Jazz event perfect for picnickers
By CHRISTINA YOON Special to the Daily Press
CITY HALL For those whose claustrophobic tendencies flare up at popular Santa Monica events like the Twilight Dance Series concerts and last month’s Glow event, this month’s Jazz on the Lawn concert series will provide relaxed entertainment without the teeming crowds.
Beginning this Sunday at 5 p.m., the City Hall lawn will be the venue for five weekly jazz acts. Organizers say that in contrast to some of Santa Monica’s other popular events, Jazz on the Lawn is focused on creating an intimate setting.
Hamp Simmons, the Cultural Affairs supervisor at City Hall, said that the concerts are expected to draw 300 to 400 people each week, whereas the turnout at Glow was estimated to be around 200,000.
“People come with their dogs and their children and there’s so much open space there, so the kids can run around and people don’t care,” Simmons said. “It’s a very communal feel, like the old-time concerts held in town squares.”
Organizers also focused on creating a diverse lineup for this year’s series to reflect the many faces of jazz.
“We tried to get a wide range, from the traditional Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis-style to the more contemporary,” Simmons said.
The first act of the series, the Michael Sullivan Band, jumped at the chance to partake because of the event’s open-minded interpretation of the category.
“I have a jazz influence but I’m a song-writer, which is really beautiful because I don’t allow people to pigeonhole me,” said vocalist and guitarist Michael Sullivan. “I won’t let people put me in a box because I’m bigger than that.”
Sullivan compares his music to diverse artists like Alicia Keys and Norah Jones and lists influences including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and Lionel Richie. Throughout the school year, the Michael Sullivan Band tours college campuses nationwide, a strategy that Sullivan said was suggested by his mother, who is a classical pianist. The band plays many free outdoor festivals and public concerts similar to this month’s series during summer months when college towns are typically not active. The Michael Sullivan Band currently plays every Saturday night at the Baleen restaurant in the Portofino Hotel in Hermosa Beach, where Sullivan lives.
Sullivan predicted that the pleasant weather and green grass of Santa Monica will draw audiences to Sunday’s concert. Organizers encourage attendees to bring blankets and picnics to take advantage of the venue.
“It’s kind of a unique place because it’s all lawn,” he said. “People can take off their shoes and feel the grass on their feet.”
Other acts in the series include traditional jazz performer Louis Van Taylor, Cuban band Opa Opa, and even a Broadway-themed performance by Reprise, the musical theater group at UCLA.
“I really want it to be a diverse sound because jazz is such a wide medium,” Simmons said.
One act sure to be a hit with Santa Monica natives is Russ Mullen and the Jazz Associates, performing on Aug. 24. Mullen, who plays brass in the band, currently directs the John Adams Middle School Jazz Band and Jazz Workshop.
He has been honored in the past by the Los Angeles City Council for his work with an after-school music program at Le Conte Middle School in Hollywood and helping start a summer jazz enrichment program at Washington Irving Middle School in East L.A. He just wrapped up a concert for 15 of his students in the summer jazz program at JAMS.
“Jazz is such a good art form and the only true American music,” Mullen said. “I like exposing young people to it so it can live on.”
Mullen’s band, whose name is a nod to two band members who are attorneys by day, are not new to the Santa Monica music scene.
They played last fall at the Pico Art Walk and even had a regular Sunday night gig at the Santa Monica Bar and Grill for a while. Their new album of original songs, titled “Metro Mile,” is dedicated to their love of “straight-ahead jazz” in the style of Davis or Dizzy Gillespie.
“He was one of the people we researched and found ourselves,” Simmons said of Mullen. “We were really looking for specifically local musicians.”
The first Jazz on the Lawn series in 2006 spanned just three weeks, and organizers extended it by a week last year.
Simmons said that due to the success of the past two years, stage and sound vendors were willing to work out deals with City Hall so that this year’s series could present five bands throughout the month of August.
This year, members of Teen Center at Virginia Avenue Park on Pico Avenue will sell beverages during the concert. All proceeds from the refreshments will benefit the Teen Center, which offers tutoring, employment and recreational programs for Santa Monica teens.
No streets will be blocked off for Sunday’s event, which will run until 7 p.m. Free parking will be provided at the Civic Center parking structure, with validations distributed at the concert. More information about the series and a detailed schedule can be found on the Cultural Affairs Division Web site at www.arts.santa-monica.org.
As for those who are still hesitant to commit to the concert this weekend, Simmons had a tantalizing offer that favors Jazz on the Lawn over many recent summer events.
“We promise we won’t back up the 10 freeway.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2008. Read the original PDF.