Hollywood ArtsPark Experience
Galactic by Zack Smith
Since 1988, the Rhythm Foundation has been booking arguably the most interesting concerts in South Florida. Scanning the nonprofit company’s history of shows is like flipping through the most eclectic record collection you’ve ever encountered, a curated sample of globalized, genre-hopping genius: Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, the Skatalites, David Byrne, Gilberto Gil, Philip Glass, Seu Jorge, Bela Fleck—even that legendary Arcade Fire masquerade ball in Little Haiti. And that just skims the surface of the household names; over the past 26 years, the Foundation has introduced hundreds of new, international artists from around the world to the stages of (usually) Miami.
“Each concert gets special attention,” says the company’s founder and board chair, James Quinlan. “We don’t select things that we don’t absolutely feel are worth that attention. That’s the benefit of working in a nonprofit framework—we’re not encumbered by quotas and by shareholders demanding volume. We select things we absolutely believe in and we think are worthy of the attention we know it requires to really make this a successful event. It’s not just a matter of just putting a name on a marquee.”
George Porter
It’s no surprise that this spirit of passion, innovation and specialized care applies to the Rhythm Foundation’s latest music series: The Hollywood ArtsPark Experience, a monthly concert series at Hollywood’s outdoor downtown staple, presented free to the public by grants from the city and other sources. The series begins Jan. 30 with Galactic, the fine purveyors of jam-band experimentation, fresh off its marathon performances on the Jam Cruise and supporting its vivid album Carnivale Electricos.
“Galactic represents a really interesting demographic, which is the jam band world,” Quinlan says. “We feel that’s a really strong community representative of multiple generations. In a way it goes back to Grateful Dead experience. People tend to be open to improvisation onstage and creating new music, and this band has really taken that and brought it into a new generation.”
The New Orleans connection—which shares a long history with Hollywood, through our city’s own Mardi Gras celebrations—continues with the series’ next show, on Feb. 14. George Porter Jr., the venerable funk pioneer and elder statesman of the electric bass, will perform at a Mardi Gras celebration, complete with plenty of beads—not to mention opening sets by the Dillard High School jazz band and the Zydeco Cha Chas, representing an impressive genre rarely heard on South Florida stages.
The Wood Brothers
The series concludes March 21 on a note that is perhaps surprising, given the exotic nature of so many of the Rhythm Foundation’s bookings. It will feature the rootsy, swampy, homespun melodies of The Wood Brothers, an Americana group fronted by Chris Wood, formerly of Medeski Martin & Wood. The band features Chris’ brother Oliver Wood, himself a formidable musician who toured with Tinsley Ellis before forming King Johnson; and Jano Rix, the multi-instrumentalist whose patented “shuitar” combines acoustic guitar and percussion, through the tuna cans and other noisemakers rigged into the instrument.
Unlike many of the Rhythm Foundation’s concerts, it may not be “world music,” as most people would define it—but that’s a classification Quinlan would be all too happy jettisoning, anyway.
“We find that term to be limiting,” he says. “And because of the fact that it has so many different connotations to different people, we did not really start our work being ‘world music people.’ It’s a category we get put into, because it’s the easiest attachment to our work. But we consider our work to be more aligned with the international aspects of South Florida. We see what we’re doing as a natural extension of South Florida’s evolution as an international destination, and we think that music is the bridge that brings different communities together in a most natural way.
“What we’ve worked really hard to create is trust from the local community—that when you see a Hollywood ArtsPark Experience event produced from the city by the Rhythm Foundation, you know it’s going to be something different,” Quinlan continues. “It’s going to be something special. Even if you’re not absolutely familiar with the work of the artist, it’s going to be a positive live music experience.”
For information on the series and other future Rhythm Foundation events, visit rhythmfoundation.com.
~ John Thomason
