The 47th Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival took place on Sunday, Sept. 29, welcoming visitors to the iconic Watts Towers Arts Center Campus. The free and family-friendly event was presented by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and produced by Rosie Lee Hooks, director and curator of the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus.
The festival is named for Simon Rodia, the Italian immigrant who built the Watts Towers – a California Historic Landmark also known as “Nuestro Pueblo” – over a 33-year period from 1921 to 1954.
The international lineup of musicians and artists included Alaadun, a Yoruba ground blessing uniting all cultures based on common themes and principles; contemporary R&B artist Kevin Flournoy; Italian jazz and west coast soul by The Jasmine Tommaso Group; Delta-Chicago jazz, blues, and R&B by Kirk Andrés Wilson; the Tai Chi Chuan School of Healing Martial Arts; Nedra Wheeler & Friends; Medusa Tha’ Gangsta Goddess; and Munyungo’s Jungle Jazz.
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Hooks, who among many accomplishments is a former member of Sweet Honey in the Rock and a co-creator of the Central Avenue Jazz Festival, underscored the festival’s commitment to harmony among all people through the sharing of art.
“We have all cultures out there, that’s what our festivals are about,” she said.
“We include everybody … because we have these preconceived ideas about who people are, and they may be wrong. But when we… interact with them, then we get the truth. We respect each other and ourselves more and bring more harmony to this world.”
The festival also featured children’s workshops, tours of the Noah Purifoy & Charles Mingus galleries, a universal drum circle, craft stalls, vendors, and a food court offering a variety of options, including African barbeque and Philadelphia-style Italian ice.
Guided tours of the Watts Towers were also offered during the festival. Lucy De La Torre has been a volunteer and training docent for 14 years. She said that visitors to the site are often moved to tears by the story of its creation as a symbol of perseverance.
“Simon Rodia did not have any form of education, he didn’t know how to read or write,” she said. “Those of us who go to school or college can exceed – not in building tall towers – but in life, your goals.
“A lot of people come to visit the towers,” De La Torre said. “[They] look [through] the outer fence, and say, ‘Yeah, three towers, recyclable stuff…’ that’s all you see. But once you learn the history and the real story [about] Simon and all the work he put into here for 33 years, it gives you a different perspective on what the towers actually are.”
Robin Strayhorn is a L.A.-based painter, ceramicist, and teaching artist. The festival highlighted her one-woman show, “A Woman in Charge,” in the Noah Purifoy Gallery. In addition, she designed this year’s festival poster, which features a collage of an African drummer, the Watts Towers, and Wheeler playing her stand-up bass.
“I wanted to focus on female artists and was thinking about artists who performed on Central Avenue in the 1940s and 50s,” said Strayhorn. “But I’ve been following Nedra’s music for a long time, so, I thought, why don’t I honor an amazing female musician who is still alive?”
Strayhorn’s own personal lineage is inextricably tied to the jazz tradition – her great-uncle was Billy Strayhorn, the composer, lyricist, pianist, and arranger who collaborated with Duke Ellington and penned classics such as “Take the A Train” and “Lush Life.”
“I’m so honored that I get to be a part of this,” said Robin Strayhorn, who, with Wheeler, was recognized during the festival by L.A. Councilman Tim McOsker and District 15.
“People from all over the world come to the Watts Towers. I have a feeling that more people in the city are going to come [and] are going to be touched by this festival and appreciate the gems we have here.”
