Becoming Something Else: Some Other Time

How does a song move from being a light, minor number in a musical comedy to a moody, profound take on love and lost time, and in turn a jazz standard? Maybe all it takes is one artist -- in this case, Bill Evans -- to live within the song long enough to find what the rest of us missed. It's an old story in jazz. See how fresh "Some Other Time" can sound, the farther it gets from its On the Town Broadway roots.

JULY 1: Songs in the Key of Los Angeles Exhibition

The Songs in the Key of Los Angeles Exhibition opens on the first floor of the Downtown L.A. Central Library on Monday, July 1st, 2013. The exhibition will use sheet music to explore the early history of Los Angeles’ music industry, civic music culture, and the role of music in shaping key stories central to the making of the city.




Downtown Central Library
630 W. 5th Street :: Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 228-7000
Monday-Thursday: 10-8; Friday & Saturday: 10-5:30;
Closed Sunday

JULY 13: Songs in the Key of L.A. Benefit for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles will host PMP Director Josh Kun, L.A. musical icon Van Dyke Parks, and surprise guests for a special evening of song and story specifically for Foundation Members.

JULY 18: Songs in the Key of Los Angeles @ ALOUD

The Library Foundation’s award-winning ALOUD series hosts PMP Director Josh Kun and musical guest Quetzal for a rare evening of L.A. music history.

Thursday, July 18, 2013 7:15 PM
Mark Taper Auditorium-Central Library

JULY 25: Off the Shelf: Creating L.A.’s 21st Century Library

Grand Performances hosts City Librarian John Szabo and Library Foundation President Ken Brecher for “Off the Shelf: Creating L.A.’s 21st Century Library,” a lively discussion about the future of the Los Angeles Public Library, starting with the “Songs in the Key of L.A.” project.

Thursday, July 25, 2013 :: 8:00pm

California Plaza in Downtown L.A.

350 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90071

AUGUST 2 CONCERT: Songs in the Key of L.A. with Ozomatli and Friends

Grand Performances, in collaboration with the Library Foundation, presents “Songs in the Key of L.A with Ozomatli and Friends,” a concert with selections hand-picked by PMP Director Josh Kun, hometown heroes Ozomatli and special guests that will bring songs from the collection to life in a free concert for the people of Los Angeles.

Songs in the Key of Los Angeles

PMP Director Josh Kun has launched a landmark new project in conjunction with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and the LA Public Library: "Songs in the Key of Los Angeles" is an exploration of the sounds and music of LA, circa 1948-59, via the Library's extensive sheet music collection. The project kicks off with a beautiful book, Songs in the Key of Los Angeles, published by Angel City Press. Written by Kun and with special contributions from musical legends Van Dyke Parks, Stew, and a host of California historians, the anthology showcases more than one hundred vintage sheet music covers from the collection, from California lullabies and Los Angeles waltzes, sunshine rags and sunset serenades, to emerging West Coast jazz and the legacy of Mexican folk traditions.

Read the press release for full details and follow the project's blog at songsinthekeyofla.com.

Sonic Overdrive: Songs and Stories through the Streets of Los Angeles

Explore L.A.'s eclectic sonic environment from punk to gospel, cumbia to hip hop, rock, Norteño, and country. Hosted by music critic, historian, curator and director of the Popular Music Project Josh Kun, the evening's lineup offers a journey through L.A.'s musical geographies, from East L.A. to Malibu.

Sonic Overdrive will include performances by Chris Hillman (The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), Exene Cervenka (X, The Knitters), underground hip-hop veteran Busdriver, Latin fusion band La Santa Cecilia, soul-and-gospel legend Merry Clayton (whose background vocals helped define songs by Neil Young, Carole King, and the Rolling Stones), alternative-rock favorites Silversun Pickups and will feature a guest appearance by students from the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. Additional performers to be announced.

Friday, May 31, 2013 :: 7:00 p.m.
Harold M. Williams Auditorium, The Getty Center
Tickets are $20. Call (310) 440-7300 or click here for tickets..
Parking is $10 after 5:00 p.m.

The Art of the Crossfade, Part 2: Listening Like a Sonidero

A Live Musical Lecture in Collaboration with Toy Selectah

PMP Director Josh Kun is the Santa Monica Museum of Art's first "Resident Collector" for the museum's "Collection of Ideas" series. His residency offers a series of performances/lectures on the art of the "Crossfader" -- the toggle on the DJ mixer that allows you to move between the music on one input and the music on another. It allows you to mix without erasing, combine without destroying, to juggle and sustain difference. The mix is where collaboration and connection live.
Toy Selectah was the DJ behind Control Machete, the trailblazing Monterrey, Mexico hip hop crew. Toy has worked with a long list of artists, groups and friends within the music scene of Latin America and the U.S. including Calle 13, Diplo, Gustavo Cerati, Celso Piña, Manu Chao and Molotov. He remains one of the most sought-after remixers and producers in contemporary Latin music.

April 18, 2013 :: 7-8:30PM
Santa Monica Museum of Art :: Bergamot Station G1
2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404