It’s that time of the year. It seems like everyone is making plans to work out more, plan house renovations, get finances in order (no, really in order) and more. But New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be dreaded or even major commitments.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season filled with family, friends and music!
What better way to start this week than with a very merry Levitt artists playlist!
We’ve included new spins on classics (Mariachi Divas‘ “Santa Baby” en español, Pentatonix’s doo-wop “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” and Los Straitjackets‘ funky “Soul’d Lang Syne”), contemplative, acoustic takes on peace and hope (Vieux Farka Toure’s “Peace,” and Klezmer Juice’s cover of Matisyahu’s “Late Night in Zion”), a beloved spiritual (Kirk Whalum’s interpretation of “Rise Up Shepard and Follow”) and plain-old dance fests (Fishtank Ensemble’s “Papirosen” and Big Sam’s Funky Nation’s “Ain’t Nothing But a Party”).
“Memphis is all about music.” Memphian Penny Aviotti couldn’t have said it better. Graceland, Sun Records, the Stax Museum and the Levitt Shell are all part of the city’s rich musical heritage.
If you take time to walk around Los Angeles, you might find this cat, chicken and ninja mural.
Three weeks ago, Michael Schneider of the blog Franklin Avenue led a group of 300 from Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. It’s 18 miles, a seven-hour walk. To give you a comparable sense of the distance, walking the length of Manhattan is 13.4 miles, and walking along Lake Michigan from Chicago’s downtown Loop to north suburb Evanston is about 13 miles. In other words, it’s pretty far. Continue reading
In case you didn’t know, Levitt Pavilions is based in Los Angeles. While we don’t see snow in the city, many of us are originally from cold weather climates (Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska) or have spent significant time in places that can get very, very cold. So when we see creative placemaking projects that involve snow, we get really excited. OK, I get really excited. I suddenly have an urge to throw a snowball, lick an icicle, grease up a metallic disc sled or watch Home Alone. Continue reading
It’s an early midsummer evening, just cool enough for a light sweater or jacket. You might not bring one at all. After all, the sun doesn’t set until after nine these nights.
There’s a light breeze as you walk over to the park in the center of town. When you arrive, you find the perfect spot for your folding chairs, snacks and good conversation. There’s jazz on tonight—it might be legendary jazz vocalist Barbara Morrison, pianist Yuko Mabuchi or GRAMMY-winning Ernie Watts Quartet. Whatever it is, it’s always great, and it’s always free, the way it has been for the past eleven years.
This is summer for Wilbur Lloyd, Harry James and Marshal James at Levitt Pavilion Pasadena. Continue reading
The 2014 GRAMMY nominations were announced last Friday, and once again, Levitt artists are tops! Continue reading
Yesterday, the world lost one of its greatest inspirations for peace, justice and freedom. Nelson Mandela’s leadership in the struggle against apartheid influenced musicians in South Africa and around the world.
Tom Schnabel of Los Angeles’ public radio station KCRW featured a handful of the songs inspired by Mandela in a Rhythm Planet episode this past summer. Likewise, music played a huge role in Mandela’s life, as an NPR piece from this morning highlighted—listening to Bob Marley’s Exodus on cassette for Mandela and his fellow prisoners was almost like “prayer time.”
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Charleston’s historic district
When I think of Charleston, S.C., I think of Lowcountry shrimp and grits at Martha Lou’s, the exquisitely preserved neoclassical Nathaniel Russell House and the possibility of spotting nearby resident Bill “No One Will Ever Believe You” Murray. But now residents are doing their part to put the city on the map for other reasons: art and the local creative economy.
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