Tag: jazz

Rehearsal of Chicago the Musical at Rady Shell!

I got super lucky today. I was walking near the Rady Shell on downtown San Diego’s waterfront when I heard singing voices. I turned toward the San Diego Symphony’s beautiful outdoor venue and discovered Chicago the Musical in Concert was rehearsing for tomorrow’s evening performance!

I sat for a while–one cool thing about rehearsals at The Shell is the public is free to watch politely up close and listen. All I can tell you, anyone going to Chicago the Musical in Concert on Friday is most likely in for a treat!

All That Jazz… Cell Block Tango… Mr. Cellophane… All of the jazzy voices are amazing. I seriously thought I was at a Broadway production.

When I looked at the vocalists’ bios just now, I see that, indeed, they’ve performed in many world-class productions in the most prestigious venues!

Learn all about Chicago the Musical in Concert, and perhaps purchase tickets, by visiting the Rady Shell’s website here!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Fine sculptures at the Valencia Park Library.

Seven very fine sculptures, each belonging to the San Diego Civic Art Collection, are located inside the Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library. I discovered them last weekend when I visited the library to experience a Black History Month event.

The bronze sculptures, most of them gilded and painted, were all created by Ed Dwight, an artist who resides in Denver, Colorado. The largest work, depicting Malcolm X, stands near the center of the library.

The other half dozen sculptures honor legendary American jazz musicians. They are displayed in cases inside the library’s community room. Their titles are: Eubie’s Boogie, Jazz Guitar, Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, Fats Waller, Bessie Smith, and Miles Davis.

The artist has a remarkable and rather unexpected background! As search results from the San Diego Civic Art website explain:

Dwight was the first African American to be trained as an astronaut. Dwight began his career as an artist after many years working in various fields including the military, engineering, and real estate. His first important commission was a sculpture of Colorado’s first black Lieutenant Governor, George Brown, in 1974. Since then, he has been prolific in creating homages to the most significant contributions of black culture to American history. His work has focused on the history of jazz and its significant figures, as well as civil rights activists and African American pioneers…

It was difficult taking good photographs with reflections on the glass cases creating interference. I encourage everyone to check out the above link and see good images of all seven sculptures, or, better yet, head over to the Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library and begin your own exploration!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share this!