Counting the days to Levitt Pavilion Denver’s
July 20 opening!

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  • West African Percussion group Umoja celebrating MakeMusicDay in Rochester, NY. Image courtesy of @makemusicroc.

Check out these recently released photos from the Levitt Pavilion Denver construction site—it’s coming to life!

Next month, Levitt Pavilion Denver will open to the public, making it the seventh permanent outdoor music venue in the Levitt network. Levitt Pavilion Denver is being heralded as the centerpiece to Ruby Hill Park’s revitalization, an expansive yet underused 83-acre park located in Southwest Denver. Next month, this formerly underused public space will become a communal hub where Denverites can come together on lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy free, live music under the stars.

Find out which artists will be performing as part of Levitt Pavilion Denver’s inaugural concert season.

Check out our new Vision video…in less than 60 seconds!

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Here at Levitt, we envision free outdoor concerts across America making an impact that goes beyond ensuring access to high-caliber music and award-winning artists. They inspire communities to come together, creating vibrant public spaces while forging new connections with fellow concertgoers and neighbors. As Gedeon Luke sings in the video, “We got to live together—live free and love!”

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Listen to the #LevittAMP Artist Showcase Playlist!

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The Levitt AMP Music Series has officially kicked off! Whether it’s classic, down-home blues, big band cumbia, singer-songwriter folk or electro-funk, the 2017 Levitt Amp Music Series has a culturally diverse range of genres featuring emerging and established talent. 

With Levitt AMP concerts having begun in Denison and Santa Fe, and just around the corner for the 13 other AMP towns and cities, enjoy this specially curated Spotify playlist of Levitt AMP artists taking the stage this summer and fall! You’ll hear something from each town and city – the vintage roots music of Guitar Shorty, the frenetic rockabilly of The Trip Daddys and the hit ballad “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” by Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, among many more. Here’s to a great season of free music under the stars!

Check out each city’s artist lineup and schedule here. And be sure to tag your Instagram and Twitter posts with #musicmoves for a chance to win an iTunes Gift Card! 

Soulful Powerhouse The Suffers to Headline 2017 Levitt National Tour

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We’re thrilled to announce that The Suffers, an 8-member band hailing from Houston who blend musical influences as diverse as rock, R&B, country and reggae into a dynamic sound they’ve coined “Gulf Coast Soul,” will headline the 2017 Levitt National Tour. Now in its third year and created to celebrate the collective impact of the Levitt network of music venues in communities across the country, the 2017 Levitt National Tour will stop in six Levitt cities this July and August—Los Angeles; Memphis; Arlington, Texas; Denver; Bethlehem, Pa.; and Dayton, Ohio (home to a future Levitt Pavilion). This summer’s tour will invite Levitt audiences to experience these rising stars and critical darlings, hailed for their infectious rhythm and horns section mixing seamlessly with the sultry vocals of singer Kam Franklin. Continue reading →

The Making of a Movement: The current behind the surge in free outdoor concerts

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Summer has long been synonymous with outdoor concerts across the country. A simple search for “free outdoor concerts” yields hundreds of thousands of results coast to coast. Each year brings an increasing number of opportunities to experience free, live music in outdoor settings—from single concerts centered around a specific celebration like the annual Memorial Day Concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; to coordinated events like Make Music Day, when dozens of U.S. cities celebrate the summer solstice through free music performances; to weekly concert series like Summerstage in parks throughout New York City and free Levitt concerts in towns and cities across America.

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Meet the Artist: Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto

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The inspiration for Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto’s music is rooted in tradition; technically, the band started 77 years ago. As they share in this Meet the Artist video, their music narrates their experiences growing up, “the villages, the farmers, and the men who work the land” in their native Colombia. That’s why it was such an honor for them to take the stage at Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles back in 2012 on Colombian Independence day.

