IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orange County Great Park came
alive tonight with good time rock and roll and surf ballads sung by the
popular 70s Orange County rock band HONK. More than 2,000 people got into the
groove with HONK at the first ever Night Flight Saturday evening concert. Now
through September 27th, southern Californians can look forward to Night
Flights at the Great Park -- a series of Friday night dance parties and
Saturday evening concerts.
Next Friday, August 8th, the Great Park Night Flight dance party lifts off
with rhythm and blues band Derek Bordeaux. On Saturday, August 9th, the Great
Park goes Bollywood with a performance from the JAIPUR KAWA BRASS BAND. Music
and dance lovers can enjoy performances from virtually anywhere on the
festival grounds, the Hangar Cafe, picnic lawn or even aloft in the Great Park
Balloon.
"It's wonderful to see so many southern Californians enjoying their
Saturday Night in the Great Park," said Larry Agran, Chair, Orange County
Great Park Board Corporation. "We look forward to an amazing summer of free
music and dance performances and encourage everyone to experience all the
Great Park has to offer."
Great Park Night Flight enthusiasts were also entertained by The Flight
Crew, the Orange County Great Park Summer's resident performance troupe
comprising Orange County based singers, story tellers, dancers and acrobats.
The Flight Crew took vacation or scene suggestions from the audience and acted
out the suggestion through a non-rehearsed improvisation and story. They sang
a capella to "Come Fly with Me," "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Fly Me to the
Moon." They transformed themselves as living sculpture wearing lycra costumed
shapes that moved throughout the Park.
The Hangar Cafe featured light meals and drinks. Inside the Hangar Cafe is
an extraordinary photography exhibition by the Legacy Project, six Orange
County professional photographers who have been documenting the transition of
El Toro Marine Air Station into the Great Park.
The Great Summer 2008 Night Flights schedule:
NIGHT FLIGHTS 2008
JAIPUR KAWA BRASS BAND -- Aug. 9
Marching band, party band, Bollywood wedding band -- the newest craze in
world music
When the English brought their traditional brass bands to India in the
1700s they probably didn't foresee the wildly creative mixing and morphing of
musical forms that was going to take place, as the brass band found its way
from military parade grounds to religious festivals, wedding parties,
political rallies and sports arenas. Today, in the escape-velocity hands of
percussionist Hameed Khan Kawa (of worldpop music label Musafir) and his seven
musicians, the result is an intoxicating blend of traditional Rajasthani
rhythms, timeless brass band melodies, Bollywood film songs set to trombone
and tabla -- there is no limit to their musical imagination and riotous
energy. Don't miss them on the final performance of their US debut tour.
More: http://www.artways.com/
VAGABOND OPERA -- Aug. 16
From Pink Martini's Portland comes edgy cabaret theatre, cribbing from
Dietrich and Piaf, Kurt Weill and klezmer
With the very theatrical sensibility of Paris cabaret and English music
hall, this six-piece music ensemble blends voices, accordion, tenor and alto
saxophones, cello, stand-up bass, drums ... "and, when the mood is right, a
burlesque hoola-hooping fire performer." From Portland, Oregon -- home to Pink
Martini and home to an astonishing level of creativity in recent years --
Vagabond Opera has created a place where "alienated classicists and romantic
bohemians, Gypsy music, opera, klezmer and cabaret come-ons mingle like
emigres trading aliases at an after-hours club. It's highly cultured, with a
guttersnipe's knowing sneer" (Willamette Weekly). If this is your kind of
crowd, then Vagabond Opera is for you. More: http://vagabondopera.com/
HAPA -- Aug. 23
Award-winning contemporary Hawaiian music and hula
Beauty, serenity, otherworldly calm -- HAPA's music is the sound of peace
and harmony. Rooted in the island culture of Hawaii, HAPA's pan-Polynesian
music borrows from the strummed ballads of Portuguese fisherman, the songs of
Spanish cowboys, the harmonies of the traditional church choirs of the early
missionaries and contemporary acoustic folk-rock music. HAPA's self titled
debut cd released in 1993, swept the 1994 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (Hawaii's
equivalent of the Grammys), becoming the biggest selling CD by a group or duo
in the history of recorded Hawaiian music. Could there be a more perfect band
for a warm evening under the stars, this summer at the Great Park? More:
http://www.hapa.com
TBA -- Aug 30
EILEEN IVERS AND IMMIGRANT SOUL -- Sept. 6
Nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion and her all-Irish American band
Former Riverdancer and nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion Eileen Ivers
heads a band of drums, guitar, bass and keyboards plus a three-time
All-Ireland accordion champion. All are American-born musicians who grew up in
Irish immigrant communities; the drummer is also an accomplished blues singer.
