Call for Artists
Brand Library & Art Center announces its 49th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper. Brand 49 welcomes Marvella Muro, Director of Artistic Programs and Education at Self Help Graphics and Art in Los Angeles, as this year’s juror.
Entry Deadline: May 23, 2021. All submissions must be made via CaFE. Brand 49 is organized by the Associates of Brand Library & Art Center in partnership with Brand staff.
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Music Playlists
Today's recommending listening is First Aid Kit, Journey, Dijvan Gasparian, and David Azarian.
Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.
The National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress added 25 recordings. Read the article and stream 4 of the recordings using your library card number: Janet Jackson, Albert King, Nas, and Odetta.
Learn About Music
New volumes in the So You Want to Sing series are coming soon, we should have in the next few weeks. Volumes on cabaret, spirituals, blues and world music are on their way. Brand Library currently has 17 volumes in the series.
The Duduk is an Armenian wind instrument made from the wood of an apricot tree. Even if you don’t know Armenian music you have probably heard the sound of this expressive instrument on many movie and TV soundtracks. How to play the Duduk is a YouTube channel in English. If you are interested in seeing how the instrument is constructed check out this video Duduk-How it is made today.
Music Podcasts
Desert Island Discs was a BBC radio show that began in 1942 that is now a podcast. Every week the host asks a famous guest what music they would take to a desert island with them. A diverse assortment of guests that have recently included Daniel Radcliffe, Samantha Morton and Cat Stevens. Lots of fun!
Brand History
Today marks the 100th anniversary of Leslie C. Brand’s famous Fly-In Party!
On April 1, 1921, at his beautiful home Miradero (what we now call Brand Library & Art Center), Leslie Brand closed the gates of his estate and the party started.
Earlier that year, more than one hundred invitations were sent out for an “aviation luncheon” to members of high society including film stars, aviation enthusiasts and Army and Navy aviation officers. The luncheon had a catch, if you arrived to the Brand Estate in a car (a sign of luxury in 1921) you were out of luck. The only way inside the gates was in an airplane. Many invited guests called ahead, hoping to dissuade Brand on his conditional invite, but he could not be swayed.
Brand, by then already known as the Father of Glendale for his civic-minded push to modernize the city, was an aviation enthusiast. On April 1, 1921, guests followed instructions on their invitations and landed on the Brand air strip, just below Mountain and Grandview. Fliers such as Eddie Rickenbacker, Frank Hawks and Jimmy Doolittle, along with celebrities Mary Pickford, Mary Miles Minter, Ruth Roland, Tom Mix and Cecil B. DeMille were in attendance. As guests flew away, they performed air stunts to please the crowd.
The party was a huge success, talked about in the press around the world. To celebrate the 100 anniversary of the fly-in party, Scott Halloran and Peter Rusch of The Glendale Historical Society are hosting a history lesson and discussion behind four classic cocktails: the Fly-In Martini, the Bee’s Knees, the Side Car, and the Manhattan are perfect concoctions for raising a lively toast to Leslie Brand and his famous fly-in party! Watch the recording of this program, including the premier of a trailer about the famous fly-in party! Listen to a 1920's-inspired radio play recreating the Brand's party.
Art Festivals Distanced and Online
The Billboard Collective presents its 7th exhibition opening on April 5, featuring the work of 30 artists, including Ramiro Gomez, Phung Huynh, Narsiso Martinez, and Calida Rawness. The project turns L.A. billboard advertising spaces into open-air art exhibitions.
Self Guided Tours
Angels Walk L.A. is a nonprofit that coordinates with the City of Los Angeles and Metro to bring you face to face with some of the most historically and culturally rich places in L.A. Its self-guided historic walking trails of have been a fixture in the city since 1996, now totaling 12 neighborhood routes, many are complemented by stanchions mounted on sidewalks, this one for Central Ave.
The L.A. Conservancy has a collection of resources providing information about LA.’s historic architecture and neighborhoods, presented in tour formats.
FORT: LA was created to celebrate, study, preserve, and increase access to the historically and architecturally significant homes of Los Angeles. Follow self-guided tours, written by experts in conservation, art and architecture, academics and more. To access the trail guides, provide your email address and in return, you get who, what, where and why on architecturally significant homes by renowned architects Neutra, Wright, postwar Japanese-American architects and more.
The Pasadena Convention & Visitor Bureau has published a brochure that features individual Pasadena neighborhoods to tour on your own, each spotlighting landmark homes and buildings.