Jazz Pick of the Week – Bill Frisell Trio Takes on Buster Keaton, Jim Woodring and Bill Morrison

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With his perpetually dazed, beatific gaze, jazz guitarist and composer Bill Frisell found an ideal creative foil in the deadpan mug of silent film genius Buster Keaton. An ongoing relationship first documented on Frisell’s 1995 albums “Music for Films of Buster Keaton: Go West” and “Music for Films of Buster Keaton: One Week and High Sign” (Nonesuch), Frisell revisits his evocative scores for the three films Saturday afternoon at UCLA’s Royce Hall with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen (the original recordings featured bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron).

Last Remaining Seats Turns 25

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In 1987 the Los Angeles Conservancy began its program called Last Remaining Seats to focus attention on the movie palaces located in downtown Los Angeles’ Broadway Historic Theatre District. Now in its 25th season, the Conservancy’s highly successful series of classic films and live entertainment in historic theatres is back with an outstanding slate of films.

RedCat International Children’s Film Festival is Back!

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REDCAT is the downtown outpost of CalArts and bills itself as “a center for experimentation, discovery and lively civic discourse.” Each year, the REDCAT team puts together an eclectic calendar of events that draw upon artistic talent from around the world.

Since it opened in 2003, I’ve enjoyed a number of films, performances, exhibitions and literary events at REDCAT, which is located in the Disney Concert Hall. One of my favorite events has been the family friendly International Children’s Film Festival, due to the quality and breadth of films. Given my past experience with this event, I have a lot of confidence that this year’s festival won’t disappoint.

ProjectFresh & Mindshare Los Angeles – March Events

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ProjectFresh and Mindshare Los Angeles, two related event series curated by Douglas Campbell, promise opportunities for participants to share ideas, foster dialogue, build community, problem solve and take action on a wide range of issues. At the same time, these events promise attendees a fun, socially engaging night out with other people who like to mix intelligent conversation with partying.

Music, Architecture and Cops N’ Robbers in Downtown LA

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This past Sunday afternoon my family and I attended a fantastic program put on by The Da Camera Society of Mount St. Mary’s College. Billed as the Civic Center Festival, this one day event featured a walking tour of downtown highlighted by three showcase performances, the screening of silent film classics with live music accompaniment by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, and a post-concert reception.

A Sneak Preview Screening of “Happy”

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ProjectFresh is hosting a Sneak Peak of the acclaimed documentary HAPPY. After the screening there will be a Q+A with Academy Award® Nominated director Roko Belic (Genghis Blues, Beyond the Call, Indestructible), Dr. Darlene Mininni, author of The Emotional Toolkit and creator of the UCLA LifeSkills course and multi-award winning composer Mark Adler (Food Inc., Bottle Shock).

A Conversation with Documentarian Jason Cohn on Charles and Ray Eames (Part 2)

Late last year I had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Cohn about his latest film project called Eames: The Architect and the Painter, which is set to air in Fall 2011 on the PBS show American Masters. A condensed version of the second half of our conversation is published below. If you missed the first half, which was published on February 15th, you can find it here.

I’ve known Jason for over 30 years and have followed his career with a lot of interest. When I started Curating Los Angeles (CLA) last Fall, I knew I would interview him at some point about his work, since as you’ll learn below, he is as fascinated by Los Angeles as I am and appreciates the many ways that the city has nurtured creative energies and impulses in a wide variety of fields.