Alternajazz Festival VI
July 10th, 8pm-midnight
$10 for the whole evening.
Tangier Restaurant, 2138 Hilhurst Ave. Los Feliz.

On July 10th, Tangier Restaurant and Alternajazz Productions present the sixth Alternajazz Festival . This quarterly event presents some of the most innovative, cutting edge jazz-based acts anywhere.

This line up:

8pm, Spaceheater , featuring bay-area sax player, Evan Francis
9pm, Raya Yarbrough
10pm, 17 Billion miles of DNA .

Spaceheater is instrumental hip hop, ventursome in the realm of electronics. Lots of rich woodwind harmonies. Think Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Master P, Puerto Rican bomba/son rhythms.

Raya Yarbrough is a singer-composer who channels a jazz voice through a kaleidoscope of art-pop and funk. Storyteller instinct, meets jazz hipness. Influences are Duke Ellington,Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell.

17 Billion Miles of DNA is a Gypsy/French jazz amalgamation with a 1930's accordion driven flair. They incorporate occasional vocals, avant-garde experimentation, and large water cooler bottles.

The Alternajazz Festival , a new Los Angeles event, premiered September, 2003. Created to Showcase cutting edge jazz that bends the boundaries, the Festival is a hot spot for emerging young groups as well as established acts that have forged unique styles. This quarterly Festival celebrates the diversity of jazz from straight-ahead to avant garde, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian-fusion, hip-hop flavors, classical themes and beyond . You could call it "Spiked jazz," jazz with a little somethin' else. Each time, three to four bands represent different jazz perspectives.

At the first Festival, the opening act was The Industrial Jazz Group, a tentet described as "Thelonious Monk goes to the circus drunk." It's a new fangled amalgamation of 50s, 60s and 70s acoustic jazz with the kind of sounds, effects, and approaches often associated with classical avant garde. The centerpiece of the festival was Otmaro Ruiz .   Otmaro's trio expands the Latin Jazz notion beyond Afro-Cuban fusion by combining elements from South American traditions (Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil) with jazz styling. Born in Venezuela, Ruiz has toured and recorded with varied acts including Dianne Reeves, Boney James, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval and many others. Closing the festivals was founder Raya Yarbrough. Raya is an award-winning singer, composer and lyricist, whose music combines pop, straight-ahead jazz and Latin styles. She has been described as a true original, and has performed in the Playboy Jazz Festival and headlined at top clubs ranging from Catalina's Bar and Grill and the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles to the Jazz Standard in New York City.

After the festival's successful premier, The Alternajazz Festival, returned to Tangier in January, 2004.   The first festival yielded a full house, but nothing prepared us for the turnout the second time around: from 8 to midnight it was STANDING ROOM ONLY. This time we opened with Just Listen , a group fronted by Sax Player/Floutist/vocalist, Katisse Buckingham. The band's rousing original music incorporates funk, jazz, pop, hip-hop, world-Latin music, and Buckingham's own poignant rap artistry. Next, the Steve Bartek ensemble features guitar player Bartek, a former member of the band Oingo Boingo before following singer/composer Danny Elfman into film music as his orchestrator. This band's complex arrangements meet expert improvisation to yield an eccentric and fiery ride. Once again, closing the standing room only festival was Raya Yarbrough.

The next festival featured the Supernova jazz string quartet, and composer Sebastian Craig. Sebastian Craig is a painter of music. His constructions are both instinctual and highly organized - a symbiosis of deliberate strokes and soul. The Supernova Quartet redefines the string quartet by exploring the sonic potential of their medium. Through the use of effects, pitch shifters, harmonizers, and looping, their music freely mixes influences ranging from Beethoven to Coltrane.

at Tangier: 2138 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz
Just off Los Feliz Blvd.
Across from The Derby
(323) 666-8666
CONTACT: Alternajazz@aol.com

Previous Alternajazz Festivals have featured:

AJI:
9-21-03
Industrial Jazz Group
Otmaro Ruiz
Raya Yarbrough

AJII:
1-11-04
Just Listen
Steve Bartek
Raya Yarbrough

AJIII:
5-23-04
Ascendant!
Raya Yarbrough
Supernova Quartet
Dogfysh

AJIV:
9-12-04
Doug Legacy and the Mystics
Adwin Brown
Raya Yarbrough

AJV:
5-23-04
The Thelonius Monk Institute
Mr. Riddims & click.BOOM
Marcel Camargo
Raya Yarbrough

For more information about the Alternajazz Festival, or if you are interested in performing in the festival, please email: alternajazz@rayayarbrough.com