Good Time Rock and Roll Launches Great Park Summer Night Flight Series |
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By: Orange County Great Park Posted: 2008-08-03 06:42:37 |
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The Orange County Great Park came alive tonight with good time rock and roll and surf ballads sung by the popular 70s Orange County rock band HONK. More than 2,000 people got into the groove with HONK at the first ever Night Flight Saturday evening concert. Now through September 27th, southern Californians can look forward to Night Flights at the Great Park -- a series of Friday night dance parties and Saturday evening concerts.
Next Friday, August 8th, the Great Park Night Flight dance party lifts off with rhythm and blues band Derek Bordeaux. On Saturday, August 9th, the Great Park goes Bollywood with a performance from the JAIPUR KAWA BRASS BAND. Music and dance lovers can enjoy performances from virtually anywhere on the festival grounds, the Hangar Cafe, picnic lawn or even aloft in the Great Park Balloon. "It's wonderful to see so many southern Californians enjoying their Saturday Night in the Great Park," said Larry Agran, Chair, Orange County Great Park Board Corporation. "We look forward to an amazing summer of free music and dance performances and encourage everyone to experience all the Great Park has to offer." Great Park Night Flight enthusiasts were also entertained by The Flight Crew, the Orange County Great Park Summer's resident performance troupe comprising Orange County based singers, story tellers, dancers and acrobats. The Flight Crew took vacation or scene suggestions from the audience and acted out the suggestion through a non-rehearsed improvisation and story. They sang a capella to "Come Fly with Me," "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Fly Me to the Moon." They transformed themselves as living sculpture wearing lycra costumed shapes that moved throughout the Park. The Hangar Cafe featured light meals and drinks. Inside the Hangar Cafe is an extraordinary photography exhibition by the Legacy Project, six Orange County professional photographers who have been documenting the transition of El Toro Marine Air Station into the Great Park. The Great Summer 2008 Night Flights schedule: NIGHT FLIGHTS 2008 JAIPUR KAWA BRASS BAND -- Aug. 9 Marching band, party band, Bollywood wedding band -- the newest craze in world music When the English brought their traditional brass bands to India in the 1700s they probably didn't foresee the wildly creative mixing and morphing of musical forms that was going to take place, as the brass band found its way from military parade grounds to religious festivals, wedding parties, political rallies and sports arenas. Today, in the escape-velocity hands of percussionist Hameed Khan Kawa (of worldpop music label Musafir) and his seven musicians, the result is an intoxicating blend of traditional Rajasthani rhythms, timeless brass band melodies, Bollywood film songs set to trombone and tabla -- there is no limit to their musical imagination and riotous energy. Don't miss them on the final performance of their US debut tour. More: http://www.artways.com/ VAGABOND OPERA -- Aug. 16 From Pink Martini's Portland comes edgy cabaret theatre, cribbing from Dietrich and Piaf, Kurt Weill and klezmer With the very theatrical sensibility of Paris cabaret and English music hall, this six-piece music ensemble blends voices, accordion, tenor and alto saxophones, cello, stand-up bass, drums ... "and, when the mood is right, a burlesque hoola-hooping fire performer." From Portland, Oregon -- home to Pink Martini and home to an astonishing level of creativity in recent years -- Vagabond Opera has created a place where "alienated classicists and romantic bohemians, Gypsy music, opera, klezmer and cabaret come-ons mingle like emigres trading aliases at an after-hours club. It's highly cultured, with a guttersnipe's knowing sneer" (Willamette Weekly). If this is your kind of crowd, then Vagabond Opera is for you. More: http://vagabondopera.com/ HAPA -- Aug. 23 Award-winning contemporary Hawaiian music and hula Beauty, serenity, otherworldly calm -- HAPA's music is the sound of peace and harmony. Rooted in the island culture of Hawaii, HAPA's pan-Polynesian music borrows from the strummed ballads of Portuguese fisherman, the songs of Spanish cowboys, the harmonies of the traditional church choirs of the early missionaries and contemporary acoustic folk-rock music. HAPA's self titled debut cd released in 1993, swept the 1994 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (Hawaii's equivalent of the Grammys), becoming the biggest selling CD by a group or duo in the history of recorded Hawaiian music. Could there be a more perfect band for a warm evening under the stars, this summer at the