Playboy Jazz Festivals

Playboy Jazz 2011:
My favorite annual summer weekend event in LA, Playboy Jazz Festival has come and gone and it still doesn’t seem like summer. Grey and cloudy June-​gloom (as the meteorologists in LA call it) and days when the temperature is 68 degrees in June does not excite me whatsoever. The average temperature should be 80, however, for the past month, we have been lucky to get to the low 70’s, I know the East has been having a heat wave… it would be nice if they shared the wealth a bit… we can come to a happy medium, if we just try to work it out ;)
Back to Playboy Jazz: It is a full weekend of fun and debauchery (my kind of good time). 2011 is the 33^rd annual concert. It happens Saturday and Sunday from 3−11pm and we eat, drink and party with thousands of other jazz lovers in a scenic venue called Hollywood Bowl. It is nestled near some hills in Hollywood and has great acoustics. Sure there were great acts like Dianne Reeves, Fourplay, Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra, The Roots, Ronnie Laws, Stanley Jordan, Buddy Guy and so many more. To many attendees, Playboy (as it is affectionately known by the many who attend for year after year) is an outdoor party with jazz in the background. There are always celebrities to be seen in the boxes right in front of the stage from Hugh Hefner to Jamie Foxx. Since Playboy allows you to bring in your own food and drinks, that is where all of the fun starts. Champagne is flowing and delicacies are to be devoured. Smiles are seen throughout as people dance in their seats and in the aisles. Part of the Playboy culture is to bring food and drinks to share with your new neighbors sitting nearby. Speaking of sharing, people make jello shots, bring Mardi Gras style beads to throw to the crowd and Playboy wouldn’t be Playboy without the quintessential beach balls that are thrown around. You catch them, sign your name on the then throw them back into the crowd. People bring desserts, fruit and other treats them walk around and give them to strangers seated near you, there is a whole camaraderie here. We brought salad, friend chicken, grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, tuna, crackers, guacamole, corn chips, chocolate cake, honey roasted peanuts, limeade, strawberries soaked in coconut rum for a week, Veuve Clicquot, Moet White Star, Barefoot Bubbly and $ 2/​bottle Charles Shaw (to share. LOL). I admit that every time I opened the Vueve and by taking the champagne stopper off, all my neighbors swiveled their heads around to look at me, I smiled and kept pouring— one eventually told me that I was breaking tradition by not sharing and when I started to explain that I didn’t bring $ 50 champers to share with strangers but had something else for them, my lady sitting next to us stepped in and shared her Cooks Spumante. I laughed and told her that she was showing me up, but if I were her, I would share a $ 5 bottle over a $ 50 bottle any day, but I digress. Additionally, there is a «smoking section» at the top of the bowl, if you dare to venture up there, where you can find everything from blowup beds to portable blenders. I attended with a newbie from Indiana, had a ball and now I can get down to enjoying my summer, if only the weather gets better ;)

*** 32^nd Ann’l Show, 12Jun’10, H/​Wood Bowl ***
Each year for over three decades, Hugh Hefner
and his enterprise have promoted this festival.
Last nite I finally gotta chance to see a show.
I did not go to see the longtime greats perform
(i.e. George Benson, Chick Corea, Manhattan
Transfer) but rather I went to see newcomers
(Jazz Mafia, Naturally 7 & Trombone Shorty).
It was excellent … Naturally 7 stole the show!
«Naturally 7» is a seven man group who sings
a cappella and creates their own instrumental
background sounds vocally as well, awesome.
Now if you asked me what songs were sung or
the names of every group that had performed
last nite, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Why?!
The party in the Bowl was just that happening;
dancin’, singin’, eatin’, drinkin’, and celebratin’.
We were seated in the section «R2» and everyone
around our seats were so festive and friendly that
we left feeling as if I had known them all for years.
All types of ppl, all walks of life, from everywhere.
They shared homemade sangria, wine, cocktails,
ceviche, Italian meats, breads, pastas, cheeses,
hummus, fruit salads, salsa, chips, you name it.
And there was also that pungent scent of herbal
liberation all around. Yup, they passed the joint.
(0_​o) R2 was in fierce party mode, whoa! (o₀)
Lest not forget the party starters & crowd pleasers.
They tossed some of the strongest jellyshots that
I have ever tasted into the crowd, and mardi gras
beads, and beach balls, and tees. What a party?
*** That was just Sat. Sun is the BIG party, fyi. ***