|
|
||
Local Girl Moves To
& Suffers In NYC, Makes Good, Comes Back Each Summer... Gillian Harwin Wednesday 1st July 2009 at 8pm Anna's Jazz Island 2120 Allston Way (just east of Shattuck Avenue & the downtown Berkeley BART) Berkeley, California 94704 (510) 841-JAZZ Thursday 9 July 2009 at 7pm Kuumbwa Jazz Center 320-2 Cedar Street Santa Cruz, California www.kuumbwajazz.org (831) 427-2227 Californian turned New Yorker Gillian Harwin is a songwriter, producer, arranger, band leader, polyglot vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. She sings and accompanies herself playing either guitar or upright bass. She graduated with a degree in classical vocal performance although her true passion is for singing jazz, Latin, soul, R&B and the blues which, if you visit her myspace site, you’ll see she does quite ably. She won a big contest at the Apollo Theater this year, by the way! The Gotham Groovers, her ensemble last year, were Gillian on vocals, Geoff Brennan on bass, Andrew Oliver at the 88’s, and Reese Bullen on drums. Let's see who comes this year. |
||
Monsters? They
look so nice... Darol Anger's Monster String Quartet w/ Natalie Haas, Brittany Haas and Lauren Rioux Friday 3 July 2009 Freight & Salvage Coffee House 1111 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94702 Door 7:30 P.M., Music 8:00 P.M. | Purchase advance tickets: $18.50 Order on-line at www.thefreight.org or call (510) 548-1761 Darol Anger's Monster String Quartet is, in Lucky Darol's words, "Quite simply the groovin'est, best-looking string quartet on this planet." These four fabulous string artists promise to knock off your socks, then wrap you in a warm sonic towel with a repertoire that ranges from old-timey scorchers to deep blues, classical to jazz, and Scandinavian folk hits to Darol's famed originals. For over two decades, violinist and composer Darol has been reinventing the string ensemble to incorporate his explorations into American traditional, bluegrass, jazz, and world music in groups he helped found such as the Turtle Island String Quartet, the David Grisman Quintet, Psychograss, Montreux, and the Republic of Strings. A vibrant cellist, Natalie Haas has spent much of her career investigating the cello's potential for rhythmic accompaniment to fiddle tunes. She has performed extensively with master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and Mark O'Connor, as well as with fiddler Natalie MacMaster and Irish supergroup Solas. Sister Brittany Haas's phenomenal rise as a fiddle prodigy results from her command of a number of styles, including old time, bluegrass, and jazz. She is a founding member of Darol Anger's Republic Of Strings, and has performed with banjo masters Tony Trischka and Steve Martin, and Crooked Still as well. Busy girl! Lauren Rioux's sensuous sound, vibrant rhythmic sense, and fluency in old-time, Celtic, and Scandinavian fiddle styles add depth to any ensemble she joins, including Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, Scott Nygaard and Crow Molly, and the String Nation Orkestra. And some others. |
||
Mose Allison & Bob DoroughThursday through Sunday 2-5th July 2009Yoshi's Jack London Square 510 Embarcadero West Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 238-9200 www.yoshis.com Thursday
7:30pm & 10pm shows $20 As
a singer, songwriter, and pianist, Mose Allison is sui generis: he’s
steeped in the blues and jazz and boogie, but he’s a stone original.
Since his 1956 recording debut for Prestige—Back Country Suite, which
evoked his native Mississippi and met with unanimous critical
acclaim—Allison has been part of the international musical landscape.
