The Jazz Bakery is working with the City of Culver City to build a permanent new edifice. Their old location in the Helms Bakery was a jazz mecca for many living in Los Angeles. Ruth Price headed the establishment from 1997 until 2009.
Since leaving their previous rental space, the Jazz Bakery has continued bringing jazz to the community—while planning a return to their Culver City roots.
In 2010 the Bakery received a $2 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation as seed money for a capital campaign for the new structure.
Culver City is in discussion to allocated a prime piece of property in its vital downtown district to the Bakery as a site for the new building.
Grants from the Herb Alpert Foundation, the Sony Corporation, and operating grants from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, has allowed the Jazz Bakery to flourish—despite no home base.
The Bakery is now taking steps to expand its board of directors in anticipation of mounting a capital campaign for the new construction.
Aficionados of music are thrilled at the prospect of the Jazz Bakery returning to Culver City. The final launch for finances is in full swing.
“The shovel is ready to go into the ground in terms of the design and the lot that was given us. We have to raise a lot more money. We’re about to go into a major campaign for the real funding,” said Price.
“Even though we had substantial funding from the Annenburg Foundation, but building a building is a whole different ballgame. It gets into true fundraising and that’s no small thing. Hopefully, the paperwork could be finalized by January.”
Renowned architect Frank Gehry has designed the new space. The building will be located in the heart of Culver City’s downtown arts district next to the Kirk Douglas Theater.
Gehry’s works are often cited as being among the most important works of contemporary architecture in the 2010 World Architecture Survey, which led Vanity Fair to label him as the most important architect of our age.
The new Jazz Bakery will hold year-round performances and educational programs in two state-of-the-art theaters, with an art gallery and cafe/bar.
Founded in 1992 by jazz vocalist Ruth Price, the Jazz Bakery has achieved international acclaim by presenting the finest musicians from around the world 350 nights a year.
Artistic director Price’s uncompromising vision includes an audience-friendly performance space with theater seating unspoiled by noisy nightclub intrusions. It’s a place where the sound is the highest fidelity, the lighting is beautiful, the piano is well maintained, and every seat is the best in the house.
This new Jazz Bakery will include a 250-seat theater as well as an intimate “black box” performance space. The new Frank Gehry designed building is scheduled to be finished in 2015.
The Bakery continues to produce concerts in prestigious venues across Los Angeles through its Movable Feast concert series, as a way to fulfill its mission and grow its audience while the new building is being built.
The Movable Feast series presents several concerts per month at venues that include the Musicians Institute Theater, REDCAT at Disney Hall Performance Complex, Zipper Auditorium at the Colburn School, the Grammy Museum, Boston Court Performance Center, and the Nate Holden Theater.
Educational programs at all scholastic levels will play a major part in helping to fulfill the Jazz Bakery’s mission. Local elementary, middle and high school students will benefit from programs produced by the Jazz Bakery, and various Southern California colleges and universities will benefit from workshops and master classes for music students presented by touring artists performing at the Jazz Bakery.