There is good news today for a premier west coast jazz listening establishment. Architect Frank Gehry, creator of some of the most dramatic buildings in the world, is donating his services to the Jazz Bakery. The Los Angeles performance hall lost its lease in 2009 and has functioned in an assortment of rented or donated spaces while it looked for a new site. Now, it has found one on a sliver of land not far from its former Culver City home. Gehry designed the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the massive Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown L.A.. Other famous Gehry buldings are the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the MIT Stata Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Experience Music Project in Seattle; the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis; and the Dancing Building in Prague. On its new seventh of an acre, the Bakery may not be quite as imposing as those.
Gehry told The Los Angeles Times that he took on the pro bono design commitment at the urging of his wife, who is a jazz listener, and of his friend the late film director and actor Sidney Pollock. Ruth Price, the founder of the performance hall, said that Gehry's offer came as a surprise. There are administrative and regulatory details to be worked out, but the deal for the new Jazz Bakery site seems set. For details, see this article in today's L.A. Times.
Among the many albums recorded at the old Jazz Bakery is one recently discussed in this Rifftides post.
Gehry told The Los Angeles Times that he took on the pro bono design commitment at the urging of his wife, who is a jazz listener, and of his friend the late film director and actor Sidney Pollock. Ruth Price, the founder of the performance hall, said that Gehry's offer came as a surprise. There are administrative and regulatory details to be worked out, but the deal for the new Jazz Bakery site seems set. For details, see this article in today's L.A. Times.
Among the many albums recorded at the old Jazz Bakery is one recently discussed in this Rifftides post.
