorite torchsongs are nothing short of breathtaking.
Born in Michigan, Barbara Morrison recorded her first appearancefor radio in Detroit at the age of 10. Well known in the Los Angeles area for her duo and trio dates, Ms. Morrison also tours extensively, blazing a trail as a Jazz and Blues legend in her own right across United States, Western Europe the Far East and “Down Under.
Over the years she has performed with a virtual “who’s who of the Jazz and the Blues worlds. That list includes legends like: Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles,Etta James, Jimmy Smith,Dr. John, Kenny Burrell, Terence Blanchard, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett,and Keb’ Mo. Ms.Morrison also guest stars with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and Doc Severinsen’s Big Band. In addition to her multiple
solo recordings, Barbara’s rich tones have graced film and television, notably: the sound track for The Hurricane (starring Denzel Washington) and the hit NBC TV comedy The Naked Truth, The Tonight Show and The Dennis Miller Show.
Morrison also performs at the renown Blues and Jazz Festivals around the world, including : Montreaux, Nice, Pori, Carnegie Hall,North Sea, Monterey,Long Beach, as well as her Salute to Dizzy Gillespie and her Tribute to Benny Golson
Raya Yarbrough
10:30pm
She was only seven when her musician father, went back to the nightclub circuit, and brought her with him. There, in Hollywood - the real, sticky Hollywood, not the metaphor - she found herself performing Jazz for diverse and often difficult crowds. This experience shaped her ability, not only to defend herself with a fork, but to communicate musically. Today, her style is a kaleidoscope of edgy, truthful songwriting, which stems from classic jazz roots.
Raya recently released her debut album on Telarc Records “Raya Yarbrough”( produced by guitarist-composer Steve Bartek. formerly of Oingo Boingo, Orchestrator for Danny Elfman, frequent orchestrator for Jon Brion), which has been met with great critical enthusiasm from Downbeat, USA Today and the LA Times among others – but before that, in 2003, Raya began the Alternajazz Festival.
The Alternajazz Festival is a gathering of musicians who are on the fringes and forefront of jazz expression. Raya wanted to create a home for the jazz crossover scene, and an independent route for creative acts to make a statement – and finally, after multiple locations, it has found a home at the Mint in LA. And here we are.
In addition, Raya has opened for Terence Blanchard in New York, and she has also been featured at The Los Angeles Music Center and at events sponsored by The Thelonious Monk Institute. While still at the USC Music School, she performed in The Playboy Jazz Festival at The Hollywood Bowl. Her original songs have been featured on televisions shows including Girlfriends and Sci-Fi Channel’s hit Battlestar Galactica. – and as a studio singer, Raya has recorded and performed with re-formed Oingo Boingo, and appearing on Neil Young’s ground-breaking album Living With War.
http://www.myspace.com/RayaYarbrough
http://www.myspace.com/Alternajazz
Brad Dutz
8:30
Brad started to study music at age seven. After high school he studied at the
University of North Texas and Berklee college of music. In 1982 he moved
to Los Angeles and began free-lancing untill 1984 when he joined Maynard
Ferguson andtoured around the country.
Beside his ten solo c.d.s,he has co-produced twelve others and played as a sideman for 210 titles. While recording CDs for artists like Alanis Morrissette, KISS, and Willie Nelson, Brad tries to bring the strangest percussion instruments he has to the session to create a unique sound .
Every year he travels to colleges and stores to do clinics and concerts on hand percussion and mallets. Since becoming a member of the part-time faculty of Cal State Long Beach eight years ago Brad has finished three books, “Practicing music on hand percussion”,“Manipulations in time”and “Duos,Trios,and Quartets for percussion”. In 2002 his Obliteration quartet was the subject of a documentary film.
Brad can also be heard on TV shows: KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY,AMERICAN DAD, ENTERPRISE and FIREFLY. Some of the movies that Brad has played on are SYRIANA, HILDAGO,STAR TREK 5, OCEAN’S
ELEVEN , ANCHORMAN, ,TRANSFORMERS, and RUSH HOUR 3.
