On Friday afternoon, August 2, we headed from Angel City Press at the beach to downtown L.A. for a performance related to our new book Songs in the Key of Los Angeles. We brought a picnic and got there early, as did a thousand or so other people. The sound-check vibe was good, and the crowd was happy.
We anticipated a terrific show: Ozomatli, with La Santa Cecilia, I See Hawks in L.A., Ceci Bastida, Petrojvic Blasting Company -- and icing on the cake via special guests Jackson Browne and Cheech Marin. It was a groove. And author Josh Kun alternated between providing just the right history/context and beaming like a proud daddy/kid in a candy store as the music washed over the crowd.
So great. Then it got amazing when surprise guest Stevie Wonder came onstage. Watch a bit of YouTube video here; Wonder segues into "La Bamba" at 10:15 -- wow! Then the entire troupe joined him and ended with the new lyrics "Stand on peace...not your ground."
Thank you, one and all. The evening was the souvenir of a lifetime.
//Scott for ACP
P.S. Needless to say, the show was critically well received (see Christine Ziemba in LAist, Randall Roberts in the Los Angeles Times).
[7-Aug-2013]