The Point Loma Hostel is opening its doors to the community for a series of avant-garde, experimental musical performances beginning Sunday, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m.
The nonprofit San Diego Council of Hostelling International USA has teamed up with the Trummerflora Collective, a local group of 14 musicians promoting independent and creative music, to put on informal concerts that are set to run four consecutive Sundays in the hostel’s outdoor courtyard, 3790 Udall St.
Ellen Weller, member of the Trummerflora Collective, has organized the series to display the group’s wide range of talent and celebrate music that can’t quite be labeled.
“This pretty much is the cutting-edge experimental music scene in San Diego,” she said of the collective.
Weller will also be the first act, performing with the Phunqui Meditation Blitzgruve on Aug. 6, whose tunes lean toward the improvisational. The group is a standard jazz arrangement of electric piano, acoustic bass, drums and woodwinds, including saxophone, flute and clarinet.
“It’s basically an extension of jazz,” she said of their sound. “We’ll be putting a funky spin on some fun jazz standards and then maybe taking it into a more avant-garde territory.”
The collective’s collaboration with the hostel seems a natural one, Weller continued. She said the Trummerflora Collective has been venturing into the community for cultural events and enjoys the international atmosphere, which lends itself to adventure and human interaction.
“There are people in there who are already adventurous “” they are already looking for different kinds of experiences, and they want to get a flavor of what’s happening in San Diego,” Weller said.
Sue Schaffner, executive director of HI’s San Diego Council, agreed that the summer series of eclectic sounds meshed well with the hostel’s mission of bringing people together and broadening horizons.
HI offers mostly dormitory-style accommodations with shared kitchens, libraries, courtyards and sitting and dining rooms to encourage communication among guests. The average age of HI’s hostellers is 18 to 30, with a majority of American citizens and international travelers from England, Ireland, Japan and Germany.
Weller said the series is open to the community. A donation of $5 is requested for the all-you-can-eat s’mores and bonfire that will accompany the tunes. Concertgoers can R.S.V.P. at (619) 223-4778.
For more information about the Point Loma hostel or the Trummerflora Collective, visit www.sandiegohostels.org/ptloma.shtml or www.trummerflora.com, respectively.