Summer breezes... an intimate courtyard... free parking... and great music. Escape to Culver City for the 2017 Culver City’s Boulevard Music Summer Festival. Boulevard Music presents six free concerts on Thursday evenings at 7 pm from July 6 through August 10 in the palm-lined courtyard of Culver City City Hall. Curated by producer Gary Mandell of Culver City’ s Boulevard Music, Culver City’ s Boulevard Music Summer Festival offers something for everyone: Country/Bluegrass music from 2016 Grammy nominated Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands (July 6); The sounds of Zydeco with blues/jazz/rock from Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic (July 13); High energy Afro/Cuban rhythms great for dancing from Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca (July 20); Soaring Gypsy Jazz from The John Jorgenson Quintet (July 27); Classic Rock done acoustic with string quartet byLed Zepagain (Aug 3); and Country/Rock/Blues from guitar legend Albert Lee and his band (Aug 10). Avoid the crowds and parking hassles of other areas on the Westside. Parking is free for two hours in designated structures in downtown Culver City, and dozens of dining options are available within walking distance. Culver City’ s downtown area is Southern California’ s best-kept secret, featuring a wonderful mix of historic buildings, boutiques, theaters, galleries, and unique restaurants opening onto tree-lined streets. Culver City’ s Boulevard Music Festival is sponsored by The City of Culver City, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Boulevard Music, Culver Studios, John Riordan Plumbing, Culver City Volvo & Mazda, Maxam Properties, Swiss Motors, Sorrento Market, Papa John’s Pizza, D & E Associates, Hillside Memorial Park, Cavanaugh Realty, Dolce Realtors, Marriott Hotel, Michael Kayem Remax, Public School 310, Music Munchers, Culver Hotel, Dynagraphics, Culver City News, Culver City Observer, Steeldeck Inc, Eastman Guitars, Kremona USA, Ohana Ukuleles, and Ernie Ball. Culver City’s Boulevard Music Summer Festival takes place on Thursday evenings at 7 pm from July 6–August 10. The Culver City City Hall Courtyard is located at 9770 Culver Blvd. in Downtown Culver City (corner Culver Blvd. and Duquesne Ave.). Parking is free for the first two hours (with festival validation) in designated structures in the Downtown area. The courtyard opens at 4:30 pm. No glass containers or alcoholic beverages may be brought into City Hall Courtyard. For more information, call Boulevard Music 310-398-2583 or go to http://www.boulevardmusic.com.
INFORMATION: 310-398-2583 http://www.boulevardmusic.com http://www.culvercity.org OTHER: Dozens of restaurants, as well as galleries and boutiques, are located within walking distance. No glass containers or alcoholic beverages may be brought into City Hall Courtyard. MORE-MORE-MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS July 6: Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands were honored in 2016 by receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, who are featured in this group, are widely regarded as being among the preeminent bluegrass and Americana artists of our time. Since forming a musical partnership in 1986, when Tom first joined Laurie’ s acclaimed band, Grant Street, between them they have recorded over 20 albums and performed around the globe. These Grammy-nominated artists (for their 1995 album The Oak and the Laurel) are widely regarded as among the leading lights of modern bluegrass and are highly-prized by their peers as sidemen and producers. International Bluegrass Music Association executive director Dan Hays calls Laurie “one of the preeminent bluegrass and Americana artists of our time.” Acclaimed musician Sam Bush puts it more simply, calling her “a great singer, terrific fiddle player, fine songwriter, and one very good band leader.” Laurie also performed on both the Grammy-award winning, 1997 IBMA album of the year True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe, and the Grammy-nominated Ralph Stanley & Friends’ release Clinch Mountain Country. Featuring Patrick Sauber on banjo & guitar and anything else that has strings on it, Chad Manningsuperb fiddler and also member of the David Grisman band,and Andrew Conklinknownfor turning heads with his inventive solos on upright bass. “It’ s possible to be a strong female presence in the Bluegrass music world, but you have to be really strong. Laurie is one of the greatest Bluegrass artists, woman or man, because of her consistency over decades, the depth and width of her subject matter, her commitment to the Bluegrass form, and her technical command. Oh yes, and her strength. Laurie’ s strength manifests in many ways: her commanding presence on stage combined with an emotional
vulnerability, the truths in her lyrics, her physical voice which transcends gender, her strong commitment to causes and issues in which she deeply believes, which all resonate with a respect for the land, the natural world, and human mercy and justice.”–– Darol Anger “A quintessential stylist who creates mandolin breaks with the same passion and precision Monet put into his brush strokes, Tom Rozum ought to be recognized as a mandolinist of the first order.”