SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2008 AT 7 PM

Media Sponsor: KCRW

The tenth anniversary season of the KCRW World Festival at the Hollywood Bowl continues on Sunday, July 20, at 7 pm with Feist, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Pacifika. Indie darling Feist makes her debut at the Bowl, still floating in the limelight of her four Grammy nominations including Best New Artist. Opening for Feist is Brooklyn-based soul sensation Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Vancouver’s global-pop group Pacifika. KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic DJ Nic Harcourt hosts.

Leslie Feist is Canada’s queen of indie-rock. Her second solo album, The Reminder, a collection of timeless melodies complemented by Feist’s charming and authentic voice, has received praise from critics and fans worldwide. Rolling Stone says of the album, “Feist brings uncommon breadth and individuality to the swoony indie lounge pop of her U.S. debut.” The New Yorker called The Reminder a “calm and luminous new album.”

Sharon Jones channels the spirit of vintage soul with rousing, powerhouse performances of old-school soul and funk. Backed by the Dap-Kings, Sharon Jones found her success in midlife, garnering the respect of critics worldwide. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings make their Hollywood Bowl debut touring on the heels of her latest album, 100 Days and 100 Nights.

Pacifika’s polyrhythmic beats, airy melodies, and South American flavors may not bring to mind Vancouver’s cool climate, yet Canadian trio Pacifika conjures tropical landscapes and balmy waters with their latest album Asunción. Peruvian-born chanteuse Silvana Kane’s bi-lingual vocals accompany Latin-inspired beats and melds with the trio’s diverse backgrounds.

Compelling and dazzling, these three diverse groups fronted by women promise a very special evening at the Bowl.

Onstage, FEIST can pivot between a solo singer captivating a room with her guitar and the leading lady of an all-male band made up of three brothers–Bryden, Jesse and Jay Baird – and Afie Jurvanen. On her second solo album, The Reminder, you can hear the sound of every facet of Feist – the punk kid from Calgary and the Parisian ex-pat who taps the cobblestone. It’s hard not to be floored by the staggering breadth and depth of the material in this album. To help harness its sound, Feist invited Gonzales, Mocky and Jamie Lidell to La Frette, a 200-year-old manor house in the outskirts of Paris. Using piano, vibraphones, organs, guitars, the amp, shoved two drum kits against the stained glass windows and scattered microphones like mousetraps around wood-floored rooms; Feist and her comrades completed the album within a short two week window without the slightest bit of compromise. As sung so sweetly at the end of the album, The Reminder is simply an answer to Feist’s own questions about “how her heart behaves.”

SHARON JONES debuted as a soul songstress in 1996 she was called in on a tip from a sax player who was seeing her at the time to sing back-up at a Desco Records studio session for 70’s soul legend Lee Fields. As the other two girls never showed up for the session, Jones cut all the background parts for the session herself and proceeded to cut the impromptu prison rap over Switchblade, which had originally been intended for a man. Ironically, that rant (slowed down to make it sound like a man) would be her first outing as a featured artist on a record. As Jones’ career and popularity began to shape, so did THE DAP-KINGS. The band includes guitarists Binky Griptite and Tommy ‘TNT’ Brenneck, bass player Bosco Mann, percussionist Fernando ‘Boogaloo’ Velez, and drummer Homer Steinweiss and is rounded out with renowned horn section of baritone saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith, tenor saxophonist Neal Sugarman and David Guy on trumpet. In addition to their touring schedule, the Dap-Kings and Sharon Jones have worked in the studio and performed live with the likes of Mark Ronson, Al Green, Lou Reed, David Byrne, Lily Allen, and Hank Shocklee. They are perhaps most known for their work recording half of the music on Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black, including the hit singles “Rehab” and “I’m No Good.” In 2007, Sharon Jones debuted on the silver screen in the Denzel Washington Film “The Great Debaters” and recorded six songs for the film’s soundtrack. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ third full-length effort “100 Days, 100 Nights”, from Brooklyn's Daptone Records, has garnered rave reviews from across the globe on its way to cracking the upper echelons of numerous "Best of 2007" charts and editor's picks.

PACIFIKA is the multi-talented Silvana Kane, a Peruvian-born singer and accomplished actress with a love of flamenco, electronica and textured percussion; Adam Popowitz, a Canadian-bred guitarist adept at new wave, classical and pop, and a skilled producer responsible for a catalogue that includes indie rock and Armenian folk music; and Toby Peter \, a dub wise bassist born in Canada and raised in Barbados, explorer of jazz, hip-hop, Latin, metal and Caribbean grooves. The Vancouver based trio produced Asunción in 2006, with the three partners working all night, eating, playing and writing together. Arrangements were done on the fly, as the songs evolved, and the trio’s multifaceted influences came into play to create their own singular style. Pacifika is making a new kind of global pop, music that nods to its diverse international influences, while forging its own unique voice. Latin tinged, marked by gently flowing melodies, deep grooves, waves of cracking percussion and the occasional burst of exhilarating guitar noise, Pacifika’s comfortable, complex sound defies categories, creating soothing soundscapes held together by Kane’s smooth, intimate vocals.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 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. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. 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 40th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2008, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the fourth year in a row at the 19th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

SUNDAY, July 20, 2008, at 7 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood



KCRW World Festival



FEIST

SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS

PACIFIKA



Media Sponsor: KCRW



Tickets ($1 - $95) are on sale now at HollywoodBowl.com, at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office (Tuesday–Sunday, noon–6 p.m.), or by calling 323.850.2000, or Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details.

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