Hemet High to Open Playboy Jazz Festival; Benefit Program Begins With Jazz for Kids

The Hemet High School Jazz Band, winner of the Western States Jazz Festival, kicks off the 11th annual Playboy Jazz Festival, held this Saturday and Sunday at Hollywood Bowl. On Saturday’s schedule--in order of appearance--beginning at 2:30 p.m. (and changing approximately on the hour thereafter), are Hemet High; pianist Michel Camilo; vibist Terry Gibbs’ Dream Band; bassist Stanley Clarke and keyboardist George Duke; Latin/pop sounds from Ruben Blades y Son Del Solar; guitarist Larry Carlton; mainstream trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; jazz/funk saxman Grover Washington, Jr.; and the diverse Buckwheat Zydeco.

Performing on Sunday, beginning at 2 p.m., are the Mel Brown Sextet (winner of the Hennessy Cognac Jazz Search); contemporary saxman Michael Brecker; hard-bop drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers; singer Dianne Schuur; straight-ahead pianist Dave Brubeck; jazz/rockers Spyro Gyra; a cappella vocal group Take 6; guitarist George Benson with pianist McCoy Tyner’s trio; and Illinois Jacquet’s New York-based big band.

Information: (213) 450-9040.

JAZZ FOR JUNIORS: Youngsters ages 5-13 will get an hourlong jazz concert of their own when pianists Steve Allen, Pete Jolly, Paul Smith and Mark Massey get together Saturday at 3 p.m. at the La Mirada Civic Theatre. The pianists will perform at the theater that evening in a joint benefit for the Children’s Museum at La Habra and the youth programs of the La Mirada Civic Theatre.

“Since entertainers always have a rehearsal, we asked the musicians to open it up and make it a performance for children, and they said they’d love to do it,” said Marcia Giesler, director of development for the museum, a hands-on facility that serves more than 100,000 youths from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties a year.

The children’s concert is free, but tickets--available on a first-come, first-served basis--must be obtained in advance, either in person at the La Mirada Civic Theatre box office, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, or by writing to the theater. Giesler stressed that this is a children’s concert and that only one adult for every four children will be admitted.

The 12-year-old museum--whose purpose, Giesler said, “is to make the world a little less intimidating for children”--is undergoing a building expansion project and its directors plan to spend the evening concert’s proceeds on the construction of a new wing. Information: (213) 905-9793, 944-9801.

NORTHWARD BOUND: Several Angelenos--pianist Horace Tapscott and drummer Peter Erskine among them--are part of the lineup for the Du Maurier Ltd. International Jazz Festival Vancouver, to be held June 23-July 2 in various locations around Vancouver, B.C. Other artists on the schedule include the Sun Ra Arkestra, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams, Flora Purim and Airto, John Scofield, Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, the Renee Rosnes-Phil Dwyer Quartet, Jon Faddis and Craig Harris and Tailgator Tales. Numerous Canadian bands will also be featured.

Information: (604) 682-0706, 280-3311.