Jazz

The last quarter century has seen the passing of a host of jazz innovators and the rise of repertory bands dedicated to their music. The trend is reflected by this season’s most important concerts, beginning at the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 16 with the Mingus Big Band (playing the music of rabble-rousing bassist Charles Mingus), Paquito D’Rivera & the United Nations Orchestra (founded by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie) and the Legacy of Art Blakey band, a gathering of veterans of the late Blakey’s groundbreaking Jazz Messengers.

Other repertory events include the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra appearance at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center on Oct. 2, and pianist Marcus Roberts’ trio in “Cole After Midnight,” a tribute to Nat “King” Cole, at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre Oct. 3. Also on Oct. 3, singer Dee Dee Bridgewater presents a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The “Jazz Legends Day” on Oct. 4, the second day of the Jazz at Drew festival held at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, features such living legends as trumpeters Harry “Sweets” Edison, Art Farmer and Jon Faddis, saxophonist Teddy Edwards, composer-bandleader Gerald Wilson and others. Pianist and composer Horace Silver will be honored (among others) by the Los Angeles Jazz Society in a gala concert at the Biltmore Bowl on Oct. 25.

Looking for practicing jazz legends and the next generation? Check out the Jazz Bakery, where drummer Leon Parker appears Sept. 14, guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Dave Holland team Sept. 22-23 (Hall returns with his trio Oct. 27-Nov. 1) and McCoy Tyner plays Sept. 30-Oct. 4. Sax sensation James Carter blows into Catalina Bar & Grill Sept. 15-20; bass master Christian McBride is there Sept. 22-27.

Finally, to get a feel for our city’s jazz community there’s no better event than the free Liemert Park Jazz Festival in the Crenshaw neighborhood Sept. 12-13. Distinguished visitors? Brazilian Ivan Lins and Cuban Chucho Valdes split the bill at UCLA’s Royce Hall Oct. 29.