Dedicated to preserving their culture, and encouraging the practice of traditional Colombian Cumbia – a genre that has become less ubiquitous as generations pass by – the GRAMMY-winning Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto is recognized as one of the most important musical groups from their native country. They have even recorded music on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, a label that continues to press decades-old songs from the traditional North and South American songwriting canon.

The new generation of Los Gaiteros are passionate about bringing their music to the world, and spreading the joy of their music to cultures that aren’t typically exposed to Colombian Cumbia. Having an opportunity to perform at a community-building space like a Levitt Pavilion, for families from near and far, is a great joy for the group.

Meet more artists who have performed on Levitt stages on our website!

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Mark Your Calendars: 2017 Levitt Summer Series dates and more!

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Check out the official dates for Levitt venues and Levitt AMP Music Series this summer! Across the country, free concerts will activate public spaces through the power of music and community building. Audiences will be thrilled by the exciting range of artists spanning a wide range of genres and styles! Scroll down to check out Levitt concert series dates in your community.

Permanent Levitt Venues
Each permanent outdoor Levitt music venue presents 50 free concerts every year and is managed, programmed and supported by a Friends of Levitt nonprofit partner, with Levitt Los Angeles run by the Foundation.

Levitt Pavilion Arlington: May 19 – July 23; September 1 – October 22
Levitt Pavilion Denver: July 20 – September 23
Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles: June 17 – September 10
Levitt Shell Memphis: June 1 – July 16; September 7 – October 28
Levitt Pavilion Pasadena: June 29 – September 3
Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks: May 25 – September 9
Levitt Pavilion Westport: June 25 – August 27

Levitt AMP Sites
The Levitt AMP Music Series will take place in 15 small to mid-sized towns and cities at pop-up sites in public spaces, each presenting 10 free concerts throughout the summer or fall.

Berea: July 7 – September 8
Carson City: June 23 – September 2
Chattanooga: August 24 – October 26
Denison: May 26 – July 28
Greensboro: June 3 – August 5
Hattiesburg: July 7 – September 22
Jacksonville: June 2 – August 4
Middlesboro: August 3 – October 4
Ocala: May 19 – July 21
Santa Fe: May 27 – August 12
Sheboygan: June 22 – August 24
St. Johnsbury: July 9 – September 17
Stevens Point: June 1 – August 3
Trenton: June 29 – August 31
Utica: July 3 – September 4

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Get to know (and help build) your community on Neighborday tomorrow!

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Do you get together with your neighbors on a regular basis? If the answer is no, you’re not alone—according to a 2015 study, only 20 percent of Americans regularly spend time with their neighbors, and a third of the country’s population has never interacted with neighbors. At Levitt, we always encourage people to get to know one another, whether that’s through enjoying free concerts together or through other kinds of community-building activities.

That’s why we love the idea behind Neighborday, a holiday devised seven years ago by media company GOOD to inspire Americans to reach out to folks living next door and plan a communal activity. A block party is one idea, but GOOD offers several other creative ways to forge friendships and build community pride within our neighborhoods. Here are four activities that you and your neighbors can put together just in time for Neighborday on April 29!

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Five facts about America’s Songwriter, Jimmy Webb

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Jimmy Webb performing at Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles in 2013

After five decades of writing some of pop’s most iconic songs, Jimmy Webb is not showing signs of slowing down. The songwriter has become a book author, currently touring America to promote his just-released memoir, The Cake and The Rain, a title inspired by lyrics from the hit 1968 song he penned (and was first recorded by Richard Harris), “MacArthur Park.” We at Levitt know the song well—Webb has performed it twice (in 2013 and 2016) at Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles, which sits in the very park that inspired the ballad!

Webb’s prolific career writing storytelling lyrics about the American experience has earned him the apt nickname of “America’s Songwriter,” with songs including the hits “Galveston” (1969) and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (1967). You’ve likely heard one of the thousands of records that feature his songs, from some of the country’s biggest acts of the 20th century like Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.

To celebrate Webb’s legacy as he tours the country, here are five fun facts you might not have known about the living legend. Continue reading →