Listen to Music Outside at Sunset in Downtown LA (presented by Leaving Records, dublab, and Grand Performances) celebrates a local success story of public art made accessible by and for Los Angeles through dedicated collaboration between the city and its artist residents. Featuring live performances by Laraaji & Arji OceAnanda, Low Leaf, and Sharada Shashidhar, this program celebrates the radiant inspiration that Listen to Music is founded on and guided by, as well as the forward looking artists who espouse its boundary defying and multi-generational approach to the development of an all genre ethos of unity and transcendence through music.
Bring a picnic and gather with friends and family to enjoy the sounds of this vibrant musical ecosystem.
Schedule
6:00pm – Bae Bae
7:00pm – Low Leaf
7:45pm – Bae Bae
8:00pm – Sharada Shashidhar
8:45pm – Bae Bae
9:00pm - Laraaji & Arji OceAnanda
Free w/ RSVP on Eventbrite
LOCATION, PARKING & FAQ click here
Founded on principles of nourishing community through access to public art, Listen to Music Outside in the Daylight Under a Tree is a monthly, all-ages, solar-powered, outdoor concert series by Leaving Records, the prolific LA-based record label dedicated to supporting independent and experimental musicians. These volunteer-produced and donation-supported gatherings are invested in our public parks, our environment, and our local arts ecosystem.
With a similar emphasis on nurturing community, dublab is a Los Angeles-based, community-supported internet radio station and creative collective dedicated to the growth of positive music, arts, and culture. In their community-owned-and-oriented approaches to radio and event programming, dublab and Leaving Records enjoy a particular synergy with Grand Performances’ mission to inspire community, celebrate diversity, and unite Los Angeles by connecting through art, music, and culture.
Together, on August 10, we are excited to Listen to Music Outside at Sunset in Downtown LA, featuring live performances by Laraaji & Arji OceAnanda, Low Leaf, and Sharada Shashidhar. This program celebrates the radiant inspiration that Listen to Music is founded on and guided by, as well as the forward looking artists who espouse its boundary defying and multi-generational approach to the development of an all genre ethos of unity and transcendence through music. Bring a picnic and gather with friends and family to enjoy the sounds of this vibrant musical ecosystem.
Featured Artists:
Laraaji & Arji OceAnanda
Laraaji is a visionary musician, composer, and mystic who has enchanted audiences worldwide with his ethereal and transformative performances. Born Edward Larry Gordon, he emerged as a pioneering figure in ambient and new age music. With a unique blend of celestial sounds, he has been hailed as a master of the hammered dulcimer and zither. Laraaji's music transcends conventional boundaries, seamlessly merging ambient textures with cosmic vibrations, creating an immersive and deeply introspective sonic journey.
Throughout his illustrious career, Laraaji has released a vast discography of albums, each one a sonic odyssey that guides listeners to meditative realms and elevates their consciousness. His works evoke a sense of profound peace, offering a meditative sanctuary in our fast-paced world. A true luminary, Laraaji's performances are more than concerts; they are transformative experiences that resonate with the soul.
Arji OceAnanda is a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and composer, whose musical artistry spans a wide spectrum of genres, blending elements of world, jazz, and ambient music. Rooted in a deep spiritual connection to sound, Arji's compositions evoke a sense of unity and harmony, taking audiences on a sonic pilgrimage that traverses cultures and landscapes. Arji creates a rich tapestry of sound that invites listeners to explore the boundless realms of their imagination.
Arji OceAnanda's musical journey is a testament to her innate ability to channel emotion through sound, creating music that is both contemplative and invigorating. With a captivating stage presence and an intuitive approach to improvisation, her collaborations with diverse artists have garnered praise and admiration from enthusiasts worldwide.
Low Leaf
Low Leaf is the long-running and multivalent project of Los Angeleno and multi-instrumentalist Angelica-Marie. Riding the wake of 2023’s Microdose—melding/channeling free jazz, astrology, hip-hop, eco-spirituality, and geo-political anger—Red Moon (out May 24th 2024 on Leaving Records) is a tight, three-song release, a snapshot of Low Leaf during an especially dynamic period.
Having received training in classical piano as a child, Low Leaf is equally adept as a self-taught guitarist, harpist, and producer. With the exception of the guitar, these four elements—their balance, fusion, and occasional clashings—constitute the project’s essential ingredients, as Low Leaf and her bind wind through a live rendition of Alice Coltrane’s “Blue Nile” into original music that reflects her insistence on using her creative gifts as an instrument of truth, love, and liberation.
“Every seed I’ve laid has grown into something” says Low Leaf, reflecting upon the breadth of her musical trajectory. The project feels driven by spontaneity, freedom, and intuition. The name itself, Low Leaf, arrived seemingly at random. But the moniker’s multifarious meanings are forever revealing themselves to her—with suggestions of embeddedness, fertility, mortality, and so on. Without succumbing to precious myth-making, it is of note that this is an artist who routinely receives harp lessons via lucid dreams from musicians both real and imagined. Red Moon seems to be a transmission from this very same dream realm.
Sharada Shashidhar
Sharada Shashidhar is a Los Angeles based vocalist, composer and producer. Her soulful voice takes inspiration from jazz and Indian classical music, which influences her songwriting and productions. Shashidhar’s elaborate harmonies and vocal creativity come together in a new beat-orientated spiritual jazz. Sharada has performed across the US and EU in spaces such as Le Guess Who? Festival, Badehaus Berlin, Zebulon and more. She has shared bills or collaborated with the likes of Carlos Niño, Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra, and Zeroh among others. Sharada graduated from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City and released her debut EP, Rahu, on Leaving Records in March of 2020. Her forthcoming album, Soft Echoes, is due out in the Fall of 2024 on Leaving Records.
BAE BAE
Kumi James, aka BAE BAE, is a Los Angeles based DJ, producer, organizer and multidisciplinary artist. The LA native has risen to prominence within LA's underground music scene, organizing innovative communal spaces, including the notorious underground party HOOD RAVE. BAE BAE is driven by her commitment to creating safer party spaces for queer black and indigenous folks. Her dj mixes race freely through global afro diasporic riddims, breaks, club, footwork, juke and beyond, with her lifelong love of R&B never far from the surface. The intuitive selector's wide-ranging taste combined with a deft hand makes for sensual and emotional sure to get you on your feet and in your feelings.
About dublab:
dublab is a Los Angeles-based, community-supported internet radio station and creative collective dedicated to the growth of positive music, arts, and culture. Founded in 1999, dublab has been broadcasting since the “dot-com era” with the mission to share forward-thinking, freeform radio with an international audience. dublab’s programming has since expanded to include the production of original art exhibits, films, television, events, and community education projects as well as broadcast on affiliate stations in Germany, Japan, Spain, and Brazil.
About Leaving Records:
Leaving Records is an artist-and-community-centered entity — most recognizable as a prolific LA-based record label — cultivating a more financially just and autonomous future for independent, experimental musicians and the individuals who support them. With an emphasis on spontaneity, interdependence, economics of care, and community activation, Leaving Records balances its unwavering commitment to artists’ rights with the production of highly-curated, quality, left-of-center physical and digital releases.
This PROGRAM is supported, in part, by the Green Foundation, the Norris Foundation, a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Ahmad Tea, Supervisor Hilda Solis, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture through the following programs: as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan, and the Organizational Grant Program.
