Motown and Caribbean Music Sensations to Headline 'Flights and Sounds of Summer' This Weekend

Motown and Caribbean Music Sensations to Headline 'Flights and Sounds of Summer' This Weekend

Side Splitting Comics Open the Festivities at the Great Park Comedy Corner at 7 p.m.

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Come to the Orange County Great Park's Flights and Sounds of Summer this Friday and Saturday for comedy, sultry Motown music and lush Caribbean sounds from Colombia's top diva. On Friday, get ready to dance to the hot Motown style of Derek Bordeaux at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine. Then, come enjoy Toto la Momposina and her 10-piece band as they croon lush and infectious romantic songs with Caribbean style on Saturday, August 15th. Toto's Great Park appearance is one of only four engagements on the West Coast. Admission is free, and parking is just $8.

Derek Bordeaux's sultry, honey-sweet Motown voice is the heart of this tight-as-a-drum sextet, seen frequently in various Southern California and Las Vegas venues.

Mixing infectious Caribbean rhythms with lush romantic melodies and great vocal style, Toto la Momposina and her 10-piece band are frequent headline attractions at music festivals worldwide but they rarely perform in California.

Both evening events begin at 7 p.m. with shows by local stand-up comics at the Great Park Comedy Corner.

Comedian David Marle, a stand up comic at the Maverick Theatre will perform on August 14th, and on Saturday, August 15th, the night also kicks off with the humor of Everybody Hates Chris writer Matt Claybrooks and Last Comic Standing alumni Brandon Vestal.

Beginning next Friday, August 21st at 7 p.m., Jackie Fabulous of Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes will open the evening with great laughs at the Great Park Comedy Corner. At 8 p.m., the big band-swing style sounds of Pete Jacobs and his Wartime Review will get you jitterbugging.

On Saturday, August 22nd at 7 p.m., Improv regular Chris Edwards and Comedy Central alum Tom Clark will make you smile at the Great Park Comedy Corner. At 8 p.m., the music of Cirque du Soleil will be brought to life by Francesca Gagnon the Voice of Alegria - with Inti-Illimani. Her beautiful vocal style and the wonderful music of Chilean Inti-Illimani will make this special performance one to remember.

Refreshments will be available at the Hangar Cafe, which opens at 6 p.m. on performance nights. The Hangar Cafe features a vegetarian menu of fresh salads and sandwiches, delicious snacks and desserts, and thirst-quenching beer, wine, and soft drinks presented by award-winning Avanti Cafe.

While in the Hangar Cafe, guests can view "Farm + Flight," a graphic arts exhibition of vintage orange crate labels showcasing Orange County's agricultural and military heritage.

The Orange County Great Park is located off the 5 Freeway and Sand Canyon in Irvine. For more information, please visit to www.ocgp.org.

The complete "Flights and Sounds of Summer" schedule is listed below. (Please feel free to post.)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Jackie Fabulous - Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes

Taylor Williamson - Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Comedy Central Live at Gotham

Friday Night Dance Party, 8 p.m.
Cedric Watson
Free dance instruction at 7:30 p.m.

Accordion master Cedric Watson won a Grammy nomination for his first album; now he's on the road backed by his south Louisiana zydeco swamp-mates on guitar, bass, drums and rub board.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Tim Chizmar - Last Call with Carson Daly

Mal Hall - Winner of 2009 O.C. Comedy Competition Irvine Improv and regular at World Famous Comedy Store

Saturday Night Concert, 8 p.m.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

True heroes of the swing revival, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy celebrates 100 years of Cab Calloway, the legendary fireball of talent whose goofy "hi-de-hi's" and "ho-de-ho's" in a rich and vibrant baritone brought a much-needed, high-voltage jolt of winning, feel-good energy to a country slogging through tough times ... making Cab Calloway a man for our times, too.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.

Chris Zapatier - BET's "SOB." Military Comedy Tours to Iraq and Afghanistan

Friday Night Dance Party, 8 p.m.
Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums
Free dance instruction at 7:30 p.m.

