June 5, 2022 at REDCAT Theatre in Los Angeles, CA
On June 5th, 2022 Jesse Sharps led a recording session featuring Horace Tapscott's "Ghetto Suite" with several Pan Afrikan Peoples Akrestra elders from the 60s & 70s. The session was filmed and recorded at Disney's REDCAT theater. We are currently working on the music for and upcoming album release, as well developing media around the filming and on camera interviews that were done. Go to www.lacpapa.com for more info.
CONCERT WILL BE STREAM LIVE ON FRIDAY, JAN 21ST AT 8PM PACIFIC, VIA LINK FOUND ON WORLD STAGE FACEBOOK PAGE WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/THEWORLDSTAGE
International Premiere!
The Gathering: Roots & Branches of Los Angeles Jazz will have it's international premiere at the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival in Jecheon, South Korea on August 13th at 10am (Korean Standard Time).
Very exciting to have the film in this cool festival. Q&A to follow the screening.
Q&A @ Black Harvest
Great Q&A on Nov 17th at the Black Harvest Film Festival moderated by Richard Steele. Shown left to right are Jesse Sharps, Fundi Legohn, Thomas Paige, and Richard Steele. Watch it via the link below.
The Gathering's 15th Anniversary Events & Releases!
October 10th, 2020 marks the 15th anniversary of the original recording session and summit that started The Gathering. From October 10th through November 2nd the 2020 Angel City Jazz Festival will be streaming Jesse Sharps & The Gathering in a 360 degree interactive online concert, paired with a virtual screening of The Gathering: Roots & Branches of Los Angeles Jazz. The line- up for the concert is
Jesse Sharps on Woodwinds, Nyofu Tyson on Turkish Saz, Randal Fisher on Saxophone, Peter Jacobson on Cello, Mark Tyson on Guitar, Evren Edler on Bass, Johnny Sandoval on Percussion, and Kalum Harrison on Drums. Click on the link for more info: https://angelcityjazz.com/event/jesse-sharps/
A new 15th Anniversary digital release of the Liemert Park album, with CD quality tracks and bonuses has been released in commemoration of the 15th anniversary (link above or on the music page). We are also working on a special release of "Freedom's Sweet" by Horace Tapscott. This song which was written some time after the riots in the 1960's, features timely spoken word by Kamau Daáood, powerful vocals by Maia, and was recorded live at the Mayme Clayton Library concert in 2015. We hope to have that release out very soon. Sign up for our mailing list to get updates on this release and more
one year later!
On July 16th, 2019 Bobby West, Peter Jacobson, and Jesse Sharps performed a stunning concert following a work in progress screening of the film at the Maine International Film Festival. The weekend of July 16th, 2020 the concert from that night was streamed and is now being featured by MIFF and Railroad Square Cinema.
Pan African Film Festival - February 2020
The Gathering: Roots & Branches of Los Angeles Jazz is an Official Selection screening at the 2020 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, California. The festival takes place February 11 - 23 in Leimert Park, the same community where The Gathering started.
Thursday, Feb. 13th at 9:30pm
Sunday, Feb. 16th at 11:35am
Sunday, Feb. 23rd at 9:35pm
Venue: Cinemark Baldwin Hills 15 theater, located on the property of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90008.
PAFF page for the film should be getting updated soon. You can click on the link below to go there.
Jesse Sharps will lead a group in live performance at The World Stage on February 14th, at 9pm. Show at The World Stage
Maine International Film Festival - July, 2019
The Gathering: Roots & Branches of Los Angeles jazz documentary premiered at The Maine International Film Festival on July 16th, 2019. It featured a 95 minute edit of the film in its current state complete with interviews and performances from the 2005 recording session as well as footage from concerts the group has done in the years since, as recently as 2018 at The World Stage is Los Angeles California.
Immediately following the screening a trio of The Gathering musicians performed, featuring bandleader Jesse Sharps on Woodwinds, Peter Jacobson on cello, and Bobby West on piano. The concert featured a new piece by Bobby West written just for the show in Waterville Maine and was captured on camera in the Waterville Opera House there. A short clip of the trio performing Herbert Baker’s “Prance Dance” can be seen on the video page.
Since the premiere in Maine we have been putting the finishing touches on the film, including incorporating some art from Bongo RasStarr, the main interviewer in the film and strong contributor to the project. The film is being submitted to several relevant film festivals throughout the globe and a screening or two is planned to occur in Los Angeles in 2020, coinciding with the 15 year anniversary of The Gathering.