ALL SHOWS ARE 21+
Tue, Dec 12
|Sam First
Tuesday Happenings + Jam Session hosted by Keyon Harrold w/ Andrew Renfroe, Sam Barsh, Nathan Pence & Jonathan Pinson
World-renowned trumpeter, bandleader and producer Keyon Harrold leads the "Happenings" this week with equal parts swing and groove. House band performs one set at 7:30pm followed by a jam session from 9:30-11pm. Jam session participants use coupon code SAM1JAM for a discounted 2nd set.
Dec 12, 2023, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Sam First, 6171 W Century Blvd #180, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
Keyon Harrold (trumpet), Andrew Renfroe (guitar), Sam Barsh (piano), Nathan Pence (bass), Jonathan Pinson (drums)
"Tuesday Happenings" is a weekly series on Tuesday nights, curated by iconic pianist and friend of Sam First, Gerald Clayton. Clayton will be out of town for this performance, but has arranged for trumpeter Keyon Harrold to lead the "Happenings" in his place. House band performs one set at 7:30pm, followed by a jam session from 9:30-11:00pm.
Jam session participants use code SAM1JAM at checkout for a discounted second set.
Keyon Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, MO, the St. Louis suburb that tore into America’s national consciousness in 2014 with the police shooting of Michael Brown and the bitter protests and riots that followed. While Ferguson looms large in Harrold’s album The Mugician, it examines our troubled times through a far wider lens than any one tragedy. Sweeping and cinematic, the music draws on elements of jazz, classicval, rock, blues, and hip hop to create something uniquely modern, unmistakably American. Guests including Pharoahe Monch, Gary Clark, Jr., Big K.R.I.T., Guy Torry, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Robert Glasper add to the record’s eclectic nature, but it ultimately triumphs as a unified, cohesive whole both because of Harrold’s virtuosic skill as a trumpeter and songwriter and because of his relentlessly optimistic belief in brighter days to come.
Harrold grew up one of 16 children in a family that prioritized music and community across generations. His grandfather was a police officer who retired from the force to found a drum and bugle corps for local youth, both of his parents were pastors, and nearly all of his siblings sing and perform music today. Culture shock hit Harrold hard at 18, when he left Ferguson for New York City to enroll in The New School. In New York, he landed his first major gig with Common, an experience which he says broadened his musical horizons beyond jazz to include funk, Afrobeat, R&B, and hip hop. Soon he was performing with stars like Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem, Maxwell, and Anthony Hamilton.
In 2009, he released his solo debut, Introducing Keyon Harrold and then won wide acclaim for his trumpet performances in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. The Mugician is a portmanteau of “musician” and “magician, a nod to a nickname Cheadle bestowed upon the young virtuoso, and it’s an apt descriptor for a record that pushes beyond the traditional boundaries of jazz trumpet. In fact, the album doesn’t even begin with trumpet, but rather with a track called ‘Voicemail,’ which features an inspirational message from Harrold’s mother set to a stirring, orchestral soundscape. Entirely unedited, her words lay the groundwork for an album that celebrates the importance of family (ten of Keyon’s siblings appear on the record) and the absolute necessity of optimism in the face of darkness and doubt. These days, Harrold is a parent himself, and he pays tribute to his son with a pair of tracks on the album, “Lullaby” and “Bubba Rides Again.” Issues of identity and equality percolate throughout the record, sometimes subtly beneath the surface, sometimes more pointedly, as in “Circus Show.” However, the album’s most powerful moments come with the one-two punch of “MB Lament” and “When Will It Stop,” songs written in the wake of Michael Brown’s death and the senseless killings of so many others like him.
It’s a monumental task, one that calls for tremendous empathy and sensitivity. To give voice to the silenced requires more than just talent and ambition, it requires faith, imagination, strength, and determination. Above all, it requires perspective. Fortunately, that is what Keyon Harrold brings most of all.
Sam First | 6171 W Century Blvd #180, Los Angeles, CA 90045 | 21+
Refunds are only honored up to 24 hours before the scheduled showtime.
Show Times: The house band performs one set at 7:30pm which is immediately followed by a jam session from 9:30-11:00pm. A separate ticket is required for the the first set and the jam session.
Tickets
1st set ticket (7:30pm)
One ticket is good for one set of music only. Student discount code : SAM1STUDENT
$25.00Sale endedJam session ticket (9:30pm)
One ticket is good for one set of music only. Performing musicians use coupon code SAM1JAM at checkout for a $5 discount.
$15.00Sale ended
Total
$0.00