The request was almost unfair: Fill in the blank.
“Jazz is _____.’
“Jazz is collective and mesmerizing,” said Leslie Preston, winemaker and founder of Coiled Wines and partner in Lala’s Jazz.
“Jazz is a fun… well, I like to use the words ‘art form’ instead of music,” said award-inning jazz artist and partner in Lala’s Jazz, Alex Sjobeck. “It’s all about collaboration and creating this living and breathing piece of art.”
The name “Lala,” the name of their new club, is quite personal to Sjobeck.
“So, the story goes that before I started talking, I was whistling and humming. So, my nickname became ‘Lala,’” she said. “So, our new nonprofit Lala Jazz, kind of an homage to my passion for music, even before I could talk.”
Before opening with regular appearances from jazz artists from around the world, there will be Lala’s Jazz Gala, something they call a “celebration of music, community and the beginning of something bold.”
Just before their gala, stretching over two days on Sept. 12 and 13, Preston and Sjobek visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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