He’s worked with Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Al Cohn, as well as his own
trio (with which he’ll perform at Yoshi’s), and he continues to write
extraordinary songs that have been covered by Van Morrison, Bonnie
Raitt, Elvis Costello, and many others. (Time Out has noted “his gift
for writing a song with a sting in the tail.”) His most recent Grammy
nomination was for Mose Chronicles: Live in London, vol. 1 (Blue Note). When the rest of San Francisco was going to the Fillmore and
the Avalon, Dorough was in North Beach composing and recording an
absolutely brilliant setting of a Lawrence Ferlinghetti poem call
"Dog." Go find it. |
||
Hindustani
Vocal Concert
Sunday
July 5th 4pm |
||
Really deep voices Ladysmith Black Mambazo Friday - Sunday 10th-12 July 2009 Yoshi's Jack London Square 510 Embarcadero West Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 238-9200 www.yoshis.com Monday 13 July 2009 Rio Theatre 1205 Soquel Avenue at Seabright Santa Cruz Show time: 8:00 pm, Doors open at 7:00pm Tickets: $45 Gold Circle Seating, $30 General Admission (No Jazztix or Comps) Advance tickets: Logos Books & Records, 1117 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz and online at: www.kuumbwajazz.org Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a Grammy Award winning, South African a cappella singing group. The band has come to represent the traditional culture of South Africa in the eyes of many music fans worldwide. They are a national treasure of the new South Africa in part because they embody the traditions suppressed in the old South Africa. Ladysmith Black Mambazo brought South African Zulu vocals to attention when the appeared on Paul Simon’s multi-plantinum Graceland album. Their current album Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu, recently won the 2009 Grammy for best traditional world music. Magnificent acapella singing. |
||
| I've seen a peanut stand,
I've seen a rubber band, but... I've done seen 'bout everything, when I seen an organ crawl  The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival presents its BoOMEria Extravaganza Saturday 11 July 2009 1-5pm The Chapel Royal at Boomeria, Bonny Doon (map and directions provided to ticket holders). The annual Boomeria Extravaganza comprises a unique afternoon with hours of organ music in Boomeria's own Chapel Royal, snacks, drinks, and wine, surrounded by the Bonny Doon area forest. The event takes place on Saturday, July 11, from 1 to 5 pm with Vlada Moran, Bruce Sawhill, Hartzell Lemons, Lawrence Manzo, and Preston Q. Boomer performing throughout the afternoon. Visitors also receive a tour of the insides of the organ, known as an "organ crawl." They may also choose to sit outside it and just listen. This event is a fundraiser and proceeds benefit the continued operation of the Baroque Festival's annual concert season. Due to limited capacity, this event offers advance ticket sales only. Directions are furnished to ticket holders.  The grounds of Boomeria are full
of surprises, including its own castle and catacombs. Created and
maintained by "The Boom" – a long-time local high school chemistry and
physics teacher – with considerable slave labor, Boomeria is a somewhat
well-kept local secret, and major fun to be at and to explore.The Boomeria organ itself was a project begun in 1953. In that year Trinity Paris Church (now Cathedral) in San Jose replaced its organ console (vintage 1879), which had originally been donated to the church by The Boom's great grandmother. Boomer rescued the console along with two sets of pipes and started a project was completed with the assistance of students from San Lorenzo Valley High School over a period of many years. Since then generations of Boomer's students have helped with the building of this massive instrument and its intricate mechanisms, along with assistance from organ builders Bill Reid, John West, and Bill Visscher. The Boomeria organ now features 40 ranks, 2,500 pipes, baroque voicing, and mechanical action. Visitors to the Baroque Festival's annual Boomeria Organ Concert have the opportunity to explore the grounds and crawl into the organ itself, while enjoying live music and refreshments. Admission: $50 (includes music, food, drinks, thrills, and ambiance). Ticket Outlets: Santa Cruz Tickets: 831-420-5260 or 459-2159, www.santacruztickets.com, and walk-up sales at Civic Center Box Office and UCSC Ticket Office windows. Or direct from the SC Baroque Festival: 831-457-9693, www.scbaroque.org Please note: advance ticket sales only. You may understand “pub crawling,” but for more info on what an "organ crawl" is, click here: wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_organ |
