By Angela Salazar
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The eclectic style and talents of jazz music are now at your
fingertips.
The fifth annual Westwood Jazz at the Hammer series is back with
an impressive lineup of renowned performers. The festival is free
and performances are at 6:30 p.m. every Friday in July in the
courtyard of the UCLA Hammer Museum.
“We always have a really impressive selection of jazz
artists from around the country and around the world,” said
Jennifer Barry, a spokeswoman for the Westwood Business Improvement
District (BID), who is part of the marketing committee for the
festival. This year’s artists cover everything from classic
jazz to blues-style jazz to Brazilian/Latin jazz.
Last Friday’s concert featured the talents of the Peter
Erskine, Alan Pasqua and Dave Carpenter Trio.
“They’re a very modern, hip, progressive,
traditional jazz trio. They have sort of the young contemporary
side to appeal to that type of jazz following,” said Todd
Later, a member of the marketing committee for the Westwood BID
that developed the concept for the series.
This Friday, legendary clarinet and saxophone player Teddy
Edwards, will perform.
“I have a group of wonderful musicians. I have Art Hillery
playing piano, and I have Wendall Williams playing bass and Gerryck
King playing the drums and lastly I’m going to play the tenor
saxophone,” Edwards said in a recent interview. “We
have in mind to do a very wonderful evening of music and hope we
have plenty of people from Westwood and from UCLA and many other
parts to come out and hear us play.”
Edwards and his accompanying artists will perform a variety of
jazz music styles.
“We’ll play some straight-ahead swing, we’ll
play some blues and we’ll play some ballads and we’ll
play some Latin music because we do a variety of things and we hope
to satisfy most of the people that might attend,” Edwards
said.
Since he began performing in 1936, Edwards has done several
recordings and worked with many well-known artists.
“I’ve recorded with so many people, from Ray Charles
to Benny Goodman to Sarah Vaughn to Gerald Wilson to Benny Carter.
The list goes on and on, plus doing my own thing,” Edwards
said.
“This is my 64th year of playing professionally and
I’m not a has-been either, I have plenty of energy and I have
plenty left to play,” he said.
On July 21 Mayuto and Samba Pack will perform Latin-style jazz.
Mayuto is often noted as one of the world’s best conga
players.
“They are a sort of Latin/Brazilian pop and R&B sound
with a real Latin element,” Later said.
Finally, on July 28, Barbara Morrison will perform.
Morrison’s 25-year career in jazz includes recording in
genres ranging from blues to gospel to pop. She is famous for her
ability to perform soul-stirring blues vocals.
In addition to the music, local restaurants are presenting a
selection of complimentary hors d’oeuvres before each
concert. This year’s restaurants include Palomino, Tengu,
Maui Beach Cafe and Westwood Brewing Company.
“It’s sort of a community gesture and a sampling of
what the local restaurants have to offer,” Barry said. During
the concert, for the warm summer evenings, Black Tie Catering
provides a bar where drinks can be purchased.
The museum also stays open an hour later than the usual closing
time of 7 p.m. with free entrance for visitors that evening.
According to Later, the concert usually attracts between 800 and
1,000 people.
“What we’ve tried to create here is not only a great
venue for listening to jazz but also a nice location for happy-hour
networking,” Later said.
The concept for the series began several years ago.
“(In) the mid-’90s efforts were made on behalf of
the merchants in Westwood in conjunction with the office building
owners to really advance the revitalization of Westwood
Village,” Later said. From there, the Westwood BID was
established and money was allocated to create programs that would
bring renewed interest in Westwood Village.
“One of the ideas we had was for a jazz series, and that
was on the basis that we could find the right venue in Westwood to
provide a sort of self-contained environment that could accommodate
1,000 to 1,200 people with good sound, good acoustics and a good
ambiance,” Later said.
“We approached the people at the Armand Hammer Museum
(which is) a very successful museum but we wanted to give them the
opportunity to expand their exposure,” he said.
Since then, the Westwood Jazz festival has developed and
grown.
“We’ve worked with UCLA and the Armand Hammer and
they’ve helped us with really reducing our costs for the
venue and putting on the production at the Hammer,” Later
continued.
The primary sponsors of the festival are Arden Realty and GTE,
but a small portion of funds also come from the Westwood Village
Community Alliance. The Westwood BID works with Festival
Productions, a well-established jazz production company, to develop
the lineup for the festival.
“They are very effective in putting together the right mix
for our audience,” Later said.
The four concerts in this year’s festival provide a
variety of different jazz styles along with an enjoyable atmosphere
for attendees. Later hopes that this combination will bring new
people into Westwood as well as entice business people to stay
after work for the concerts before heading home.
“We encourage people to come out and start their weekend
in Westwood,” Later said.
JAZZ: The Westwood Jazz at the Hammer series is every Friday in
July from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the courtyard of the UCLA Armand Hammer
Museum at 10899 Wilshire Blvd. The concerts are free to all who
attend. For information call (310) 443-7000.