JAZZ ‘N’ STUFF
Summer and the heat has arrived at the Hollywood Bowl along with the annual Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival which took place on Saturday June 15, the date for this review, and Sunday June 16, 2024. Co-curated by Kamasi Washington and Herbie Hancock, this is the third year under the new moniker after 40 years of being the iconic Playboy Jazz Festival.
The Cardinal Divas and Drum Corps of SC, the first and only majorette dance team at USC took to the Bowl stage first, setting the tone for a day-into-night concert hosted by comedian Arsenio Hall. Next the festival commenced with the next generation of jazz musicians with The LA County High School for the Arts Jazz, spearheaded by LACHSA Music Department Chair Michael Powers, which featured their jazz and vocal jazz ensembles.
Nicole Glover, Christian Mcbride, Ely Perlman
The stage turns and next up were the members of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA which featured six incredible young jazz musicians who were hand-picked and have studied with Hancock, Herb Alpert, and other notable jazz artists. Each student then goes on to attain a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Each of these outstanding young artists were able to showcase their own compositions with the utmost professionalism and musicianship. The future of jazz sounds like it’s going to be in amazing hands.
The stage once again did its twirl and next up was jazz vocalist Alex Isley, daughter of Ernie Isley from the R&B/Funk pioneers The Isley Brothers, and whose grandmother was a professional opera singer. Isley, with her smooth vocals and deep melodies, earned two 2024 Grammy nominations for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.
Jason Moran, Charles Lloyd and Larry Grenadier
The day’s lineup continued with Charles Lloyd with Jason Moran on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Brian Blade on Drums (who returned the next day with his Fellowship Band). Lloyd was the first of two octogenarians to grace the stage on Saturday. Lloyd is a NEA Jazz Master and recipient of the Ordre de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, adding to the legitimacy of true jazz as he reveled on his saxophone and a few numbers on the flute.
World music entered the festival next with Ethio-jazz, a blend of traditional Ethiopian music with jazz, combining the pentatonic scale-based melodies of Amharic music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of western music from Mulatu Astatke, the Ethiopian vibraphonist who also took to the keyboards and timbales. Even Kamasi Washington couldn’t sit still through this set and came out to join a tune. Astatke, in his eighties like Charles Lloyd, brought the Bowl down with his incredible rhythms and energy.
Cimafunk
The World music energy really revved up Cimafunk (Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodriguez) and his band from Cuba. Grammy-nominated, Cimafunk is a musician known for mixing funk and hip hop with Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music.
Eight-time GRAMMY Award winning bassist Christian McBride, former Creative Chair for Jazz for the LA Phil and current Artistic Director for the historic Newport Jazz Festival, returned to the Hollywood Bowl with Ursa Major, comprised of four rising young musicians, saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, pianist Mike King, and drummer Savannah Harris. McBride, one of the foremost masters of finding new talent and surrounding himself with young musicians has formed this new Quintet Ursa Major. It’s always a pleasure to enjoy the acclaimed bandleader, composer, and educator alongside his fresh crop of next-gen superstars.
Following McBride was stand out Grammy Award winning vocalist Andra Day, who had the best set design of the day with a desert theme complete with giant-sized cactus and tumbleweed. Andra — a Golden Globe winner for her starring role in The United States vs. Billie Holiday — performed “Strange Fruit” and, of course, her big hit “Rise Up”. Truly one of the stand-out performances of the day.
JodeciClosing out the first day of the festival were the 90s R&B hitmakers Jodeci, who did their best to keep the energy going with their hits, but at 10pm, it was time for the older folks to start to call it an amazing day and get ready for Sunday’s line-up. This was the first time they have headlined at the Hollywood Bowl.
The festival continued on Sunday featuring the LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Big Band; Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA; Aneesa Strings; The Fellowship Band; Baby Rose Brian Blade; Soul Rebels with special guest Seun Kuti; Cory Henry; Robert Glasper with special guest Yebba; and closing out the night was Kamasi Washington.
The Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival is a great way to see your favorite acts and be exposed to all the genres that envelope jazz elements with all your new best friends. Perhaps the Festival should be renamed Jazz Plus or Jazz ‘n More.
photos by Farah Sosa, courtesy the LA Phil
