The Santa Monica Public Library’s acclaimed Soundwaves new music series teams with the Angel City Jazz Festival to present a reading by musician, educator, and author Nicole Mitchell at the Main Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Blvd. on Thursday October 26 at 6:30 p.m.
Mitchell is one of the leading jazz musicians of our time, touring internationally, recording dozens of albums, and winning numerous grants and awards for her work as a flutist, bandleader, composer, and improviser. She was the first woman to lead Chicago’s legendary AACM (the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and has been on the faculty of the University of California Irvine, the University of Pittsburgh, and currently the University of Virginia.
She will read from her first book: The Mandorla Letters: For the Hopeful, which was published last year by the University of Minnesota Press. It combines memoir, Afrofuturist fiction, and ecofeminist social critique, while also walking the reader through the creation and performance of several of her compositions. A book sale and signing will follow the talk.
The Angel City Jazz Festival runs from October 13-29 at venues across Los Angeles. Nicole Mitchell performs on the 28th at REDCAT in Disney Hall, presenting a special program based on her mother’s artwork and poetry, supported by an all-star band. Visit angelcityjazz.com for the complete schedule and ticket links.
Since 2016, Soundwaves has presented free concerts at the Santa Monica Public Library, supported by the Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library and the Amphion Foundation. It draws on Los Angeles’ broad history of creative music and has included collaborations with the Angel City Jazz Festival, Piano Spheres, Jacaranda, Microfest, Cold Blue Music, and the Dog Star Orchestra. Visit soundwavesnewmusic.com for more information, including videos of many past shows.
All Library programs are free and open to the public. Parking is available underneath the Main Library, several bus lines and the Metro E line stop nearby, and there are bike racks. The MLK Auditorium is wheelchair accessible. Please call (310) 458-8600 to request additional accommodations.
Submitted by Jeff Schwartz
