Marking twenty-five extraordinary years, this milestone season of Sunset Concerts once again brings an eclectic lineup of path-makers and bridge-builders from around the world to Los Angeles for concerts under the stars at the SkirballCultural Center. Arrive early to eat, drink, shop and celebrate music’s unique power to bring people together and forge cultural bonds. Visitors will also enjoy complimentary access to the exhibitions.
Thursday, August 4, at 8:00 PM
Through klezmer melodies and Hebrew refrains, the boundary-pushing bluegrass Americana band Nefesh Mountain shares the beauty of Jewish culture with the world. Their most recent album, Songs for the Sparrows, was inspired by a life-changing trip to Poland and Ukraine, where band leaders Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg’s families emigrated from. Exploring a range of experiences from an Eastern European Jewish perspective, Nefesh Mountain uses music to tell stories of humanity with what has been called “old soul wisdom.”
Thursday, August 11, at 8:00 PM
Groundbreaking soul and R&B artist Booker T. Jones occupies an important place in the history of American music. At age seventeen, he fronted the seminal Memphis soul band Booker T. and the M.G.’s—a rare integrated group of musicians that served as the house band for Stax Records, working with the likes of Otis Redding, Bill Withers, and Wilson Pickett. Join Jones through a “Stax Revue” of iconic songs that illuminate an extraordinary career spanning nearly sixty years.
“One of the legends of soul music.”—New Yorker
Thursday, August 18, at 8:00 PM
Stunning audiences with their “candy-colored costumes and bouncy, upbeat, often swinging songs” (New York Times), South Korea–based ensemble ADG7 connects shamanic ritual music and beloved folk songs of the Hwanghae region to the contemporary sounds and influences of pop.
As part of this very special evening, the Skirball is pleased to welcome the KoreanCultural Center, Los Angeles, along with Skirball exhibiting artist Aram Han Sifuentes, who will perform with the Korean American drumming group Woori Sori.
“WOW … A most astonishing show musically and immensely entertaining.”
—NPR Music
Thursday, August 25, at 8:00 PM
Founding Son Rompe Pera members Kacho, Kilos, and Mongo Gama add their own grunge and rock sensibility to the marimba they first played alongside their father while growing up in the deep outskirts of Mexico City.
While firmly rooted in the tradition of this historic instrument, the Gama siblings bring a punk-rock edge to classic cumbia rhythms. “Cumbia is like punk,” Mongo Gama explains. “It’s barrio, it’s of the working class, it’s of the people who have dreams.”
“Mexico’s finest psychobilly marimberos”—Remezcla
All concerts are free, but advance reservations are recommended. For more information and tickets please visit: skirball.org