Hot jazz in the summertime

Lolita Harper

A toe-tapping, finger-snapping, swanky kind of good time is taking

place at the Orange County Museum of Arts tonight.

The museum kicks off its “Hot Jazz, Cool Art” series tonight,

where people are invited to come hear live music in the sculpture

garden, sultry jazz tunes drifting along on the ocean breezes.

Newport-Mesa residents will also be treated to fine food and drinks,

museum spokesman Brian Langston said.

“It just makes for a beautiful evening sitting out in the

sculpture garden listening to live jazz,” Langston said. “Something

about the effect of live jazz music that really makes you feel good.”

Tom Hynes, a jazz musician and educator, coordinated this summer’s

concert series, taking time out from the Citrus College and the

Idyllwild Arts Academy’s summer jazz programs.

Hynes is an accomplished jazz guitarist. His professional credits

include performing with the Pacific Symphony, Frederica von Stade and

the 1996 tour for the State Department’s Jazz Ambassadors program,

Langston said.

Hyne’s will bring his own eclectic composition to the series, as

his quintet will play the final concert in August.

As the stresses of the workweek sink tonight with the setting sun,

the Jennifer Hall Quintet will perform a tribute to Gerry Mulligan.

“With her crack quintet, baritone saxophone ace Jennifer Hall pays

tribute to fellow baritonist Gerry Mulligan, whose combo with

trumpeter Chet Baker defined the ‘West Coast Cool’ jazz of the

1950s,” Langston wrote in a promotional release.

The series continues throughout the summer, with performances in

July and August.

Vocalist Cathy Segal-Garcia will share her sultry, smooth sound on

July 25. The Boston artist brings her East Coast roots to the

Pacific, combining the styles of the two regions.

Admission to the June and July concerts also includes access to

the Nathan Oliviera exhibit and the museum’s permanent collections.

The Tom Hynes Quartet, with its sax and trombone front line, will

perform Aug. 22.