ANGEL CITY ARTS and THE JAZZ BAKERY Present THE 2015 ANGEL CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL

August 14, 2015 (MMD Newswire) — Angel City Arts and The Jazz Bakery present the eighth annual Angel City Jazz Festival, September 25th – October 11th with performances at LACMA, REDCAT, The Moss Theater, The Blue Whale, Barnsdall Gallery Theater and Plaza del Sol at Valley Performance Arts Center.

Thirteen exciting concerts will feature over 100 world class performers, including Doris Duke Impact Award recipient Jen Shyu with Blue Note artist Ambrose Akinmusire, Doris Duke and Grammy Award winning Cuban saxophonist Yosvany Terry with French pianist Baptiste Trotignon, ECM recording artists Lucian Ban & Mat Maneri, pianist Motoko Honda and Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist Vanessa Anh Vo, San Diego based innovator Mark Dresser, local violist and producer Miguel Atwood Ferguson, West Coast luminaries The Empty Cage Quartet, the winners of the Angel City Young Artist Competition, and many more.

Of Special Note:

- World Premiere: Lisa Mezzacappa’s “Glorious Ravage,” A multimedia free-jazz song-cycle with a large ensemble In dialogue with four prominent Bay Area filmmakers. This concert is a double bill with the Mark Dresser Quintet.

- Special Birthday Celebration: John Beasley’s MONK’estra and the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Performance Ensemble celebrate the birthdays of Thelonious Monk and John Beasley. Presented by The Jazz Bakery.

- World Premiere: Josh Johnson’s UNREST: “Confronting Collective Memory” presented by The Los Angeles Jazz Society, in a double bill with Jon Armstrong’s ‘Burnt Hibiscus’ featuring Sheela Bringi.

- World Premiere & Birthday Celebration: Alex Cline’s Flower Garland Orchestra presenting the world premiere of “Ocean of Vows” featuring Wilco’s Nels Cline and Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda – a musical setting of The Garland Sutra in celebration of the birthday of Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Proceeds from this event will go toward supporting Hanh’s recovery efforts from a stroke suffered last Fall.

The theme for this year’s festival is LISTEN! Jazz has always been a socially conscious and democratic music, bringing musicians and audience members together to highlight that we are a global village, united through the act of purposeful listening. The angel city jazz festival invites you to listen to a sensational and diverse collective of up and coming as well as established artists and innovators who represent the forefront of today’s jazz and new music, and are making significant statements of purpose and beauty with their music.

Jazz never stands still. It’s constantly evolving and reinventing itself. While some festivals nostalgically look back, Angel City unapologetically looks forward to encourage and embrace change. The Angel City Jazz Festival has helped establish L.A. as a new music destination through seven years of concerts featuring artists such as Anthony Braxton, Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, Archie Shepp, Bennie Maupin, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Vijay Iyer, Ravi Coltrane, Nels Cline, Myra Melford, Tigran Hamasyan, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and many others.

As in previous years, this year’s festival is co-presented by The Jazz Bakery. After 23 years of presenting jazz in Southern California, The Jazz Bakery is building a new Frank Gehry-designed performance center in the heart of Culver City’s Cultural Corridor. The Bakery’s President and Artistic Director Ruth Price says, “I’m so happy to continue our collaboration with Angel City, presenting two great events this year featuring Grammy winner Yosvany Terry, and a special Thelonious Monk birthday celebration.”

Full Schedule:

Friday September 25 (presented in association with LACMA) LA County Museum of Art - 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90036 - 323-857-6000 6:00 PM - Winners of the Angel City Jazz Young Artist Competition 7:00 PM - Miguel Atwood Ferguson Ensemble

Saturday September 26 REDCAT - Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex, 631 W. 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 - 213-237-2800 8:00 PM - World Premiere of Lisa Mezzacappa's Glorious Ravage 9:30 PM - Mark Dresser Quintet

Thursday October 1 The Blue Whale - 123 astronaut E S Onizuka St. Suite 301| Los Angeles, CA 90012 - 213-620-0908 9:00 PM - Lucian Ban & Mat Maneri's Transylvanian Concert 10:30 PM - The Empty Cage Quartet

Friday October 2 (presented by the Jazz Bakery) The Ann & Jerry Moss Theatre at the Herb Alpert Educational VIllage 3131 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404 - 310-828-5582 8:00 PM Yosvany Terry & Baptiste Trotignon's Ancestral Memories Quartet

Saturday October 3 (presented as part of the Ford on the Road Series) Barnsdall Gallery Theatre - 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 - 323-644-6272 8:00 PM Motoko Honda & Vanessa Ahn Vo 9:30 PM Jen Shyu's Jade Tongue with Ambrose Akinmusire & Mat Maneri

Friday October 9 (presented is association with the LAJS) The Edye at the Broad Stage - 1310 11th ST., Santa Monica, CA 90401 - 310-434-3200 8:00PM Jon Armstrong's 'Burnt Hibiscus' featuring Sheela Bringi 9:30PM World Premiere of Josh Johnson's UNREST: Confronting Collective Memories

Saturday October 10 (presented by the Jazz Bakery) Musician Institute Theatre - 6752 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028 - 323-462-1384 A double birthday celebration (Monk & Beasley) 8:00PM The Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Performance Ensemble 9:00PM John Beasley's MONK'estra

Sunday October 11 Plaza del Sol at the Valley Performing Arts Center - 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge, CA 91330 - 818-677-8800 7:30PM Alex Cline Flower Garland Orchestra - world premiere of 'Oceans of Vows'

Tickets will go on sale on 8/1/2014 and will be available at www.angelcityjazz.com

For more information please contact Rocco Somazzi at 323-573-2110 or roccosomazzi@gmail.com