By CHARLES ANDREWS
YOU’VE EITHER STUMBLED IN HERE
Or you meant to. Either way, great to see you. Let’s talk music and see who’s playing this week.
You may have read the NOTEWORTHY column over the past eight years in the Santa Monica Daily Press. They abruptly dropped me three months ago, but The Mirror felt my two columns were worth continuing. The first new political/human interest column, CURIOUS CITY, appearing only once since last November, will rise like a phoenix, still bi-weekly, this Friday, in print and online. The big advantage of Substack is that I don’t have to wait two weeks if there is something I just have to comment on. And that’s pretty likely. If you are subscribed (free), it will pop up in your email.
The Mirror Media Group has a much larger digital circulation throughout Los Angeles, so that is especially advantageous for my NOTEWORTHY column on music and other arts. These are not listings; they are my personal recommendations. I would be at every one of these if I could.
The easiest way to get both my columns, in your email, is to subscribe (free) to my Substack, MUSIC, POLITICS, LIFE.
Go to – https://bit.ly/3UGkK1F
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight – KAMASI WASHINGTON – Inglewood’s own jazz sax master has become a recognized force with his expansive, spiritual, innovative compositions and recordings, and his work with so many, including Kendrick Lamar and George Clinton. But the treat, the thing really, is to be there up close and personal when he goes where he goes on stage, and we now have the new Blue Note in Hollywood, which provides that beautifully. It is a striking, intimate venue, built for music, with perfect sight lines and acoustics. I saw Esperanza Spalding there, and everything was perfect. I plan to catch Kamasi and give you a report next week, but don’t wait for that. This is a rare opportunity. You may want to go two or three times. Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, Tues, next Wed, 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m., Blue Note, Hollywood, $72-100.
AL GREEN – is one of the most moving, emotional, soulful singers – ever. Any genre. Sure, he had lots of hit records – ”Call Me,” “Tired of Being Alone,” “Still in Love with You,” “Love and Happiness,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “Here I Am,” even making huge hits by others entirely his own: “Take Me to the River,” “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart”, “Can’t Get Next to You.” But there is nothing like hearing him live, because you get something just a little different, something of the moment. One of the best musical memories of my life was being there at his church in Memphis (he’s a bishop), Easter service, excellent band playing non-stop (because everything out of his mouth is a song of sorts), congregation colorfully dressed to the nines (or maybe 11) like Easter eggs with legs, big hats, testifying, dancing in the aisles, and a kid from Scotland who came all that way just for that service. Sat 8 p.m., YouTube Theatre, Inglewood, $37-357.
LA OPERA’s “WEST SIDE STORY” – It hit Broadway 9/27/57 as a musical, hit very big, now also two high-profile films, but this is how it was meant to be experienced. The large ensemble sings, dances, and acts at a very high level, but without diminishing Kim Duke’s strongly-voiced “Tony” or the rest of the cast, the powerful and “lusciously colored” voice of Nicaraguan-American soprano Gabriella Reyes’ “Maria” soars over it all. You might say, how could it miss, with Leonard Bernstein’s masterpiece composition (still sounding “modern,” even edgy at times), moving lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and the unmistakable choreography of the great Jerome Robbins, brought to the LAO stage intact. Give all involved great credit for inhabiting these genius and oft-examined elements. It continues to thrill audiences despite some antiquated settings and language, daddy-o, and it is unnervingly a tale for this moment in history, probably more so than at any time in its endless run. This gritty mid-20th-century West Side New York update of “Romeo and Juliet” again demonstrates how timeless were The Bard’s plays, but don’t give him too much credit. This was the magical convergence of so much great creativity that it changed the course of American theatre and music. A very high bar that his production scales. You have no excuse for missing this: it has been such a smash out of the box that LA Opera has added several performances, a rare thing. Sat, next Wed 7:30 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, $33-355.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9-11:30, free, for almost 14 years now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhardt-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
RECOMMENDED
DUDAMEL, LA PHIL, STRAVINSKY – Don’t tell The Dude, but I’m not a big Igor fan, he might bar me from the Hall. But these are two leviathans of classical music, “The Firebird” and “The Rite of Spring,” so I might go, and besides, the evening leads off with John Adams, who I do dig, the U.S. premiere of his “Frenzy: a short symphony,” which sounds danged intriguing. Thurs, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $152-385.
