Amy Grant, Peter Frampton & More to Perform at Rescheduled Music Center Concert Celebrating A&M Co-Founder Jerry Moss
UPDATE (Jan. 5): The Music Center announced Thursday that Grammy-winning producer David Foster will host Live at The Music Center: Concert Celebrating Jerry Moss, Co-Founder of A&M Records on Saturday, Jan. 14. Also, Rita Coolidge, who released 13 studio albums on A&M between 1971-84, has been added to the roster of artists making special appearances. Coolidge’s remake of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977.
PREVIOUSLY (Dec. 12, 2022): Live at The Music Center: Concert Celebrating Jerry Moss, Co-Founder of A&M Records is back on. The concert was first announced a little more than a year ago and was set to take place Feb. 11-12, 2022, but was postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases at the time. The “re-imagined” concert is now slated for The Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum on Jan. 14, 2023.
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The show will feature performances by Paul Rodgers of Free, whose rock anthem “All Right Now” was a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970; Peter Frampton, whose double-live album Frampton Comes Alive! topped the Billboard 200 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks in 1976; and Amy Grant, whose poppy smash “Baby Baby” topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1991.
“Jerry Moss has always been a music lover first,” Frampton said in a statement. “If it weren’t for him, Humble Pie and my own solo career might never have happened. Jerry has been a champion of mine my entire life and I treasure our friendship.”
“My first awareness of A&M Records was seeing the iconic logo on the inside of a Carole King record [on A&M-distributed Ode Records],” Grant added. “A&M Records was known by all to be the ‘artists’ label’ and it was a dream come true when they signed me. In getting to know Jerry Moss over the years, I was amazed by the breadth of his interests. Whether it was music, horse racing or trekking through Africa, excellence defined everything in which he invested his talents and passions.”
The show will also feature performances by Dionne Warwick, who never recorded for A&M, but is forever linked to Burt Bacharach, who did; Morgan James, Nova Payton and Joe Sumner. Additional performers will be announced. Though not performing, Bacharach, Herb Alpert and Misty Copeland will join the live celebration. The event will also feature pre-recorded appearances by Sheryl Crow, Yusuf/Cat Stevens and Sting.
The 90-minute concert will be held on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. PT. A limited number of concert tickets are on sale now at musiccenter.org/moss starting at $43.
The evening will also feature a pre-concert reception and a post-performance dinner. A limited number of VIP tickets including the reception and/or dinner are available by contacting [email protected]. Proceeds will support The Music Center’s ongoing efforts to provide free and low-cost access to arts experiences for all Angelenos.
Longtime patrons of The Music Center, Jerry and Tina Moss gifted $25 million in 2020 to help support the cultivation of strong arts and culture-focused partnerships and new programming initiatives at Los Angeles County’s premier performing arts center. The Music Center’s three original venues are united by an expansive outdoor area, which is now named Jerry Moss Plaza.
Alpert, Bacharach and Sting were announced as performers at the 2022 event, along with Merry Clayton and Sérgio Mendes, who are not currently on the bill for the make-up date. There are other changes between the scrapped show and the one that is set for next month. There were going to be two dates at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Now there will be just one, at the adjacent Mark Taper Forum. The concert events were going to be produced in collaboration with John Beug, who worked at A&M in its early years. The concert now is produced by The Music Center in conjunction with Nouveau Productions and executive producer and co-founder Robert Pullen.
2022 marks the 60th anniversary of A&M Records, the legendary label that Alpert and Moss co-founded on a handshake and an investment of $200 from both men. Over 25 years, A&M grew into the world’s largest independent record label, signing such iconic stars as The Police, Carpenters, Janet Jackson and Joe Cocker.
Moss won a Grammy for co-producing (with Alpert) Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’ sleek instrumental “A Taste of Honey,” the 1965 winner for record of the year. Alpert and Moss received trustees awards from the Recording Academy in 1997. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, receiving the Ahmet Ertegun award for non-performers.
After selling A&M Records to Polygram in 1989, Moss and Alpert formed Almo Sounds. Moss serves as chairman of both Almo Sounds and Rondor Music Inc., a music publishing company.
For more information and to purchase tickets, patrons can call (213) 972-0711 or visit musiccenter.org.