"Ivers' presentation was music with the kind of life and spirit that come
together when talented artists from different backgrounds find the linkages
that connect all forms of music -- no wonder the audience loved every minute."
-- Los Angeles Times More: http://www.eileenivers.com
QUETZAL -- Sept. 13
Chicano folk-rock, heirs to the legacy of Los Lobos
Dynamic vocals of Martha Gonzalez and Cesar Castro are the heart of this
much-loved Los Angeles band, blossoming into a big sound with guitars,
keyboards, percussion plus the traditional folk rhythms of requinto, congas
and cajon. Don't miss the opportunity to see Quetzal before their impending
move to Seattle later this year -- and celebrate Mexican Independence Day a
few days early. More: http://www.myspace.com/quetzal
YAELISA and CAMINOS FLAMENCOS -- Sept. 20
Classic Spanish flamenco music and dance
Emmy Award-winning dancer and choreographer Yaelisa, the company's
artistic director, is among the top flamenco artists in the nation. She's even
conquered flamenco's native Spain, where she was one of 11 choreographers (and
the only American) invited to present her work at the prestigious Certamen de
Corografia in Madrid. Her approach to flamenco is that of the purest flamenco
traditions from Spain: she seamlessly blends the music and dance while weaving
improvisation into the mix, and allowing each voice its own time and space.
Yaelisa is best known locally as the artistic director of Irvine Barclay
Theatre's annual New World Flamenco Festival. Press kit online:
http://www.caminosflamencos.com/
EDGAR MEYER and CHRIS THILE -- Sept. 27
Blistering bluegrass and classical crossover
Double bass master musician Edgar Meyer has an active career as both a
performer and a composer -- it's tough to name a double bass player of even
half Meyer's tremendous influence and creativity. First coming to national
attention with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor in Appalachia Waltz, he is equally
at home in Nashville's top studios, on the festival circuit and in the world's
finest concert halls. He is appreciated by a vast and varied audience. His
uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002.
Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of
his generation, 26-year-old phenom Chris Thile has changed the mandolin
forever, elevating it from its origins as a relatively simple folk and
bluegrass instrument to the sophistication and brilliance of the finest jazz
improvisation and classical performance. For more than 15 years, Thile played
in the wildly popular band Nickel Creek; more recently he's been the musical
maverick behind the critically acclaimed Punch Brothers. Separately, Edgar
Meyer and Chris Thile have earned a shelf full of Grammy Awards; together,
they bring a wealth of inspiration to their newest project: an album of their
own compositions and a tour of key performing arts venues and summer festival.
Certain to be a bone fide "shred-fest."
FRIDAY NIGHT DANCE PARTIES
Derek Bordeaux -- Aug. 8
Rhythm & blues band covers Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, all the greats
http://www.derekbordeaux.com/
Mike McCaffrey Trio -- Aug. 15
Piano/vocal trio does Sinatra and Nat King Cole
Johnny Polanco y Conjunto Armistad -- Aug. 22
LA's best salsa band -- horns, vibes, vocals, everything
http://www.johnnypolanco.net/
Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys -- Aug. 29
Roots, rockabilly and Western swing
http://www.bigsandy.net
Eve Selis -- Sept. 5
Queen of the roadhouse rockers
http://eveselis.com/
Los Pinguos -- Sept. 12
Winners on Ed McMahon's "The Next Big Star", contemporary Latin music from
Buenos Aires http://www.lospinguos.com
TBA -- Sept 19
Pete Jacobs and His Wartime Radio Revue -- Sept. 26
the sounds of WW2 from Benny Goodman to the Andrews Sisters
http://www.wartimeradio.com
The Orange County Great Park, which is almost twice the size of New York
City's Central Park, will be a major metropolitan park and the focal point of
the redevelopment of the 4,700-acre former Marine Corps Air Station at El
Toro. The Great Park will include extensive natural areas and open space in
addition to recreational and cultural uses.
For more information, please go to www.ocgp.org.
SOURCE Orange County Great Park
Marsha Burgess, +1-949-724-7404, for Orange County Great Park
