Croons in the Lagoon

By ALYSIA GRAY PAINTER

Updated 10:51 AM PDT, Thu, Aug 6, 2009

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Angie Stone

Sitting back to smooth sounds is a pleasure to be had practically anywhere. Your car, while waiting for your friend to get off work. A kitchen, while you're making breakfast. And then there's Rainbow Lagoon Park, an ideal setting. Maybe the ideal setting. Right off the ocean, loads of sunshine, a snap to the air. It's all so soft. Soft in a hard world.

Rainbow Lagoon happens to be home to The Long Beach Jazz Festival, one of the premiere events in the jazz world. And that it happens in the summertime, when we're not be-mufflered and be-scarf-ed, and we can lounge around during long evenings... nice. It's three days, there are lots of big names -- Patti Austin, Angie Stone, David Sanborn, Hiroshima -- and food, too. It's all there: your relaxing, your eating, your listening and leaning back and looking at the sky. Your sunshine. Your seagulls.

And props to David Sanborn. The sax. "Since I Fell for You." Do you remember his beautiful work on that song? Used so memorably in "Moonlighting." Now there's a timeless ditty.

And The Next Great Drummer contest especially piques the interest. If percussion is your bag, make for the fest on Saturday, August 8th. That's when the sticks are flying.

The Long Beach Jazz Festival is Friday, August 7th through Sunday, August 9th at Rainbow Lagoon Park.