A Two Week Celebration of Jazz at the Brand Library

The Super Bowl won't be the only big thing that kicks off this weekend. That's right, I'm referring to the two week Celebration of Jazz that begins this Saturday at the Brand Library in Glendale. If you have to attend musical events for school, or you're simply a jazz aficionado, the Celebration of Jazz series is a great opportunity to get some wonderful jazz exposure. This is particularly the case for us penny-pinching college students because all the programs in this series are FREE!

Programs will include music and dance performances, film screenings, and panel discussions with musicians, artists, and educators. A Celebration of Jazz at Brand Library is organized around the The Performance Portraits of Bob Barry, an exhibition of 130 of the Los Angeles based photographer's remarkable images.

I will continue to update everyone on the events of this series over the next two weeks, but for now I will provide some information on this weekend's events so you all can start planning. The first event is a performance with guitarist Pat Kelley on Saturday evening. The second event, taking place on Sunday afternoon, is a panel discussion that will focus on the way technology is shaping jazz today. This panel discussion should leave you with just enough time to get back before the Super Bowl kickoff.

Opening reception: Saturday, February 6, 6 - 9pm

With a performance by guitarist Pat Kelley, professor, USC Thornton School of Music's Studio/Jazz Guitar Department and a mainstay in the Los Angeles recording and jazz scene for twenty-five years.

Sunday, February 7, 1:30pm Panel discussion: Jazz Imaging: The Digital Future

Moderator: Bill Wishner, Chair, Milt Hinton Award for Excellence in Jazz; Bob Barry, photographer; Greg Carroll, CEO, American Jazz Museum; Randall Kremer, Director of Public Affairs, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; Cynthia Sesso, curator and appraiser. Discussion will focus on how new technologies and tools, such as YouTube and the iPhone, are changing the way jazz imagery is captured, presented and archived.