Bobby McFerrin

Give or take a couple hundredths of a percent, about 97.7526% of the world’s ears were introduced for better or worse to Bobby McFerrin by way of his unlikely 1988 No. 1 poptart Don’t Worry, Be Happy. But thankfully my pair met the a capella fella two years earlier when I went to see the 1986 film ‘Round Midnight, albeit unknowingly. I say unknowingly because Herbie Hancock’s version of the movie’s title track featured what my wondrous ears thought was an awesome trumpeter named Bobby McFerrin, and subsequent plays of the cut on LA’s then-jazz station KKGO made me go out and by the album. It was only when surveying its liner notes, which listed McFerrin as a vocalist, that it dawned on me that Bobby played himself and not a piece of brass. Blown away, I immediately went out and bought his 1984 album The Voice, an amaaaaaazing solo jazz vocal recorded with no accompaniment or overdubbing. To date I have listened to it 867 times.

But back around its 91st spin on my turntable in the summer of 1987 I luckily stumbled on the information that McFerrin was to be part of an upcoming night of jazz at the Hollywood Bowl, along with Sarah Vaughn and Modern Jazz Quartet, and I scraped the money together for cheap seats for me and my then-fiancee to be present.

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4th of July 2007 by Jodi

We are giving away tickets to the Hollywood Bowl’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular!

This year’s extravaganza features America’s favorite blue-eyed soul duo, Daryl Hall & John Oates, performing with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by Principle Guest Conductor Thomas Wilkins (he’s wonderful!)

The evening will be capped off by the always impressive Hollywood Bowl fireworks. I’ve been to many, many fireworks shows at the Bowl and have been amazed and delighted every time. Every Angeleno should experience it at least once!

Leave a comment below and you might be the lucky reader chosen to win a pair of tickets to this year’s Hollywood Bowl 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular!

Congrats Edgar Ybarra! I hope you enjoy the show! It should be fantastic!

Click to embiginate and see the Hollywood sign in the distance.

The Hollywood Bowl is certainly one of L.A.’s Greatest Landmarks. Opened on July 11, 1922, for the past 88 years the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as hosting countless music festivals, concerts, and cultural events.

Just a few blocks north of a more recent L.A. landmark, Hollywood & Highland, the Hollywood Bowl is built on the hillside of Bolton Canyon in one of the world’s largest natural amphitheaters. Just a few blocks from the heart of Hollywood, yet when you enter the Bowl it’s like leaving that other world behind. The noise of the nearby 101 freeway fades as you sit outdoors in the waning light of a warm summer evening. Sitting in one of the Bowl’s nearly 18,000 seats, you face the majestic white band shell, and beyond that the gentle rolling Hollywood hills with the Hollywood sign on the far ridge. Regardless of the evening’s scheduled performance, there is a certain serenity in that setting.

Satellite photo of Hollywood Bowl courtesy of USGS.

There is something for everyone at the Hollywood Bowl. While it is the summer home of the L.A. Phil and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, it’s not all classical. Wednesday nights during the summer typically feature jazz, Sundays are often world music, and that’s just the beginning. There are latin music festivals, showtune sing-alongs, movie music nights, and rock concerts. Next weekend John Williams will be conducting the L.A. Phil in highlights from the Golden Age of Hollywood, plus music he composed for films such as Star Wars, Jaws and Indiana Jones.

The list of legendary performances at the Hollywood Bowl is incredible. The Beatles played there on their first ever American tour in 1964. The Doors recorded a live album there in 1968. Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald performed on the Hollywood Bowl stage, as well as Billie Holiday, Al Jolson and Judy Garland. Mikhail Baryshnikov and Fred Astaire both danced there, and Abbot & Costello and Monty Python have performed comedy. The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Run DMC, Pink Floyd, Simon & Garfunkle, The Grateful Dead, Coldplay, Luciano Pavarotti, Depeche Mode, Cher…the list goes on and on. And on.

Click to make larger and more spectacular.

The Hollywood Bowl has also been featured in many films, including A Star Is Born (1937,) Anchors Aweigh (1945,) Xanadu (1980,) Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987,) and Escape From L.A. (1996.) There is even a parody of the Bowl seen in the Simpsons called “The Springfield Bowl.”