–– Mandolin Magazine July 13: Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic will capture your attention and serve up an unparalleled musical experience that captivates your soul. If you like to dance, Andre will have you moving your feet all night long. As the late great Clifton Chenier once said about Zydeco, “if you dance, your aches and pains will disappear.” Andre’ s love of all things musical and his passion for playing for his audiences delight dancers and music lovers everywhere. Andre Thierry is a phenomenal talent who has been capturing the attention of other musicians and music lovers since he was a toddler. Andre’ s French Creole heritage is deeply rooted in Louisiana although he was born and reared in northern California. Michael Tisserand, author of The Kingdom of Zydeco, considered the definitive book on the history of Zydeco music, wrote, “Thierry is among the best of both the West Coast and the Gulf Coast, and he combines youthful vigor with a mature appreciation for his inherited tradition." The San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to some of the best blues musicians in the world, showed its appreciation by presenting Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic with the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame award for “Best Zydeco Group” in 2008. Andre continually raises the bar for Zydeco musicians worldwide. At only 36 years old, he is already a legend. There is widespread agreement that he is an exceptional multi-dimensional musician who has a finely-honed ability to merge traditional Zydeco music with hip-hop, blues, jazz and rock. Building from his love and respect for traditional Zydeco, his original music is a blend of old and new. His musical mastery enables him to create a unique sound for his and future generations while staying true to the past. July 20: Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca is a dynamic 10-piece band that can literally burn up thedance floor by capturing all of the elements of African and Cuban music. The World Music ensemble blends African soukous and rumba with Cuban salsa and son. A native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)Ricardo Lemvo sings some of the material in Spanish and some material in the African tongues of Kikongo and Lingala. Makina Loca features a dazzling array of attacking horns, mesmerizing percussion, and a rolling piano that floats along. Grab a window seat on the rumba route dancing to Afro-Caribbean groove. "These guys play with an intensity that makes it impossible to hold still".—San Francisco Examiner July 27: The John Jorgenson Quintet was originally formed in 2004 for the release of “Franco American Swing”. The Gypsy Jazz they perform reminds one of the string-driven swing created
by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930’ s Paris, but Jorgenson’ s compositions draw in elements from Latin, Romanian, Classical, Rock and Greek music. Calling it “21st Century World Music” might be a better description. John Jorgenson, known for his blistering guitar and mandolin licks and mastery of a broad musical palette, has earned a reputation as a world-class musician, as evidenced by his collaborations with Earl Scruggs, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Bob Dylan and many others. First coming to national attention in the mid ‘ 80s as co-founder of successful country-rock act The Desert Rose Band, Jorgenson won the Academy of Country Music’ s “Guitarist of the Year”award two consecutive years. In the ‘ 90s The Hellecasters gave audiences a chance to experience John’ s fretboard fireworks. Elton John invited Jorgenson to join his band in 1994 for an 18 month tour that stretched into a six-year stint of touring, recording and TV appearances with the British superstar, in addition to collaborations with other artists including Sting and Billy Joel. 2010 marked the 100th birthday of the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. Since discovering Django in 1979, Jorgenson has become “the US Ambassador of Gypsy Jazz” which is quite an honor given the distinctly European slant of the music’ s heritage. Over the years Jorgenson has continued to honor the legacy of Reinhardt by bringing his unique brand of Gypsy Jazz to the masses with his John Jorgenson Quintet. At performances of the John Jorgenson Quintet, audiences are awestruck by not only Jorgenson’ s skillful guitar playing, but the solo clarinet and bouzouki as well. Djangobooks perfectly articulates, “If he comes around, don’ t miss him. The show is golden. The music soars.”“John Jorgenson is one of the most respected guitarists in the world...”– LOS ANGELES TIMES August 3: Led Zepagain is the premier Led Zeppelin tribute band. On this night they perform their show Symphony to Heaven doing the classic songs of Led Zeppelin accompanied by a string quartet led by Glenn Grab featuring original arrangements written especially for them. Originally performed in Las Vegas to standing ovations this is a rare chance to see this amazing performance. How good is this group? In January 2004, Led Zepagain was paid the highest compliment ever when Zeppelin’ s original guitarist, Jimmy Page, caught their show and requested to meet the band in their dressing room where he praised them on their accuracy! All the classic acoustic tunes plus the screaming electrics done at a level your ear doctor will approve of. August 10: Two time Grammy winner Albert Lee is truly a musician’ s musician, playing hot country, rock and blues guitar as a member of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band and the Crickets and voted ‘ Best Country Guitar Picker’ by Guitar Player magazine five times. Lee played regularly with The Everly Brothers for over 20 years. Starting in 1972, Lee worked for five years with Eric Clapton, playing and singing for a live concert recording at the Budokan in Japan. In November 2002, Albert Lee was among other world-class names appearing at the Royal Albert Hall in the “Concert for George,” a tribute to George Harrison. Albert Lee appeared at the “2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival” and continues to work in the studio and tours on a regular basis with Bill
Wyman’ s (Rolling Stones) Rhythm Kings. “I remember going to see Albert around 1970 several times playing at the Sundance saloon in Calabasas. He’ s blow us all away, so tasteful. Though he played a lot of licks I heard other guitarists play, the difference was here was the guy who created those licks and created that sound. He still sounds as great as ever.”—Gary Mandell
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