NEW ALBUM:
“WHIMSICAL EXCURSION BOATS”
Louis Taylor
7:30
Louis has always been one of the top horn liveand session players in the business along with leading his own formidable “Louis Taylor Quartet” His sultry sounds and screaming puts him in a class of his own. Louis
performs frequently at the JVC Playboy, Drew, Pasadena, Long Beach and Newport Jazz Festivals and others in the U.S. and abroad, but Louis Van Taylor’s musical influences can be traced to his parents
appreciation of jazz.
Louis spent his first eleven years in SaltLake City Utah, enjoying classical music, his fathers choice of Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” and Cannonball and John Coltrane’s duet recordings.
Arriving in Los Angeles during the late 60’s, Louis Taylor Sr. encouraged his son to pursue a wind instrument, and Louis soon added all the saxophones and woodwinds to his arsenal. Since then, Louis has been much sought after professional, working with the Temptations, a twenty year association
and with Ray Charles, the Gap Band,Kool and the Gang, Gerald Wilson, Eric Benet and many esteemed others.
Louis adds teaching and mentoring to his of activities, and continues to record for film and music projects while traveling around the world with his groups and others, spreading the gospel of jazz inspired music.
]]>10:30 - OTMARO RUIZ
9:30 - RAYA YARBROUGH
8:30 - EarthaAustria TRIO
7:30 - DOUG AND THE MYSTICS
click on this to see it larger!
For bios and pictures of the performers, read on…….
10:30 - Otmaro Ruiz
Born in Caracas Venezuela, Otmaro Ruiz began his musical education at eight years old.
By 1983, Otmaro Ruiz, had become part of a small, and elite group of musicians in Venezuela, including: Soledad Bravo, Guillermo Davila, Nat Adderley, and many others. In 1986, Otmaro Ruiz joined of one of the most important TV and Radio production companies: Musica y Letra, joining his partner/mentor Jesus Sanoja, It was this experience that would prove to be one of the most important factors in shaping his development as a Composer, Arranger, and eventually, a Producer.
In 1989, Ruiz moved to Los Angeles, enrolling in California Institute of the Arts, obtaining his Masters in Jazz Performance. During this time, it was his association with Drummer/Percussionist Alex Acuna, that would lead him to another select circle of musicians, including Jazz Giants Justo Almario, and Abraham Laboriel.
Ruiz has toured and recorded with: Dianne Reeves, on the Grammy winning“In the Moment’ – Live in Concert” and collaborated with Alex Acuna’s “Acuarelas de Tambores” (also Grammy nominated). Ruiz is continuously sought after, and has lent his musical talents to virtually every International Jazz Festival, never losing his versatility – his greatest asset, reflecting the love and respect he feels for all styles of music. Ruiz has just released “Sojourn” a collection of beautifully crafted original works.
http://www.myspace.com/otmaroruiz
http://www.otmaroruiz.com
9:30 - Raya Yarbrough
She was only seven when her musician father, went back to the nightclub circuit, and brought her with him. There, in Hollywood - the real, sticky Hollywood, not the metaphor - she found herself performing Jazz for diverse and often difficult crowds. This experience shaped her ability, not only to defend herself with a fork, but to communicate musically. Today, her style is a kaleidoscope of edgy, truthful songwriting, which stems from classic jazz roots.
Raya recently released her debut album on Telarc Records “Raya Yarbrough”( produced by guitarist-composer Steve Bartek. formerly of Oingo Boingo, Orchestrator for Danny Elfman, frequent orchestrator for Jon Brion), which has been met with great critical enthusiasm from Downbeat, USA Today and the LA Times among others – but before that, in 2003, Raya began the Alternajazz Festival.
