Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl
Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl
The performers, with guest Willie Nelson, displayed their versatility with a show that covered the range of American music.
Wynton Marsalis describes the big jazz band as “the American orchestra.” It’s an intriguing and, in many ways, definitive identification of the instrumental collective that has been a foundation ensemble of American jazz and popular music for more than 80 years. Like the classical orchestra, it is an ensemble that has served as the expressive musical vehicle for a particular culture — in this case, American rather than European. The performance by Marsalis’ 15-piece Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night was a dynamic, living color display of the multifaceted meaning of his description.
Christopher Taylor plays ‘Vingt Regards’
The pianist adds cosmic bells and whistles to the difficult Oliver Messiaen work.
SANTA BARBARA — The title of Olivier Messiaen ‘s “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus” does not translate easily into English. A common version is “Twenty Gazes Upon the Child Jesus.” But “regards” also implies “aspects” or “contemplations.” One translator, apparently feeling that any suggestion of corporeality would be misleading, simply supplied ellipses for “regards.” After all, Messiaen’s mystical music invites out-of-body experiences.
No Age is at a DIY crossroads
Randy Randall and Dean Spunt are helping revive the L.A. punk scene. But as their popularity grows, can they maintain their punk ethic?
DEAN SPUNT and Randy Randall of the L.A. experimental punk duo No Age have played plenty of warehouse shows but none like the one late last month in Hollywood. For a taping of “FNMTV,” the music channel’s new Friday night video show, the network retrofitted a cavernous concrete-block space on Cahuenga Boulevard with an armory of strobe lights, a live performance catwalk and a semicircle of bleachers, making the stage look like a gladiator pit for caffeinated teenagers.