||
Michael Hedges Is
In Heaven Michael Gulezian plus Gary Hull Thursday 23 July 2009 Don Quixote's International Music Hall 12 fleeting, glittering minutes from Santa Cruz 6275 Highway 9 in Downtown Felton, CA 95018 7:30pm $12 adv./$14 door Michael Hedges is in heaven, but the guy who he modeled himself after in the first place, Michael Gulezian, is thankfully still among us, and you really need to hear him. "While it is visually breathtaking to watch him perform, a Michael Gulezian concert is more than a display of cutting-edge virtuosity - it is the communion of master musician engaged with his audience in the mystery of self-revelation, creating music of atmospheric power, ecstatic joy, and haunting beauty." I agree. He pulls sounds from an acoustic guitar no one else can. And he's also very funny. Santa Cruz guitarist Gary Hull will perform an opening set as Michael's guest artist. "I enjoy surprising the audience - and myself - with what can be done with an acoustic guitar," says Gary Hull. He's got soe serious company this night. Artist sites and sounds: www.timbrelinemusic.com and www.myspace.com/michaelgulezian and www.garyhull.net |
||
Never mind... Orchestra Baobab Canceled! Friday, July 31, 2009 Canceled! Rio Theatre 1205 Soquel Avenue at Seabright Santa Cruz Show time: 8:00 pm, Doors open at 7:00pm $25 adv / $30 door: Streetlight Records 831-421-9200 and www.brownpapertickets.com By Phone: 1.800.838.3006 Canceled! Saturday and Sunday the 1st and 2nd August 2009 Yoshi's Jack London Square 510 Embarcadero West Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 238-9200 www.yoshis.com Why is it "Afro-Cuban" music sounds so much better played by Africans than anyone else? These are some true pioneers of contemporary African music. And they know how to dress. Photographed at the Plage d'Ifan (is that an LP in the sand there?), in Dakar, Senegal, we see Ndiouga Dieng, Thierno Koite, Charlie Ndiaye, Issa Cissokho, Rudy Gomis, Mountaga Koite (that's his head sticking out the bus window), Assane Mboup, Barthélemy Attisso, Balla Sidibe, Latfi Ben Geloune. More than 20 albums, including the 1982 classic Pirates Choice; two BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music (critics' choice and best African artists, 2003). Like the long-lived tree it's named after, this band's got deep roots, tapping into powerful African traditions along with undulating Cuban rhythms. Orchestra Baobab, formed in Dakar in 1970 to entertain businessmen and government officials, developed a fluid fusion style that made them red-hot in Senegal and beyond, until Youssou N'Dour and his revved-up mbalax sound eclipsed their deceptively laid-back groove. The group broke up in 1987, but the reissue 14 years later of Pirates Choice, composed mainly of often-bootlegged session tracks, led the core members—singers Rudy Gomis and Balla Sidibe and guitarist extraordinaire Barthélemy Attisso—to get back together. In 2002 their reconfigured band put out, to great acclaim, Specialist in All Styles, co-produced by none other than Youssou N'Dour. |
| There will be more here soon. You know it.  |
||||
I
usually
list things here that I personally think are interesting, but find it
impossible to be comprehensive. Please forgive oversights on my part.
It takes a lot of time and I don't even get comps to the gigs for doing
this. A
generous benefactor would probably help make it more regular though!  If you want to check broader listings, from the sublime to the ridiculous, here are two fat links that I think may be of great help: |
||||
|
|
||||
|
My pal Bruce Bratton has an online weekly newsletter with the latest news and (gasp - can you handle it?) opinions about Santa Cruz that I cannot recommend highly enough. He also covers music, local films, community events, and so on. He also runs Tim Eagan's weekly strip - alone worth the price of admission. Bookmark this link, or better yet, simply subscribe and get the nudge in your email regularly. Invaluable, yet it doesn't cost a penny.
|
||||
  |
||||
 
 |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
 Yes, that's a sandstorm in the background. Music is a service industry. |
||||
|
||||
 Know of something I and everyone else should
know about? And please check the community links above, too. They lead all kinds of interesting places. I erratically update and then gladly email
this listing to anyone who is interested If you or someone you know of would like
to join this list,
|
