Meet Rocco Somazzi | Jazz Festival Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rocco Somazzi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rocco, what principle do you value most?
Integrity, honesty and trustworthiness. These values are routinely set aside in a capitalist environment where making money is the ultimate goal and the only measure of success. Luckily Angel City Arts operates in a nonprofit environment, where we can focus on these basic values and ensure that our activities benefit everybody in the community we serve.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What we do is simple: we produce the best live concerts possible by connecting world class musicians with open minded audiences in ‘state of the art’ venues. Experiencing music at this level can be life changing and we’ve developed a true passion for it. There are many challenges we face as we’re a very small organization competing for your attention with an entertainment industry that uses all its might to influence what music people listen to and they want you to take the blue pill and keep listening endlessly to meaningless repetitive mind-numbing music.

It feels like we’re part of a resistance movement trying to wake people up to discover the incredible music being produced underground, far from the mainstream media.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Barnsdall Art Park: this is where we hosted our first festival in 2008. There’s something truly magical about this park. The location itself is incredible and offers 360 views of LA and nestled at the very top of the park is the amazing Hollyhock House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a true timeless architectural masterpiece.

Arts District: I lived there from 2004 to 2012. At the time it was a very sparsely populated neighborhood. I used to work at the only restaurant in the area (Cafe Metropol) and I presented a lot of great intimate concerts there. The artist community that took over the many converted live/work lofts brough an incredible energy and creativity to the area which eventually grew into one of the most vibrant neighborhood in LA. I miss the old and more genuine vibe of the original Arts District but I still enjoy it as you can still see and feel some of its rich artistic history. Here are a few places to check out while there: Manuela, Bavel, Verve, Girl and the Goat, Eat Drink Americano (formely Cafe Metropol), Afuri Ramen and Wurstkuche.

Atwater Village: this is another neighborhood that has developed quickly in the last 5 years or so. It has a relaxed vibe and you’ll find many independent businesses that offer a unique experience. One of my favorite places there is Proof Bakery that also was the launching pad for Cognoscenti coffee, arguably one of the best roasters in the city. Another great place is Momed a Mediterranean restaurant with an amazing dining terrace. Not far from Momed, there is a great live music venue called Zebulon that sometimes features creative or experimental Jazz.

Talking about places for live music, in addition to Zebulon, I would definitively check out the schedule at 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipino Town as they have one of the most progressive booking policy in the city. Also ETA, a casual bar in Highland Park has become a low key hang for some truly great musicians who often conduct jams there. In Leimert Park, an area with a very rich Jazz history, there’s the World Stage which is a great community music venue that has presented many amazing concerts. There are also some great music series around town like the Vernacular Music series at the Oracle Tavern in DTLA and the LACMA Friday night Jazz concerts. There so much happening in the city it’s hard to keep track but you can count on the best show being listed at metaljazz.com

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our heroes and the reason we do what we do are the incredibly talented musicians who work tirelessly to innovate and produce music that is fresh, engaging and relevant. Most of them deserve way more credit and recognition that they’re getting but it would be impossible to put together a comprehensive list within this context. You might not have heard of many of the artists we work with but I can assure you they’re the best in the world, often many orders of magnitude more accomplished than most household name musicians.

Website: https://angelcityjazz.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelcityjazz/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocco-somazzi-98698724?

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Angel_City_Jazz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelcityarts

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@angelcityjazztv

Image Credits
photo by Motoko Honda