When one thinks of L.A. music history, you might think of rock, surf music, hip-hop, the singer-songwriter scene, heavy metal. But beloved Westside jazz spot Sam First wants to remind people L.A. also has a strong jazz tradition.
On Saturday, Sam First is celebrating during the “It Takes a Village” benefit at the Village Studios in Santa Monica. The event will be honoring Sam First’s founder, vocalist Ruth Price, who is the current president and artistic director of the Jazz Bakery, along with L.A. native, Grammy-winning jazz pianist and composer Billy Childs.
The event begins at 6 p.m. and will see A-list jazz musicians such as Gerald Clayton, Daniel Rotem, Sasha Berliner, Adam Hersh and many others playing in four different rooms and studios throughout the night.
“The fact that this evening will honor Billy Childs and me in tandem means all the world to me. If I were still able to sing (and I most heartily wish I were), I would be working Sam First, and it really bums me out that I didn’t take the opportunity to sing with Billy rather than just present him,” Price told The Times. “The fact that this evening will represent the support of two nonprofits — the Jazz Bakery and Sam First — is a great example of what mutual good taste and collaboration can achieve.”
Childs echoes Price’s sentiment of what an honor this represents. “It is profoundly gratifying to be recognized this way by the Los Angeles jazz community. The feeling of an entire community letting you know that you make a difference as an artist is something that I deeply appreciate and do not take for granted. I want to thank Sam First from the bottom of my heart for extending this gift of recognition to me and Ruth Price.”
To Sam First’s David Robaire, who has been with the venue for its entire eight-year run and now serves as executive director of the 501(c)(3) and books the venue, Price and Childs were a natural pair to honor given their considerable influence on L.A. jazz.
“L.A. Jazz is what it is largely because of what she was able to present over the years,” he says of Price and the Jazz Bakery. “Therefore, what we’re doing is absolutely directly influenced by everything that she has done and still does.”
As for Childs, Robaire has countless memories of being inspired and influenced by him.
“We had Billy Childs with his quartet that they came and did two nights before going into the studio to record the album that won all those Grammys last year. So, it was Scott Colley, Brian Blade and Ambrose Akinmusire. It was absolutely incredible, just ridiculously memorable nights. For me, for a lot of reasons, it really hit home, largely due to the fact that I used to see him present that music at the Jazz Bakery decades ago.”
For Robaire, those memories tie Price and Childs together. “I had really memorable experiences at the Jazz Bakery when I was growing up, but especially with that particular group because I was getting really into players like Brian Blade and Scott Colley. Getting the opportunity to see them come to L.A. for several days, work out this really complicated music, then go into the studio and make a record of it that I could go listen to a hundred times over and over again. That was super inspirational, but it later developed into other relationships with Billy. I got to play in Billy’s band; I studied with Billy when I was in the Monk Institute program. My connections with Ruth over the years stayed also. We got to the Billy and Ruth thing independently, but then of course we honor them together. That makes perfect sense.”
For everyone involved, the most important thing is not the individual accolades but serving the music and musicians they all love.
“I feel it is very important that Sam First sponsor these types of events. Los Angeles has a very vibrant and growing jazz scene with many people who are either natives or transplants from other cities. There are world-class professionals as well as up-and-coming musicians, whether they are students or just starting out on their music careers. In a country where art, science and journalism is constantly under attack, it is extremely important that established institutions step up and support artists. That is what I feel Sam First is doing by having this event,” Childs says.
Robaire says that’s the point. “In the jazz and in the classical worlds, especially, there have always been these people who have helped foster the musicians along. The people who were really tight with [Thelonious] Monk and all these great jazz musicians who gave them a place to practice when they didn’t have a place to play or gave them a place to stay when they didn’t have a place to stay. A lot of musicians would not have the careers that they have, had it not been for somebody who deeply believed in what they were doing and helped carve that path.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
