What we’re about
This group is for people who appreciate music and other forms of art beyond the mainstream, with a particular focus on the avant-garde or otherwise odd. Free Jazz, Musique Concrete, Atonality, Noise Music, Outsider Art, Surrealism, Dada, Junk Art, ...you name it! Not all events will necessarily be "weird", but simply off the beaten mainstream path.
This is intended to be an oasis from crass commercial banalities.
I'll post events that interest me, but I am also interested in hearing from artists, musicians, and other creative types about their events that I can share with members. Post your events and ideas in the "Discussions" section. I want this group to also be a vehicle that helps support artists and organizations that are doing interesting creative work.
The only requests are that we keep things friendly and civilized. MAGA not welcome.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Piano Spheres: Thomas Kotcheff2220 Arts + Archives, Los Angeles, CA
Date: Tuesday 9/16 8:00 pm
Venue: 2220 Arts + Archives
2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, United States, CaliforniaPossible dinner before, TBD
Tickets $28.33 https://link.dice.fm/Cv08Yh0CFWb?sharer_id=61ac1097bcb34e00014e192c
Piano Spheres presents: Thomas Kotcheff - "Between Systems".
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Join pianist Thomas Kotcheff with guest artist Bryan Curt Kostors and video artist Allison Tanenhaus for a special performance celebrating the release of Kotcheff’s third solo piano album, Between Systems. The evening will feature works from the new album alongside bold reimaginings of music by Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Cher, Céline Dion, and Beyoncé — blurring boundaries between classical virtuosity and pop-culture brilliance.
Thomas Kotcheff writes about the album and the program:
The inspiration for Between Systems grew out of my collaboration with composer and electronic artist Bryan Curt Kostors, where we delved into the question: What does it mean to interpret music in the context of modern classical performance? In many other musical genres, interpretation is expected to be transformative — a performer takes an existing piece and makes it entirely their own. Think of Tony Bennett’s rendition of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” which reimagines the song through a completely different artistic lens.
In contrast, the convention in modern classical music tends to favor fidelity — the performer’s role is often seen as one of precision, aiming to recreate the original score as accurately as possible. Between Systems challenges that norm. This album and this concert’s program is about expanding the role of the ‘classical interpreter’ — shifting expectations and embracing a broader, more fluid definition of interpretation.
The performance brings together two seemingly unrelated worlds: the rigorous chromatic pointillism of Morton Feldman (whose centenary we celebrate this season), and iconic works from popular and electronic music. The common thread between these divergent elements is me, the performer. What may sound like remixes or reimaginings are, at their core, simply interpretations — shaped by the same creative impulses that guide any artist working across genre boundaries.
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PROGRAM:
Cher/György Ligeti — Concert Prelude No. 1: Believe
Morton Feldman — Nature Pieces
Squarepusher — Tommib
Morton Feldman — Intermission 3
Aphex Twin — aisatsana
Morton Feldman — Intermission 5
Celine Dion/Thomas Kotcheff — Obbligato Snare Drum Music No. 1: The Power of Love
Sophie Mathieu — the voice that fades (world premiere)
Beyoncé/Alex Weiser/Thomas Kotcheff — Grand Passacaglia No. 1: Love on Top
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Thomas Kotcheff, piano
Bryan Kostors, synthesizers
Ticker
- FREE EVENT: 30TH ANNUAL CENTRAL AVENUE JAZZ FESTIVAL 2025Central Avenue Jazz Park, Los Angeles, CA
Join me at the Central Avenue Jazz Festival. It's a great day listening to music, eating, checking out arts and crafts, and people watching. I've been going since 2004 and it's always a great vibe. AND IT'S FREE!
Date: Saturday, September 20, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Price: $0.00! No tickets required! Just show up! (They threaten to double the price every year)
Location: Central Avenue between MLK Blvd. & Vernon Ave. , centered around Central Avenue Jazz Park on E. 42nd St., Los Angeles
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/hE9n6L4hdUWNEwcr6Festival Map: https://www.centralavejazzfest.com/downloads/2025Central%20Ave%20Jazz%20Festival%20Map.pdf
Festival FAQ page, including parking info:
https://centralavejazzfest.com/know-before-you-go/The best place for updated information is their Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/centralavenuejazz/Festival Website: https://centralavejazzfest.com/
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Avenue_Jazz_Festival1996 documentary video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA8NcUgLtgI
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
https://centralavejazzfest.com/performances/QUINCY JONES STAGE: Central & 43rd
- Gregory Porter - 5:30 to 6:45
- Dayramir Gonzalez - 3:45 to 4:45
- Jazmeia Horn - 2:00 to 3:00
- Kenneth Crouch plays Quincy & Sly - 12:30 to 1:30
- Jazzamerica - 11:15 to 12:00
ROY AYERS STAGE: Central & 41st
- Roy Ayers Tribute Project - 5:45 to 7:00- Poncho Sanchez - 4:00 to 5:15
- Blaque Dynamite - 2:30 to 3:30
- Joel Ross - 1:15 to 2:00
- Sharada Shashidhar - 11:45 to 12:45
DUNBAR STAGE: Central & 42 pl.