The Alternajazz Festival is a gathering of musicians who are on the fringes and forefront of jazz expression. Raya wanted to create a home for the jazz crossover scene, and an independent route for creative acts to make a statement – and finally, after multiple locations, it has found a home at the Mint in LA. And here we are.
In addition, Raya has opened for Terence Blanchard in New York, and she has also been featured at The Los Angeles Music Center and at events sponsored by The Thelonious Monk Institute. While still at the USC Music School, she performed in The Playboy Jazz Festival at The Hollywood Bowl. Her original songs have been featured on televisions shows including Girlfriends and Sci-Fi Channel’s hit Battlestar Galactica. – and as a studio singer, Raya has recorded and performed with re-formed Oingo Boingo, and appearing on Neil Young’s ground-breaking album Living With War.
http://www.myspace.com/RayaYarbrough
http://www.myspace.com/Alternajazz
8:30 - EarthAustria Trio
EarthaAustria, is a unique electric jazz trio. EA members Robert Anderson (5 string violin) and Jacob Szekely (5 string cello) have been pushing the boundaries of bowed string improvisation since their time as members of the widely acclaimed SuperNova String Quartet. Not satisfied with trying to just amplify an acoustic instrument and play it in an electric setting, they turned to new instruments and have developed a new musical voice with bowed strings.
They stumbled upon drummer Christopher Garcia, (best known for his work with Continuum, DeMania, Frank Zappa alumni -The Grande Mothers Re:Invented) at a performance of Harry Scorzo’s Vio- Fonik in 2007, and they have been rehearsing/recording and peforming ever since.The repertoire currently consists of original music and original interpretations of compositions by Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Hunter, Led Zeppelin, Pat Metheny, Frank Zappa, and “tweaked” jazz standards, where anything can, and does happen.
http://www.myspace.com/earthaaustria
7:30 - Doug and the Mystics
Born in Houston, Texas, Doug started playing the piano around age 4. He’s a multi-instrumentalist including steel drums, accordion, tuba and penny whistles. He’s toured as a keyboard tech for groups like Rod Stewart (also played steel drums), ELO, Barry Manilow, Boz Scaggs, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Hornsby, Billy Joel, Simon & Garfunkel, Ry Cooder, The Tubes, Todd Rundgren and Oingo Boingo. For several years Doug worked with Oingo Boingo, playing various instruments and singing background vocals – when the band broke up he grabbed the band (without Danny Elfman) and went into the studio to record a CD called “New Hat” by Doug and the Mystics. During all this he still maintained the Zydeco Party Band and has made several CDs with them - the latest is “Do You Know What it means…”
Does Doug look familiar to you? Aye matey! Doug is also pirate at Disneyland playing sea shantys on accordion and penny whistles on Wed., Thur. and Fri., and he also plays three nights a week in L.A. doing solo piano at the meat-loving Beer frau run, Red Lion Tavern in Silver Lake.
When he’s not doing those things Doug has appeared with Paul McCartney playing accordion and singing background vocals, worked on several films including “BaseketBall” and “The Bucket List”, and just FYI, The Zydeco Party Band was the house band for “the Late Mr. Pete Show” and “Muppets Tonight“. You may have seen his hands featured, under cover of furry gloves, attached to Rolf the singing dog…
http://www.myspace.com/dougandthemystics
One Thursday a month we will present the most awesome, inspiring, progressive jazz-based artists we can find.
Previous festivals have included performances by Otmaro Ruiz, Billy Childs, The Thelonius Monk Institute, Katisse, Brad Dutz, Steve Batrek, Katia Moraes, the Industrial Jazz Group…and many more. Alternajazz is about bringing the far corners of the jazz community together to reach out across all demographics. We look for cutting edge, inspirational, soulful, experimental, crossover, and cross-cultural acts. Most of all, we look for musicians who really touch people, through all the complications and chord changes. Artists who are saying something.
The first two shows are October 30th and November 20th.
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