Zoot Velasco, missing his days producing fine concerts under the stars, is returning to his role as producer to present a summer concert series in Downtown Los Angeles to benefit heidi duckler dance and other arts/DTLA charities.
The Bendix Sunset Rooftop Salon will feature Zoot’s favorite folk music groups he presented in years past at the Muckenthaler but in an unplugged concert on the roof of the historic Bendix Building under the giant neon sign. concerts include a cash bar, appetizers, Zoot as emcee, and art from local artists.
Only 50 seats will be sold for each show!
(Second Thursdays at 5:30 p.m., “Unplugged” at Heidi Duckler Dance on the Roof of the Bendix Building)
Proceeds to benefit Heidi Duckler Dance (HDD) and other arts/DTLA charities. Doors open at 5 p.m. Cash bar and light refreshments served. Concert will start promptly at 5:30 p.m.
Trio Ellas
May 9 @ 5:30pm
Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys
June 13 @ 5:30pm
Grupo Falso Baiano
July 11 @ 5:30pm
Miskey Mountain Boys
August 8 @ 5:30pm
More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/2004828109642612/
All proceeds go towards supporting nonprofit organizations in the DTLA area. The Bendix Building is a historic building that attracts a variety of community members.
Music from around the World Lands on The Bendix Rooftop
Imagine DTLA buildings a century ago, new and filled with film producers,
artists, musicians, architects and other creative types. These artists see a show
in one of the dozens of Broadway theatres, shows that they helped produce.
Then they head to an after party—a salon at the Biltmore tea house, California
Club smoking room, or in some architect’s penthouse rooftop. They would
watch the sun set while listening to the best music by session players from
Hollywood. These musicians might play pop songs for the movies and radio,
but in these intimate gatherings they played the music of home. These
immigrants from all over the world creating an artistic life in LA that was
broadcast back to the world from which they came.
It was artist salons like this in Paris, New York and Los Angeles that kept the
creative juices flowing and inspired new works. Salons and communal gathers
were the heart of the Arts & Crafts aesthetic focused not on the bling of the
Victorian era, but on fine craftsmanship from their roots in the old world. To
that end, a group of DTLA artists have decided to bring back the best of the salon experience of a century ago with new energy.
The Bendix Sunset Rooftop Salon takes place Second Thursdays at 5:30 PM,
“Unplugged” at the Heidi Duckler Dance Studio on the penthouse/rooftop deck of the historic Bendix Building. This is a co-production with all net proceeds to benefit Heidi Duckler Dance (HDD) and other DTLA cultural charities. Each month’s program will consist of a world roots music band, spoken word artist and featured visual artist; with bar and light refreshments in the vein of the artist salons of old.
Tickets will be $50 in advance, $60 at the door, with deeply-discounted tickets for the series and guests of the producers. Only 50 tickets will be sold. There will be no comps because of the limited seating.
Come at 5 PM to beat traffic for a little nosh, a drink and to get into the artist vibe before concerts start at 5:30 PM sharp to take advantage of the sunset. The concerts of California’s top roots royalty including Latin-Grammy- nominated mariachi queens, a 1920s-era Jewish vaudeville princess, 1920s- era Brazilian Choro gentry, and the knights of blue grass. All acoustic “living room experiences,” will end when the sun goes down. Events are rain or shine. (If it rains, all move inside the penthouse around the fireplace and it becomes a cozier experience with those who braved the rain.)
All net proceeds go to charity. “I just wanted to showcase my favorite bands,” says producer Zoot Velasco, who left his work producing shows and leading cultural centers last year to take an offer teaching at the university level. He saw Heidi Duckler’s studio on an LA Conservancy tour and knew it would be the best place for a sunset concert. “You can see sunset over Santa Monica from here!”
the Bendix Building is a Beaux-Arts masterpiece at 1206 Maple Ave. It may be familiar to all for its fabulous neon sign tower (the "B" alone is 25 feet tall), the Bendix has ruled over Santee Alley district since 1930, back when it was the HQ of an aviation company, long before it became the globally famous fashion industry destination of today. Heidi Duckler Dance inhabits the penthouse salon area and rooftop.
Heidi Duckler Dance, created in 1985 by its namesake, has presented more than 300 original dance works at unique sites in Australia, Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Montreal, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, and throughout Southern California. Titled “the reigning queen of site-specific performance,” by the L.A. Times.
Emcee and show producer Zoot Velasco, crowned “2018’s Long Beach Greatest Storyteller” will emcee the events and regale you with his award- winning stories about his work as a robot in Hollywood, teaching in state prisons, and dancing with one working leg. There will also be visual art from a featured artist, refreshments for early birds and a cash bar provided by Heidi Duckler Dance who is hosting us in their space. All proceeds go to local DTLA arts charities.
Parking is available in the building for $8.
May 9, 2019: Trio Ellas
June 13, 2019: Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys
July 11, 2019: Grupo Falso Baiano
August 8, 2019 Miskey Mountain Boys
May 9, 2019: Trio Ellas has been making waves with a unique sound that comes from traditional mariachi roots tempered by the melting pot of musical styles and genres that is the LA music scene. The trio's debut album "Con Ustedes" earned them a nomination for a 2012 Latin GRAMMY®. They can switch between recording with artists such as Benjamin Gibbard and Lady GaGa, and live performances with a myriad of top artists ranging from Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan to Mariachi El Bronx. Their magnificent harmonies and mariachi treatments of pop songs and standards puts them in a class of their own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTAMVtorWVo
June 13, 2019: Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys are the living embodiment of the Jazz Age and Vaudeville transported to a new millennium in Los Angeles. They swing with top musicians and songs that are just a wee bit naughty from a time before censorship. Songs like “How could Red Riding Hood be so very good and still keep the wolf from the door?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hSSJVpSYNA http://www.janetklein.com/web/linksframeset.htm
July 11, 2019: Grupo Falso Biaino, based in San Francisco, highlights Brazil’s earliest popular music, similar to jazz, reflecting the melding of African rhythms with a melodic and harmonic structure closely resembling Baroque Classical music. We are excited to have them play our rooftop on their Southern tour!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YAZoOEJV_M
August 8, 2019: The Miskey Mountain Boys is a new group made of veterans of the West’s greatest bluegrass idols. They first got together as “Billy and the Hillbillies” performing regularly at the world’s most famous theme park’s frontier-themed saloon. A fan favorite they include Mandolin Virtuoso Evan Marshall and his brother John on bass doing a mind-bending rendition of William Tell Overture in duo-style. You won’t want to miss this reunion of some of the greatest blue grass musicians to ever roam the West.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-2RDjFWhCA
Contact the Organizer Contact the Organizer2 available packages from US$500
https://www.sponsormyevent.com/bendix-sunset-rooftop-salons-los-angeles
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