- USC Jazz Ensemble - 3:30 to 4:15 & 4:30 to 5:00
- Ennis Harris & Harumi Kakimoto - 2:30 to 3:00
- Dr. Lorn S. Foster (presentation) - 1:15 to 2:00
The festival is free of charge, and in previous years has included free secure parking at a local school. Street parking is available, but sometimes hard to find.
The festival was started in 1996 and has regularly featured a number of prominent jazz, blues, and Latin Jazz musicians who got their start in the area, such as Teddy Edwards, Gerald Wilson, Arthur Blythe and Ernie Andrews. A strong component of the festival's format has been to spotlight young Los Angeles musicians, such as Kamasi Washington, and Kalil Wilson, as well as talent from the neighborhood's high school bands and choirs.
- FREE CONCERT: UP CLOSE & CLASSICALSt Gregory's Episcopal Church, Long Beach, CA
It is the mission of UP CLOSE AND CLASSICAL to present chamber music that will be transformative to all participants, offering concerts but also a preparation into appreciation. We attended the February and May concerts and really enjoyed them. Join us for their next concert, followed maybe by a dinner.
Date: Sunday, September 21, 2025, 4:00 pm
Venue: St Gregory’s Episcopal Church – 6201 E Willow St, Long Beach, CA 90815.
possible dinner afterwards, details TBD
Free and open to the public. No tickets needed.
Up Close & Classical WebsiteProgram:
Johannes Brahms – Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115.
W.A. Mozart , Clarinet quintet K581 in A major.Here are excerpts of the likely program , played by different performers:
W.A. Mozart , Clarinet quintet K581 in A major
https://youtu.be/xTNbclgU3h4Johannes Brahms – Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
https://youtu.be/NijYtozUHawUP CLOSE AND CLASSICAL activities are informed by the below vision, The purposes for which UP CLOSE AND CLASSICAL is created are to stimulate and support the appreciation and performance of chamber music.
- By presenting chamber music concerts at which the public can hear works deemed worthy of performance and performed by artists selected by UP CLOSE AND CLASSICAL.
- By presenting, sponsoring or providing for programs and activities designed to stimulate and encourage exposure to and understanding, knowledge and appreciation of the literature, history and performance of chamber music.
More info and bios here
- NO HOST! JAPANESE ARTHOUSE 101: AFTER LIFE (1998)The Frida Cinema, Santa Ana, CA
I will be out of town, so this event is NO HOST!
Date: Monday, September 22, 7:45
Venue: Frida Cinema
305 E 4th St #100, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Phone: (714) 285-9422Dinner 6:15 TBD
Tickets: $9 https://thefridacinema.org/movies/after-life/
Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 89% positive rating.
Trailer here
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda Run Time: 118 min. Release Year: 1999 Language: Japanese
Starring: Arata Iura, Erika Oda, Kei Tani, Susumu Terajima, Takashi Naito
Closing out our Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema series is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1999 award-winning masterwork After Life (original Japanese title: Wandafuru raifu), a stunning and thought-provoking meditation on life and death.
In After Life, the recently deceased arrive at a waystation between this world and the next. Their task? To choose a single memory from their lives to take with them into eternity. A small team of counselors helps each soul re-create that memory on film, allowing them to move on—leaving everything else behind.
With a mix of actors and real interviews, After Life blurs the line between fiction and documentary, imagination and memory. The result is a quietly transcendent film that contemplates the meaning of life not through grand events, but through small, deeply human moments.
Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema is a curated 12-film trip through the evolution of Japan—from the quiet post-war resilience of the 1940s all the way to the radical reinventions of the 1990s. Each Monday this July-September, we will explore a new facet of this incredible nation’s cinematic journey throughout the 20th century. All films will be presented in their original Japanese language with English subtitles, at a reduced ticket price of $8.
