Folks get ready! Get your tickets now for this star studded event happening in just a few weeks, May 12, 7 to 10 p.m. at The Grape, 2733 East Main Street, , CA.
Vocalists: l-r, Colene Riffo, Annette DiNardo, Bekkie Ramirez, Johnny Jacinto, Renee Perez, Freda Ramey
This event is a Fundraiser for the Ventura College Jazz Ensemble to help with the costs of a variety of needs toward music education including sheet music, music stands, transportation, equipment and instrument purchases, repair and maintenance. Considering costs such as piano tuning, electronics and so much more, it all adds up. The Jazz Ensemble is a busy group and getting busier under Professor Fundi Legohn’s leadership. As they grow and increase their number of performances, so do the costs associated with show production.
Professor Fundi Legohn
While the Ensemble group is regularly comprised of more than 20 students, on May 12 at the Grape, a representative group of eight will take to the stage at 7 p.m. as the first of three sets of music in the program. Directed by Professor Fundi Legohn, The Ensemble can be expected to create real magic in the already magical ambiance of the venue as their jazz repertoire journeys through eras and genres of tunes reaching back to early days of jazz and including swing, Latin, be-bop and melodic ballads.
All under the trusted leadership of Legohn who has many decades under his belt of leading student jazz groups to great success and being the spark and inspiration for thousands of individual musical careers as his work extends back 30-40 years to the Jefferson High School Music Department in Los Angeles. From there, he went on to lead Oxnard High School Music Programs to amazing successes and now, as Professor of Music at Ventura College, he’s not quitting anytime soon and already has big plans in the works. All this, in addition to being a musical virtuoso himself on the French Horn. Learn more about Fundi and his programs at the link below. https://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/music/schwab-academy-of-music/academy-faculty/fundi-legohn
The House Arrest Band: top (l-r) John Grimaldo, Jeremy Kirsch bottom (l-r) Freda Ramy, Ed Weiss Dennis Akesson, DeLon Martin
Then, 2nd and 3rd sets comes The House Arrest Band “The HAB” with its signature sounds described as funky, jazzy, r & b-istic, danceable and fun. An exciting feature of The HAB’s performance is that they’ll be backing six amazing vocalists who’ve all agreed to come together in the spirit of helping do a great job of fundraising for the College.
The vocalists line-up includes Colene Riffo, Bekkie Ramirez, Annette DiNardo, Renee Perez, Johnny Jacinto and the HAB’s regular lead vocalist, Freda Ramey. We’ll be posting up music bio’s of each of these vocalists on our “Musician Spotlight” page here on this site. Ge sure to check there for more intriguing information about their musical journeys.
Again, this is a fundraiser so we are encouraging all who will to join in the support. First off, be sure to hop on over to Eventbrite and purchase tickets. Also, while there, check out the special “donation button” which allows supporters to donate an amount of their choosing. Any amount counts. Next, the event is asking for sponsorships. There are four levels – Platinum/$500, Gold/$250, Silver/$100 and Bronze/$50 which provides a sponsorship ad in the event brochure (full page, half page, quarter page, business card respectively). There will also be tip jars and a donation box on site at the event. Any and all support is welcomed!
Here’s how the money works, after expenses as laid out below are paid, all proceeds will go to The Ventura College Jazz Ensemble via the Ventura College Foundation. So, it’s important for us to have your contact information if you are donating (outside the basic ticket purchase). Any checks should be made payable to The Ventura College Jazz Ensemble. If you are donating cash at the door, there will be donation slips available. This, so you can receive your personalized thank you letter and tax document directly from the College Foundation. Or, if you just want to donate and remain anonymous, that’s ok too. The expenses: cost for the hosting band, – House Arrest, printing, ticket processing services (Eventbrite), support staff at the door for ticket taking and ushers.
Supporting this event means not only supporting a community of musicians aspiring to build their careers in music, you also get to support a collective of seasoned musicians, The House Arrest Band, as well.
Questions: Contact ant 805Live Team Member – 805 216 5422, 661 755 8204, 805 396 3640
We extend a special thanks to Josh and Adam (pictured below), owners of the The Grape Jazz House and their dedicated staff. Please do support them as they work tirelessly and continue to be a key force in helping to build the 805 musical community.
