The Hunt for True Innovation

It’s going to be a summer of seek and ye shall find for Southland fans of jazz and world music in search of something beyond the tried and true. Innovative major events are in short supply, in part because of unimaginative programming at the Hollywood Bowl, and a general paucity of jazz and world music bookings at venues such as the Universal Amphitheatre and the Greek Theatre.

This means that for anyone loath to revisit the same big-name headliners--Tony Bennett? again?--it’s going to take some effort. But there’s still plenty of fine music, often presented via low-on-the-horizon programs offering new and fascinating talent.

My favorite destination to explore those possibilities has always been the California Plaza, where Grand Performances produces an delectable menu of musical events each summer in one of the Southland’s most attractive settings. This year I’ll be sitting by the Watercourt to hear a pair of programs by a particularly intriguing pair of female vocal artists: Ethiopian singer Gigi, whose rhythmically underscored storytelling will be showcased on Aug. 10; and Lizz Wright, a highly touted new gospel-tinged jazz vocalist--just signed by Verve Records--who makes her Los Angeles debut on July 19 and 20.

Why is it that acts such as these surface so often at Grand Performances instead of larger venues? In part, because larger venues have to book acts that can draw sizable audiences. But the Bowl, the Greek and other venues could use opening-act slots for more creative bookings.

To their credit, the Bowl’s world music programmers have done precisely that on a few programs, including the July 13 bill of R&B; singer Lauryn Hill with South Africa’s Mahotella Queens and Portugal’s brilliant fado artist Mariza. Brazilian star Monica Salmaso with the legendary Gal Costa on Sept. 8 is likewise a smart pairing. We’d all be better off if that sort of musical thinking spread.