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Donald Byrd, Marvin Gaye Producer Larry Mizell to Celebrate 80th Birthday With L.A. Tribute Concert
Pioneering jazz and R&B producer Larry Mizell, celebrating his 80th birthday at a L.A. tribute concert, speaks to Variety about his enduring impact.
Commemorating Larry Mizell’s 80 th birthday in 2024 (Fonce passed away in 2011), record label and live music company Jazz Is Dead has assembled former collaborators Gary Bartz and members of The Blackbyrds, along with contemporary artists Katalyst and Melanie Charles, for a concert Aug. 28 at the Ford Theater in Los Angeles that organizer Dru Lojero describes as a “mix tape” that will be “pure flames.” Ahead of the show, which promises performances of songs produced by the Mizells from Bartz, Byrd, Humphreys and more, Larry spoke at length to Variety about his and Fonce’s densely-packed discography, their unconventional working methods, and much more. We were big fans of Johnny with his funk and his timing, so I called up the head of Fantasy Records, Ralph Kaffel, and I said, “We’ll cut a couple of tracks and see if you bite.” So it was a varied process, not a calculated one. We were born and raised in New York City and also across the river in New Jersey, and at one point we decided we were going to move the folks out [to L.A.], mom and dad and our younger brother, Rod.
Or read this on Variety