Veterans of 'scenes' as diverse as the famed Derby in Hollywood, NYC's Lincoln Center, and CNN-TV, the Rhumba Bums along with Miss Carmen Getit play swing, jump blues and hot jazz with wit, style and plenty of tongue in cheek.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Tom Connolly - Military Comedy tours to Iraq and Afghanistan

Danny Villapando - USO's Comics On Duty, Comedy Central's Latino Laugh Festival

Saturday Night Concert, 8 p.m.
17 Hippies

For the past 12 years Berlin's very own "orchester spezial" has been playing its whirling, crashing, diving, bobbing and weaving mixture of music that morphs French songs, English ballads and international rhythms into a captivating cocktail of sound. An eclectic band of virtuosi, the 17 Hippies are variously masters of the accordion, trombone, trumpet, violin, cello, woodwinds, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, Irish bouzouki, guitar, double bass and harmonium. And then there are the stellar vocals in German, English and French.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.

Steve Farrell - Regular performer at the Imrov, Ice House and the Comedy Store

Kenny Kane - Bob & Tom Show, USO Tours in Iraq & Afghanistan and Laugh My A** Off

Friday Night Dance Party, 8 p.m.
Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad
Free dance instruction at 7:30 p.m.

So popular at the Great Park last summer that he was invited back immediately, Johnny Polanco is our favorite salsero, with regular gigs at El Floridita, The Mayan and other iconic Southland venues.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Dante - Last Comic Standing Finalist

Saturday Night Concert, 8 p.m.
Niyaz

"Call it Sufi music or World Fusion, but one thing is for sure, the band Niyaz is an Iranian musical trio whose debut album ranked #1 on world music charts on iTunes ..." This is trance music for the 21st century: hypnotic, ecstatic, ghostly, and delicious. Azam Ali, best known as half of the popular duo Vas, is the vocalist heard on the soundtrack of "The Matrix: Revolution;" Loga Ramin Torkian, formerly of Axiom of Choice, is a master of Persian and Turkish musical traditions. Loga and Azam are accompanied by tabla, bass, violin and laptop.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.

Chris Zapatier - BET's "SOB." Military Comedy Tours to Iraq and Afghanistan

Friday Night Dance Party, 8 p.m.
Merchants of Moonshine
Free dance instruction at 7:30 p.m.

The two-steppers, the line-dancers, the citified folk in their high-heeled boots: the Merchants of Moonshine make room for all. Expect good times, great guitar licks, and songs that'll break your heart, fix it up, and then break it all over again.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Aristotle Athiras
David Marley

Saturday Night Concert, 8 p.m.
HAPA

Last summer's HAPA concert at the Great Park was among our favorites; this year Barry Flanagan and Nathan Aweau are joined by traditional chant master Charles Ka'upu for an evening of Hawaiian bliss. Known as "the sound of Maui," HAPA filters the pan-Polynesian traditions of Hawaii through the lens of contemporary acoustic music to create a sound that has kept them in demand on the festival circuit while earning them a record-breaking number of Na Hoku Hanohano ("Hawaiian Grammy") Awards.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Matt Balaker - Appeared on Conan O'Brien
Aristotle Athiras

Friday Night Dance Party, 8 p.m.
Bollywood Step
Free dance instruction at 7:30 p.m.

Our 2009 summer dance party finale: a Bollywood blow-out! A special night of fun with exuberant Bollywood dance demonstrations, step-by-step instructions and simple choreography for all to follow, a party atmosphere and, of course, those irresistible dance rhythms.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH

Great Park Comedy Corner, 7 p.m.
Patrick Keane - Appeared on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Kristian Vallee - Appeared on Comedy Central and the Tonight Show

Saturday Night Concert, 8 p.m.
Easy Star All-Stars

Lonely Hearts Dub Band, Dub Side of the Moon, Radio Dread ... the Easy Star All-Stars are the very soul of dub reggae. Almost anybody can sing along to their favorite tunes, but only an artist can take something familiar and make it entirely their own, exploring the heart of the work and taking it to a new and different place. That's what you'll hear on the "Lonely Hearts" tour, plus Easy Star originals in our reggae fest conclusion to the summer concert series.

Source: Orange County Great Park

CONTACT: Jenn Starnes, +1-949-724-6574, for Orange County Great Park

Web Site: http://www.ocgp.org/

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