FREE EVENT: 6TH ANNUAL LEIMERT PARK JAZZ FESTIVAL

This event is FREE, but you can register here for entry into a prize drawing:
https://www.leimertparkjazzfestival.org/

Date: Saturday, August 30, 12:30 to 8:30 pm
Gates open at 11:30

Address:
BALDWIN HILLS CRENSHAW MALL, Outdoor upper parking deck
3650 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leimertparkjazzfestival/

The Leimert Park Jazz Festival is a celebration of jazz, community and culture. What began as an intimate block party on a residential street in Leimert Park from 2015-2019 has evolved organically into the rebranded Leimert Park Jazz Festival. Now in its 3rd year, and held annually on the last Saturday of August, the Leimert Park Jazz Festival is growing into a centerpiece of summer programming in South Los Angeles with a diverse audience.

Headlining this year is legendary jazz vocalist, NEA Jazz Master, Memphis Music Hall of Fame Inductee, ASCAP Champion, Doris Duke Artist, Multiple Grammy® winner, Tony® winner, and more, Dee Dee Bridgewater, bringing her acclaimed project WE EXIST! to our stage with her first performance in South Los Angeles in decades!

WE EXIST! is a rallying cry and a reflection on a journey in progress. Transforming evocative songs of protest like “Mississippi Goddam,” “Trying Times,” “The Danger Zone” and others, the Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet connects the past and present, tracing how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet to go. WE EXIST! serves as a reminder of the impact of activism and artistry through the inimitable lens of powerful women.

Described a "young mallet master" by JazzTimes, Sasha Berliner is an award winning vibraphonist and composer based in Los Angeles, CA. The Downbeat Critics Poll #1 Rising Star Vibraphonist and NPR Jazz Night in America's Class of 2024 Youngbloods pick has notably shared the stage for recent projects with Christian McBride, Tyshawn Sorey, Marcus Gilmore, Justin Brown, and Cecile Mclorin Salvant, and leads her own quintet. She is also a faculty member at University of California Irvine and a frequent lecturing guest of California Institute for the Arts, both for jazz ensemble and composition courses.

“Berliner is already a very mature instrumentalist […] maybe she’s the best vibraphone player to emerge in decades.” - Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Brazilian record producer (Verve, CTI, JSR, Milestone, Sony), music historian, and journalist

Virtuosic, soulful, and electric—Dayren Santamaría, the Cuban-born violinist, leads her ensemble Made in Cuba in a high-energy fusion of jazz, timba, rumba, and classical influences. A classically trained musician raised on Havana's rhythms, Dayren delivers a vibrant, danceable performance that brings the island’s soul to South LA.

Festival website: https://www.leimertparkjazzfestival.com

Know before you go: https://www.leimertparkjazzfestival.org/know-before-you-go

Scheduled performers:
Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet -
Sasha Berliner - vibraphonist who we saw at the 2023 Angel City Jazz Festival
Dayren Santamaria + Made in Cuba - Cuban violinist
The Melanin Horns
The World Stage Big Band
S.H.I.N.E. Mawusi Women's African Drum Circle

HOSTS:
Rhonda Hamilton
Jose Rizo