Music that gets better with age

To some artists, the idea of turning off their creative spigot because they are advancing in age is like turning off their capacity to breathe or stopping their heart. Artists like Tony Bennett, Pablo Picasso and Ella Fitzgerald chose to create and perform into their seventh and eighth decades of life at a level that many 30-year-olds would envy. So when an opportunity arises to see an art icon like Rachel Rosenthal perform with a distinguished composer and educator like Amy Knoles, one should not pass it up. The two artists will perform on Wednesday, Nov. 9, as part of the city of Culver City’s “Speak Easy” series, a program that features improvisational collaborations between distinguished performers on the west side of Culver City.

Rosenthal, artistic director and founder of the Los Angeles-based The Rachel Rosenthal Company, is an interdisciplinary performer who developed a revolutionary performance technique that integrates text, movement, voice, choreography, improvisation, inventive costuming, dramatic lighting and wildly imaginative sets into an unforgettable “total theater” experience.

However, on this night it will be just Rosenthal and multimedia artist and composer Knoles, collaborating in this intimate space. Knoles has been the executive director of the chamber ensemble called the California E.A.R. Unit for 30 years and has recently created the department of Electronic Percussion for CalArts.

The event is free and will begin at 8 p.m. at the Culver Events Center, 11948 W. Washington Blvd. Reservations are required by calling the Cultural Affairs Hotline at (310) 253-5716.

Another experimental cultural program at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City took place on Saturday, Oct. 16. Billed as “Sound” and put on with the help of the Society For The Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound (SASSAS), the bill featured experimental music from Alex Cline, Lady Noise and William Roper.

As featured in a recent column, the Scenic Overlook is a spectacular space that features views of downtown Los Angeles, Century City and on a clear day, Catalina Island. Lady Noise played in front of this gorgeous natural backdrop and definitely lived up to its colorful name. This ensemble had more than 10 instrumentalists playing at the same time without any sheet music or seemingly formal melodic or chordal structure to the material.

This kind of controlled cacophony only enhanced the beauty and wonderment of this space and had this writer thinking of what other kinds of music would lend itself well to this landscape. Perhaps the folks behind the city of Culver City Performing Arts Program, who helped put on this event, will think about the potential for this space for other musical acts that might have a wider appeal.

While I didn’t get to see percussionist Cline perform during the event, the mini-amphitheater-type setting where they were setting up was also a captivating and intimate space. One could definitely envision more concerts being performed here, much like the outdoor space that the Getty Museum utilizes in the Santa Monica foothills.

If you were around in the early to mid-1980s in Los Angeles, you may have been lucky enough to see local bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt or Fishbone in clubs like the Whiskey A-Go-Go, the Roxy or Madam Wongs in Santa Monica. Two out of those three bands are currently living large and enjoying the fruits of toiling for years in semi-obscurity in clubs around Southern California before breaking out in a big way on the national stage.

However, only one of those bands is currently the subject of a just-released documentary – “Everyday Sunshine, the Story of Fishbone.” When Fishbone exploded onto the Los Angeles music scene 25 years ago, it pushed the envelope of originality to the point of bending it. Signing with Columbia Records in 1987, the documentary follows the rise and fall of this Los Angeles institution, who were eventually dropped by their label due to a perceived lack of commercial success.

From documenting the band playing venues before thousands of people at the peak of their national success, the film also takes a grim turn when it focuses on co-founder Angelo Moore’s later life as he loses his North Hollywood apartment and is forced to move back in with this strict Christian mother. It also looks to dispel the notion that rock stars live a lavish lifestyle and have it made after a couple of radio hits. Narrated by acclaimed actor Laurence Fishburne, “Everyday Sunshine,” is currently playing at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 theater complex in West Hollywood.

On Saturday, Oct. 29, the Jazz Bakery moves their movable feast to the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center with a concert called “We Four,” celebrating saxophonist John Coltrane. This concert will celebrate the life and music of the legendary tenor sax player, with a stellar quartet, consisting of Javon Jackson on tenor sax, Mulgrew Miller on piano, with Nat Reeves playing bass and another jazz master, Jimmy Cobb, on the drums.

Cobb is the last surviving player from trumpeter Miles Davis’ quintessential classic jazz recording, “Kind of Blue,” which is probably in the record collection of anyone who has ever listened to any jazz (and if not, it should be). Yet another stellar performer who is playing into his eighth decade, Cobb’s presence in this bill alone is worth the price of admission.

The concert begins at 8:30 p.m. and reserved tickets are $30, while students can get in for $20. The Nate Holden Performing Arts Center is at 4718 W. Washington Blvd., with free parking nearby.

Jonathan Weiss is a Los Angeles-based music supervisor for film, TV and advertising. Email him at jonjaz@aol.com.