Great Park? More: http://www.hapa.com TBA -- Aug 30 EILEEN IVERS AND IMMIGRANT SOUL -- Sept. 6 Nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion and her all-Irish American band Former Riverdancer and nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion Eileen Ivers heads a band of drums, guitar, bass and keyboards plus a three-time All-Ireland accordion champion. All are American-born musicians who grew up in Irish immigrant communities; the drummer is also an accomplished blues singer. "Ivers' presentation was music with the kind of life and spirit that come together when talented artists from different backgrounds find the linkages that connect all forms of music -- no wonder the audience loved every minute." -- Los Angeles Times More: http://www.eileenivers.com QUETZAL -- Sept. 13 Chicano folk-rock, heirs to the legacy of Los Lobos Dynamic vocals of Martha Gonzalez and Cesar Castro are the heart of this much-loved Los Angeles band, blossoming into a big sound with guitars, keyboards, percussion plus the traditional folk rhythms of requinto, congas and cajon. Don't miss the opportunity to see Quetzal before their impending move to Seattle later this year -- and celebrate Mexican Independence Day a few days early. More: http://www.myspace.com/quetzal YAELISA and CAMINOS FLAMENCOS -- Sept. 20 Classic Spanish flamenco music and dance Emmy Award-winning dancer and choreographer Yaelisa, the company's artistic director, is among the top flamenco artists in the nation. She's even conquered flamenco's native Spain, where she was one of 11 choreographers (and the only American) invited to present her work at the prestigious Certamen de Corografia in Madrid. Her approach to flamenco is that of the purest flamenco traditions from Spain: she seamlessly blends the music and dance while weaving improvisation into the mix, and allowing each voice its own time and space. Yaelisa is best known locally as the artistic director of Irvine Barclay Theatre's annual New World Flamenco Festival. Press kit online: http://www.caminosflamencos.com/ EDGAR MEYER and CHRIS THILE -- Sept. 27 Blistering bluegrass and classical crossover Double bass master musician Edgar Meyer has an active career as both a performer and a composer -- it's tough to name a double bass player of even half Meyer's tremendous influence and creativity. First coming to national attention with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor in Appalachia Waltz, he is equally at home in Nashville's top studios, on the festival circuit and in the world's finest concert halls. He is appreciated by a vast and varied audience. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002. Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of his generation, 26-year-old phenom Chris Thile has changed the mandolin forever, elevating it from its origins as a relatively simple folk and bluegrass instrument to the sophistication and brilliance of the finest jazz improvisation and classical performance. For more than 15 years, Thile played in the wildly popular band Nickel Creek; more recently he's been the musical maverick behind the critically acclaimed Punch Brothers. Separately, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile have earned a shelf full of Grammy Awards; together, they bring a wealth of inspiration to their newest project: an album of their own compositions and a tour of key performing arts venues and summer festival. Certain to be a bone fide "shred-fest." FRIDAY NIGHT DANCE PARTIES Derek Bordeaux -- Aug. 8 Rhythm & blues band covers Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, all the greats http://www.derekbordeaux.com/ Mike McCaffrey Trio -- Aug. 15 Piano/vocal trio does Sinatra and Nat King Cole Johnny Polanco y Conjunto Armistad -- Aug. 22 LA's best salsa band -- horns, vibes, vocals, everything http://www.johnnypolanco.net/ Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys -- Aug. 29 Roots, rockabilly and Western swing http://www.bigsandy.net Eve Selis -- Sept. 5 Queen of the roadhouse rockers http://eveselis.com/ Los Pinguos -- Sept. 12 Winners on Ed McMahon's "The Next Big Star", contemporary Latin music from Buenos Aires http://www.lospinguos.com TBA -- Sept 19 Pete Jacobs and His Wartime Radio Revue -- Sept. 26 the sounds of WW2 from Benny Goodman to the Andrews Sisters http://www.wartimeradio.com The Orange County Great Park, which is almost twice the size of New York City's Central Park, will be a major metropolitan park and the focal point of the redevelopment of the 4,700-acre former Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro. The Great Park will include extensive natural areas and open space in addition to recreational and cultural uses. For more information, please go to http://www.ocgp.org. |
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