How can neighbors that have grown up so close to each other be such strangers. Of course that's the case between you and most of your neighbors. Perhaps it's as simple as that between the amazing neighborhood of Leimert Park and with most of the rest of the people of Los Angeles. We just need a proper introduction.

This weekend it's everyone's chance to exchange pleasantries with a place the people will really want to get to know. You can come here and listen to Jazz or blues or hip hop that's as real and live as breakdancing for dinner and potential fame is on Broadway in New York. Music and art are a way of life.

Leimert Park is hosting the World Stage Jazz Festival, at The World Stage, 4344 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008(323) 293-2451 because of a great idea from LA Commons. They are the people who brought us tours of Thaitown and Little Armenia.

There's a Leimert Park tour at 10:30 a.m.

The whole shebang is being billed as"A Music Lover's Paradise: Sunday in Leimert Park Village."

And the people of Leimert and the people who already know this jewel of a village, this invitation is for us to enjoy, too. Let's take advantage and show the shops there that serve our community and make us proud to live here, that we will shop there every chance we can because we appreciate their desire to keep the culture of neighborhood in tact and thriving. And hopefully just a few new people will do the same thing, because hey you can't get Leimert Park anywhere but Leimert Park.

The concert will feature The Azar Lawrence Quartet, including a heartfelt tribute to the late Herman Riley, by Charles Owens. Vocalist Dwight Trible, violinist Karen Briggs, The Taumbú International Ensemble and The Winard Harper Sextet, will share this star-studded bill. Gifted artists from the World Stage's drum, youth, adult and vocal workshops, will also perform.

Phil Wahl of LA Weekly named it a pick of the week.
Wahl says: "The World Stage Jazz Festival is one of the season’s best, a day of nothing but jazz with plenty of that Billy Higgins feel. People take chances on this stage.

"The extraordinary vocalist Dwight Trible will be in his element here, having cut his teeth with Leimert Park legend Horace Tapscott. (Trible’s LACMA appearance a couple weeks ago was a complete triumph, the audience cheering like he was a rock star. You’d think some label would catch on.)

"Violinist Karen Briggs should swing like mad. Percussionist Taumbu’s International Ensemble mixes various rhythmic strains of the African diaspora with some intense jazz, and it’s a killer brew.

"Drummer Winard Harper will bring in a tough hard bop sextet, and saxist Azar Lawrence will get positively stratospheric. But the highlight has to be Charles Owens’ tribute to Herman Riley. Man, how Riley stole the show last year. People still talk about it. And Owens — who always plays his heart out at the Stage — doesn’t sound like Riley, not at all, so it’ll be fascinating to hear what he comes up with. He certainly has the skills and heart to tap into the late saxophonist’s astounding feel and soul, and feeling is what the World Stage is all about.

"This town has jazz chops, incredible chops. But feel? Soul? That can be a little more scarce. Skill and passion do not always run together. Maybe that is one of the things that made World Stage founder Higgins so special. Tapscott too. The sounds emanating from Leimert Park go deep, to the very heart of jazz, and then take it as high and far as it can go, and even beyond. Experience it for yourself this Sunday under the tarp at 43rd and Degnan in Leimert Park. It runs from noon to 7 p.m. And it’s free."

ALSO: During the tour, artists will take you to the Leimert Park businesses they frequent. Conversation between participants and artists is encouraged. A video magazine entitled the Sankofa Video Project will be shown at KAOS Network at 4343 Leimert Blvd. during the morning tour as well as during the jazz festival. The Sankofa Video Project features short clips on classic cars, skateboarding, martial arts, the Vision Theater, and more.