KEB' MO' AND ERNIE ANDREWS ALSO FEATURED
With 2003 coined the "Year of the Blues," the Bowl brings the blues to Hollywood with Blues Night on Wednesday, July 9, at 8 p.m., the kick-off program of KKJZ's Jazz at the Bowl concert series. Etta James, the legendary blues-belter who received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this spring, returns to the Bowl with her passionate vocal power. Country blues man Keb' Mo' and veteran jazz singer Ernie Andrews also perform, bringing a wide range of blues music to the Bowl stage.
Blues Night is the first concert of KKJZ's Jazz at the Bowl series, which was created in partnership with KKJZ Radio (88.1 FM). The eight concert series continues with Rejoice and Swing on July 16; Joao Gilberto: Boss of Bossa Nova on July 23; The Movie Music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard on July 30; Wayne Shorter: Life and Music on August 6; To Ella With Love on August 13; The Edge of Jazz on August 20; and the Art of Swing on August 27.
Known for their barn-burning live performances, ETTA JAMES AND THE ROOTS BAND belt out the blues with trademark passion and earthshaking vocal power. Since age 16, James has been composing and performing "the different faces of American music": jazz, blues, gospel, country, R&B and rock 'n' roll. Eight-time Grammy-nominee Etta James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® in '93, and won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in '95. Her current album Burnin' Down the House was nominated for a Grammy, and she released a new album, Let's Roll, in April 2003. Etta James last performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2002.
Country blues guitarist KEB' MO' grew up in Compton, CA and began playing the guitar at age 12. Later he started gigging with various Top 40 and blues outfits as well as joining A&M as a staff writer, but it wasn't until he became enthralled with the grit and bite of country blues that he started honing his style. When the newly revived Okeh record label released Keb's album Keb' Mo' in 1994, it prompted immediate critical praise, and when he won a second Grammy for Slow Down, his arrival as a fresh voice inspired by a classical idiom was confirmed. Keb' Mo', who performs solo last appeared at the Bowl in 2002.
Born in 1927, jazz vocalist ERNIE ANDREWS released his first solo record in 1957 and has been working ever since. He has collaborated with jazz greats including the Capp/Pierce Juggernaut, Gene Harris, Ray Brown, James Moody, and Teddy Edwards, and remains steady in style and inspiration. In the 1940s Andrews was the vocalist with the Harry James Orchestra, just one of the feathers in his extensive musical cap. Known for his swinging standards and West Coast blues, Andrews was recently featured in the documentary Blues for Central Avenue, and remains active on the LA jazz scene today. He last performed at the Bowl in 2000.
One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A hit from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 35th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
Wednesday, July 9, 8:00 pm
KKJZ'S JAZZ
HOLLYWOOD BOWL (2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood)
BLUES NIGHT
ETTA JAMES AND THE ROOTS BAND
KEB' MO'
ERNIE ANDREWS
Tickets ($1 - $40) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure,
call 323.850.2000.
Elizabeth Hinckley, 213.972.3034; Ryan Jimenez, 213.972.3405