I’ve been a regular at the Hollywood Bowl every summer for more than 20 years. Nothing beats sitting out under the stars with a picnic and a bottle of wine and a great performance unfolding on the stage in front of you.

I’ve got more favorite shows and tips than will fit here, but for starters, one of my favorite shows (among many favorites) must be my very first concert there. Elton John, in 1982. I also saw Miles Davis‘ last show ever (he passed away a month later) in 1991. One of many pro tips? Park down the hill at Hollywood & Highland and walk up. It’s a short hike, but it’s not stack parked and with a HiHo validation it’s only $2 for the first four hours (as opposed to $16 in Bowl parking lots.)

Anyone who has been to the Bowl more than once or twice has a favorite feature or a tip to improve the experience. What are yours? Leave a note in the comments section below with your favorite thing about the Bowl, best show you’ve seen there, or your best Hollywood Bowl tip.

This post is part of the L.A.’s Greatest Landmarks series on blogging.la. You can find all of the posts in the series here.

I read what I considered to be merely a rumor last night, that film composer Ennio Morricone’s Hollywood Bowl show this coming Sunday, October 25th had been cancelled or postponed. Today, multiple sources, including the Bowl’s site, confirm that there will be no performance and it has not been rescheduled.

According to the L.A. Times blog, “the concert was supposed to include excerpts from his scores to the movies The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Untouchables, Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, Once Upon a Time in the West,  A Fistful of Dollars, and others.” The Cinema Paradiso score to be incredible and worth the price of admission alone. I’m bummed to be missing out on seeing a conductor lead an orchestra playing his or her original piece, which is always amazing.

It’s unknown why the show is not going on. Refunds are available, according to the Hollywood Bowl, “at point of purchase.” Of course, if you go to Ticketmaster, you learn that they are not obligated to return your money, so we are currently in limbo. Luckily, we bought cheap seats for this one.

Updated 10/23/09: We received an email from Ticketmaster. They will refund the base ticket price and service charges. However, they will keep the $4+ processing fee. Bastards.

[UPDATE:] As a result of this post, I had a spirited conversation with Sophie Jefferies from the press office at LA Phil that touched on new technology’s impact  and the challenges it presents in a public setting; as well as the attending etiquette and social participation insofar as attending outdoor concerts at the Bowl is concerned. She had a quibble with me using the word “prohibited” when the Bowl site says cell phones “may not be operated.”

We both agreed that consideration for others is essential in the uncharted territory we find ourselves in as technology advances. “For some people, their cell phones are a part of enjoying a performance, especially for younger crowds. It doesn’t seem to happen at classical concerts.”

She made some good points about different types of music drawing different crowds with different expectations; said the language on the site about cell phones and pagers needed to be updated (“People don’t really use pagers anymore, do they?”); seemed to think the provisions on the back of the ticket more accurately explained the venue rules (They’re actually stricter and threaten expulsion.); and told me that at the Incubus concert the next night you were the exception if you weren’t using a cell phone in some way during the performance.

One more thing– the other acts on the bill on Sunday evening were Blitzer Trappen and the super charming and totally amazing Jenny Lewis.

From the Hollywood Bowl site:

Turn off any pagers, watch signals, or other electronic devices. Note: Cellular telephones, pagers, cameras, laser pointing devices and recording devices may not be operated in the theater.

For me and probably others, cell phone use at Hollywood Bowl is ruining performances and up to this point nothing is being done about it. I went to the Ray LaMontagne/LA Phil  show on Sunday (LA Phil produces most of the summer concerts) and people were using their cell phones for texting and video recording so much it was impossible to enjoy the show.

At the beginning of the performance Anne Litt from KCRW, a co-producer of many Bowl shows, made an announcement asking people “to secure their open bottles and electronic devices” but she did NOT say that using cell phones is PROHIBITED at the Bowl, cell phones “may not be operated” as it states on their web site.

Six of the eight people in the row directly in front of me (in section K2) were texting, snapping  photos, recording video and talking on their phones DURING THE PERFORMANCES and I could see it happening throughout the audience in front of me. I did not see any usher telling people to stop. Read the rest of this entry →

A nation in the midst of The Great Depression paused. Picked itself up. And dressed in its Sunday best to reflect on family and faith.

It was Easter in the Hollywood Bowl. The year was 1930.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library