Herbie Hancock And Kamasi Washington Co-Curate Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival
The event is scheduled for June 17 and 18.
Kamasi Washington, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Samara Joy, Leon Bridges, and more lead the lineup for the 2023 Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, set for June 17-18.
Also confirmed on the bill is West Coast Get Down, Digable Planets, Poncho Sanchez, Aziza, Soul Rebels with Big Freedia, Lionel Loueke and Gretchen Parlato, Boukman Eksperyans, Butcher Brown, and many others. The full lineup and single-day tickets will be available from Tuesday, March 14.
Hosted by Arsenio Hall and presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the two-day fest celebrates its 43rd year at the Hollywood Bowl.
Sax superstar Kamasi Washington is co-curator of the festival alongside the inimitable Herbie Hancock, who is also the LA Phil’s creative chair for jazz.
“I was thrilled when the LA Phil asked me to co-curate this festival with Kamasi and explore his extraordinary artistic vision,” comments Hancock, a 14-time Grammy Award winner. “Our celebration this year includes so many artists—both emerging and established—at defining moments in their musical journeys.”
Together, “we hope to create community and connection through the music we make and leave audiences feeling uplifted and inspired.” Hancock won’t perform at the fest; his next LA Phil concert is Sunday, April 2 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Adds Washington said, “Herbie is one of the greatest musicians to ever live and I am so grateful to be working with him on this special show. Herbie and I have been working with the LA Phil team to create a one-of-a-kind experience that we hope will leave the audience with excitement, joy, life, soul and most of all great music.”
Back in September, Richmond-based five-piece Butcher Brown released their big band album Butcher Brown Presents Triple Trey featuring Tennishu and R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND, out via Concord Jazz.
Coupled with the release, the band also shared a live performance video for the album track “Breevin’.” The full project arrived closely following performances at DC JazzFest and Afropunk Brooklyn. It includes singles like “777,” “Unbelievable,” and “Liquid Light.”
Visit the Hollywood Bowl’s official website for more information.