{"version":1,"state":"ready_for_manual_post","account":"@openearmedia","feature":{"slug":"steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026","title":"Garden of Klōns tests whether a band can change hardware and keep its identity","pageUrl":"https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026","eventStartDate":"2026-08-26T19:30:00-07:00","updatedAt":"2026-08-11T14:22:34Z"},"caption":"Garden of Klōns did not arrive as a fixed quartet. Steve Lehman premiered it in 2024 as a bass-less trio with Cory Smythe and Jonathan Pinson. A 2025 tour changed shape again. At Sam First on August 26, Lehman and Smythe remain; Chris Tordini takes the electric-bass chair and Jacob Porter brings an augmented drum set.\n\nThat matters because the project lives at the seam between instrument and processing: saxophone plus effects, augmented piano, electric low end, augmented drums. Tordini has played in Lehman’s bands before, but this documented configuration changes both rhythm players heard in UC San Diego’s complete 2025 concert archive.\n\nOur feature traces Lehman and Smythe’s partnership back to 2015, follows the electronics through A U T O TROPHs and Ex Machina, and turns the official Garden archive into a listening map—not a guessed set list.\n\nWED 26 AUG · 7:30 + 9:30 PM · separate tickets\nSAM FIRST · LOS ANGELES · 21+\n\nFull story: https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026\n\n@thestevelehman @samfirstbar","hashtags":["#SteveLehman","#GardenOfKlons","#CorySmythe","#LosAngelesJazz"],"mentions":[{"role":"artist","name":"Steve Lehman","handle":"@thestevelehman","verifiedBySourceId":"steve-official"},{"role":"venue","name":"Sam First","handle":"@samfirstbar","verifiedBySourceId":"samfirst-current"}],"slides":[{"order":1,"url":"https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026/social/01.jpg","alt":"Cover slide over an original four-voice circuit diagram: Garden of Klōns changes the circuit. Steve Lehman and Cory Smythe keep the core; Chris Tordini and Jacob Porter change its rhythm engine. Los Angeles, August 26, 2026.","sha256":"0dfb04ce2d10287678145a892d0fc17b5c1589c62c15f71d2281a5389d8dce25"},{"order":2,"url":"https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026/social/02.jpg","alt":"Timeline slide: Lehman and Smythe premiere Dialogues at the Margin in 2015; A U T O TROPHs joins their electronics in 2017; Garden of Klōns premieres as a bass-less trio in 2024; documented 2025 dates alternate trios and quartets. The 2026 version changes both rhythm players.","sha256":"724d88a95d2f1dddbf5542878152daeb7a6c17d401253792c02a4aac08bc8952"},{"order":3,"url":"https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026/social/03.jpg","alt":"Event details slide: August 26, 2026 at Sam First, 6171 West Century Boulevard number 180, Los Angeles. Separately ticketed 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. sets, age 21 plus. Steve Lehman on alto sax and effects, Cory Smythe on augmented piano, Chris Tordini on electric bass and Jacob Porter on augmented drum set.","sha256":"83e49b6ec723be70ba81e4d73eb783dfdc4d2bde24b0766f15b22e7c6e571a6f"},{"order":4,"url":"https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026/social/04.jpg","alt":"Credits slide with original four-instrument circuit artwork. Follow Steve Lehman on Instagram as thestevelehman and Sam First as samfirstbar. Official links for Cory Smythe, Chris Tordini and Jacob Porter and the complete source trail are in the Jazz DateBook feature. Original artwork by Open Ear Media; no artist or event photography reused.","sha256":"48c7e8933343ad0ec55c0c6028bfb3a48e42402022dac89cb58aceb5b772c19e"}],"contactSheetUrl":"https://jazzdatebook.com/featured-shows/steve-lehman-garden-of-klons-los-angeles-2026/social/contact-sheet.jpg","altText":"Four-slide Open Ear Media carousel about Steve Lehman’s Garden of Klōns at Sam First. Slide one introduces a quartet that changes the project’s circuit. Slide two traces the Lehman–Smythe collaboration and the project’s changing trio and quartet forms. Slide three lists the August 26 Los Angeles details and complete four-player instrumentation. Slide four gives the verified Steve Lehman and Sam First accounts and credits the original Open Ear Media artwork.","automaticPostingAllowed":false}