A Full Schedule of Music From the Giants of the Genre

Southland fans of jazz and world music are being offered a cornucopia of major name events as the fall season begins, with Wynton Marsalis, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett among the figures whose music--live or in retrospective tributes--will be heard prominently during the next few months.

“All Stand,” Marsalis’ epic composition for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and chorus, received its West Coast premiere at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday and was recorded by the same ensembles a few days later.

Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra visit again in late September, making stops at UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 25), the Cerritos Performing Arts Center (Sept. 27) and the Wilshire Theatre (Sept. 28) in a different mode, celebrating the big-band era with the program “United in Swing.”

The 75th anniversary of Coltrane’s birth will be acknowledged with a particularly poignant tribute Sept. 29 at the Beverly Hilton, in a concert that features the legendary saxophonist’s widow, pianist Alice Coltrane, and several of his gifted offspring. His son, Ravi Coltrane, born two years before his father’s death in 1967, will lead a group at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood Sept. 25-30.

Coltrane and Davis, his frequent musical partner (who would have been 75 in May), will be the focus of yet another celebration at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 14 in a program featuring former Davis sideman Herbie Hancock, with Michel Brecker and Roy Hargrove. And the ever-popular Jarrett (also a veteran of Davis’ bands) performs with his trio Oct. 26 in a rare jazz event at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

On the festival front, the new Verizon Music Festival makes its debut in locations around Los Angeles Sept. 28-Oct. 2. Highlights include the eighth annual Hollywood Salsa & Latin Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl (Sept. 29); a free all-star event at Pasadena’s Central Park (Sept. 30) featuring Joshua Redman, David Clayton Thomas and Me’Shell Ndegeocello; a dance collaboration between McCoy Tyner and the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, with special guest Jane Monheit (Oct. 2); and another free California Plaza event starring Brazilian Daniela Mercury and Cameroonian singer-bassist Richard Bona.

The UCLA Performing Arts center kicks off its first UCLA Live season with what can best be described as the unusual pairing of Elvis Costello and the Charles Mingus Orchestra (Sept. 28).

But the far less visible arts program at Cal State Northridge offers guaranteed winners in early season performances by the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band (Oct. 4) and the Dave Holland quintet (Oct. 8). And the San Francisco Jazz Festival (Oct. 24-Nov. 4), as always, has something for virtually every jazz taste.

On the world-music front, a few of the don’t-miss events: “Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms,” a colorful evening of Middle Eastern music at the Greek Theatre on Sept. 29, features rai king Cheb Khaled and Egyptian shabi artist Hakim. There’s also a three-night Eddie Palmieri career retrospective at the Conga Room, Oct. 10-12, as well as a rare appearance by Portugal’s Dulce Ponte (Oct. 6) and the diverse sounds of the World Voices Festival--Stimmen (Nov. 4), both at UCLA’s Royce Hall.