• Sean Watkins

    American Tune Featuring Sean Watkins & Friends

    Thursday, July 27, 8:00 p.m. (Doors and DJ set at 6:30 p.m.)

    FREE

    Grammy-winning musician and songwriter Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek, Watkins Family Hour, Works Progress Administration) kicks off this season of Sunset Concerts. With LA’s finest modern troubadours—Cary Brothers, Gaby Moreno, Joey Ryan, and the Bee Eaters, plus other special guests—Watkins celebrates the legacy of Paul Simon and the past, present, and future of America’s vital and vibrant singer-songwriter community. Special guests to be announced.

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  • Ibibio Sound Machine

    Ibibio Sound Machine

    Thursday, August 3, 8:00 p.m. (Doors and DJ set at 6:30 p.m.)

    FREE

    Fronted by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine effortlessly mixes African and electronic elements inspired in equal measure by the golden era of West African funk, disco, modern post-punk, and electro. Weird and wonderful folk stories, recounted to Eno by her family in the Ibibio language, form the fabric of the band’s unique musical tapestry.

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  • Delgres

    Thursday, August 10, 8:00 p.m. (Doors and DJ set at 6:30 p.m.)

    FREE

    Discover the musical descendants of Louis Delgrès—the nineteenth-century leader of a slave rebellion against Napoleon Bonaparte. Born in a Parisian suburb to Caribbean parents, frontman Pascal Danaë—who has performed with Harry Belafonte, Peter Gabriel, Gilberto Gil, and Youssou N’ Dour—founded Delgres with drummer Baptiste Brondy and sousaphone player Rafgee. The trio’s bluesy Caribbean roots music evokes the long-lost, drifting souls of New Orleans.

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  • Daymé Arocena

    Thursday, August 17, 8:00 p.m. (Doors and DJ set at 6:30 p.m.)

    FREE

    Become immersed in the contemporary Cuban music scene with Daymé Arocena. Showcasing a powerful stage presence, the singer-composer combines Santerian chant, rhythmic complexity, fluid jazz styling, and a nuanced Afro-Cuban soulfulness. Hear her perform songs from her latest album, Cubafonía—praised by Pitchfork as “a vibrant, bold record that is, at its heart, a love letter to her home country”—live at the Skirball.

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  • Odessa Havana

    David Buchbinder’s Odessa/Havana

    Thursday, August 24, 8:00 p.m. (Doors and DJ set at 6:30 p.m.)

    FREE

    Explore the rich and exhilarating connections between Jewish and Cuban music. Sharing Andalusian, Arabic, Roma, Sephardic, and North African ancestry, award-winning trumpeter David Buchbinder and Grammy-nominated Cuban pianist Hilario Durán team up with a global ensemble of jazz greats.

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  • Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo

    Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo

    Thursday, August 31, 8:00 p.m. (Doors and dance/drum workshop at 6:30 p.m.)

    FREE

    With their “singular, passionate, and purposeful voices” (NPR), Venezuelan singer Betsayda Machado and the multigenerational band of musicians and dancers La Parranda El Clavo take the stage for the final concert of the season. Hailing from the tiny Venezuelan village called El Clavo—where their music ignites parties in the town square—these masterful performers invite audiences to discover, indulge, and celebrate the contagious beats of Afro-Venezuelan soul.

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