Throughout his long and distinguished career David Lindley has performed music that redefines the word “eclectic.” He founded and lead the first world music rock band, the Kaleidoscope, has collaborated with artists such as Jackson Browne, Henry Kaiser and Ry Cooder and is leader of his own band El Rayo-X, that integrates American roots music and world beat with a heavy reggae influence. Lindley has been one of Hollywood’s most in demand session musicians playing with Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby and Nash, Warren Zevon, and many others. His live performances incorporate an incredible array of stringed instruments into a unique concert experience. John Hammond, Jr. is one of a handful of white blues musicians who was on the scene at the beginning of the first blues renaissance of the mid-’60s. A Grammy winner whose 50-year career has seen successful collaborations with the likes of Tom Waits, Dr. John, Duane Allman, Robbie Robertson, and G. Love and who once boasted both Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix in his band; Hammond does justice to classic blues by combining powerful guitar and harmonica playing with expressive vocals and a dignified stage presence.

Winner of the 2006 and 2008 GRAMMY® Awards for Best Classical Crossover category, Turtle Island fuses the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical styles, and by devising a performance practice that honors both, the state of the art has inevitably been redefined. Cellist nonpareil Yo-Yo Ma has proclaimed TIQ to be “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.” Formed in 1985, the Turtle Island Quartet has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings.

Returning to the Pollak stage after wowing audiences last season with her recreation of the love story between Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell that resulted in some of the biggest hits of their careers, Lauren Fox’s new show is wistful journey through a time and place where today’s musical icons became legends. From the mid-sixties to the early-seventies, something magical took place in Southern California…and it all happened in a bucolic stretch of hills, just above the Sunset Strip, called Laurel Canyon. Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, The Eagles, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, to name just a few, all lived, loved, created, and collaborated there. Lauren Fox tells the story of this epic time in American music history, and sings the songs that it inspired.