Sunday, July 20, 2008

INLAND EMPIRE JAZZ FESTIVAL

The Inland Empire Jazz Festival is coming up August 22-24, 2008. This is the 2nd Annual festival. I missed the first one last year and am hoping the entertainers this year will be just as noteworthy. From looking at the website it appears some of them are still up in the air but if you're looking for a jazz concert in the park you might want to check this one out. Its at Guasti park in Ontario, about 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles off the 10 fwy on Archibald, two exits before Ontario Mills.

JAZZ FEST WEST 2008

The Jazz Fest West, formerly the Old Pasadena Jazz Fest, was hosted by Omega Events, and held this past weekend July 19-20, 2008. If you're familiar with the Old Pasadena Jazz Fest, last year it was moved to Bonelli Park in San Dimas right next to Raging Waters. I didn't attend last year but I did this year and Wow! Judging by the turn-out I can see why they moved it. I'm sure it outgrew the small park in Pasadena.

The section of Bonelli Park where it was held was huge and there were people everywhere and still it wasn't even one tenth of Bonelli Park. From this area you couldn't even see the massive lake which is sectioned off into three sections - beach, boating and fishing.

I didn't attend both days and decided to go at the last minute. I even missed the first few performances but there were plenty the rest of the day to happily entertain me and a large number of vendors for shopping and to supply anyone with hats, umbrellas, concert t-shirts and plenty to eat and drink.



The performers this year included:

The Sax Pack
Gail Johnson
Patti Austin
Fourplay
Lao Tizer Band w/Chieli
Minucci & Karen Briggs
Norman Brown with Chante Moore
Paul Taylor & Alex Bugnon
Pete Escovedo Orchestra
w/Sheila E
Marcus Johnson
Brian Simpson,
Jonathan Butler,
George Duke
Lima
Wayman Tisdale
The O'Jays


I had the extreme pleasure of watching and listening to Fourplay.



I had to post the picture below so you could see what I had to work with camera wise. The "priority" section was gated off so there was only so close I could get. This was taken from where I was sitting on the cement edge of the play area in the park. The yellow high-lighted square in the picture is the stage. Believe it or not, the picture above was taken with my zoom through the poles of the tent in the picture.





Next I thoroughly enjoyed getting front row seat at the Garden stage to listen to and watch the Lao Tizer Band and Chieli Minuccia and Karen Briggs:





Then it was back to the main stage for Norman Brown's Summer storm featuring Paul Taylor, Chante Moore and Alex Bugnon.





If you didn't get there this year, you missed out. But there is always next year and rumor has it Maze just might be there. If you go next year I'd highly recommend parking at Fairplex and taking the shuttle that made trips every 15 minutes throughout the day. It was practically car to entrance delivery whereas priority parking in the park still had you walking a ways to get into the fest.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

UPCOMING CONCERT

If you like rock and alternative music concerts I just received some information on a concert coming up sponsored by myAWOL. You can check out the links to hear samples of the artists and their music. The concert information is below:

July 18, 2008
The Roxy Theatre
9009 West Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
All Ages cover is $13.50 / $16.50 under 21

The featured performers are:

HAZELDEN at 8:15

REPEATER at 9:00

AUGUST HOUSE at 9:45

and headliners:

INTERCEPTat 10:30

i94 at 11:30

Click here for more information

Long Beach Aquarium



I actually enjoyed the Long Beach Aquarium but wasn't that thrilled that of all the places I've ventured to this was probably the most expensive at about $21.00 for an adult to get in and I believe it was $7.00 for parking. Still, one must consider that these aren't just paintings on a wall or cars on display. These are living animals that need to be cared for, fed and cleaned up after. Let's face it that takes money so what they charge is pretty reasonable.

Fair warning: though adults will enjoy this visit to the Aquarium, each time I've been there it has been riddled with kids. Though I love kids they do have a tendency to push and shove their way into little nooks and crannies to get a view so if your patience is a little thin, don't go until you've nerves are in tact because the adults aren't always much better than the kids. Sometimes you have to wait to get close to the window to get a good view especially if you're taking pictures. For as bad as I'm making this sound, don't mind me. It's actually a great outing and you'll enjoy it.

If you're going with the kids in mind, they will love it and there is a certain joy in watching children get excited as they look, learn and try to pet a live sting ray as it swims in the open tank. Maybe they'll have fun trying to find the rock fish that look more like the other rocks in the tank than an actual fish.


My personal favorites were the jelly fish and the aviary that contained the Lorikeets. For $2 you can buy some nectar and enter the aviary where the beautifully colored little birds will come eat the nectar from the tiny cup you hold. It is a heavily misted aviary so ladies, beware of your curls.