THEATRICUM BOTANICUM: – Outdoors in the Topanga Canyon woods, now in their 50th year, it is one of the very best theatre companies in LA, with a mastery of The Bard, and moving, thought-provoking topical productions. You had all summer, but it’s not too late. Besides these, only two more, next weekend: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Seagull: Malibu.” Their killer production this season is “STRIFE,” which sounds like today’s horrible headlines (“what compromise is possible when human dignity and health are on the line?”), gripping, with a great ending. Ditto “WINE IN THE WILDERNESS,” which takes a few mind-bending turns. “THE SEAGULL: MALIBU” is the only misstep I have seen this company take in 20 years of performances. Maybe it had to do with two principles being sidelined when I saw it. Fri 7:30 p.m.,“SEAGULL: MALIBU,” Sat 7:30 p.m., “STRIFE,” Sun 3:30 p.m., “WINE,” 7:30 p.m.“SEAGULL: MALIBU,” Will Geer’s TB, Topanga Canyon, $15-60.
“HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU” – Panel game show format takes on politics and current events, but it’s more important to be funny than right. Often hilarious. The chaos is overseen by one of my favorites, Roy Wood Jr., but his two team captains, Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, dish up the biggest laughs, most of them spontaneously. Every Sat, 9 p.m., CNN
TOLEDO DIAMOND – His decades-long Sunday night residency at Santa Monica’s Harvelle’s, the oldest blues bar in LA (almost a century!), is a treasure that you shouldn’t assume will always be there. Toledo choreographs (literally) a truly unique show, a blend of ‘50s hipster jazz and his dancing dames and a most modern smokin’ hot band that gets better all the time. Every Sunday, 9:30 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $12.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): “WEST SIDE STORY,” LA OPERA, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 10/4, 5, 7, 11, 12; THEATRICUM BOTANICUM: “STRIFE” 10/4, “WINE IN THE WILDERNESS” 10/5, 12; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 10/5, 12, 19, 26; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 10/6, 13, 20; KAMASI WASHINGTON, Blue Note, 10/1-5, 10/7-12; DUDAMEL, LA PHIL, STRAVINSKY, Disney Hall, 10/2, 4, 5; AL GREEN, YouTube Theatre, 10/4; DENGUE FEVER, Alex’s Bar, 10/9; DUDAMEL LA PHIL, MAHLER #2 “RESURRECTION,” Disney Hall, 10/9, 10, 11, 12; TY SEGALL, Bellwether, 10/10; PETER ERSKINE TRIO, Sam First, 10/11; LOS STRAIGHTJACKETS, McCabe’s, 10/12; LA PHIL GALA, DUDAMEL’S FIESTA, BEETHOVEN, DVOŘÁK, REVUELTAS, more, Disney Hall, 10/14.
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Theatre, 11/9, 12/14; CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM, Ford, 10/16; ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, McCabe’s, 10/17; OZOMATLI, Venice West, 10/17, 11/14, 12/12; BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET, Blue Note, 10/21, 22; BOZ SCAGGS, Disney Hall, 10/25; MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, Saban Theatre, 10/25; TIM BURTON’S “THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS” in concert, Hollywood Bowl, 10/25, 26; ITZHAK PERLMAN, Disney Hall, 10/28; SIMON MOULLIERE QUARTET w/ GERALD CLAYTON, Sam First, 10/29; Halloween “HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME,” film + organ music, Disney Hall, 10/31; QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, Dolby, 11/11; PATTI SMITH, “HORSES,” Disney Hall, 11/15; LA TRIO, Sam First, 11/15; ROBERT PLANT, United Theater on Broadway, 11/22, 23; LA OPERA’s “LA BOHEME,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 11/22, 30, 12/4, 6, 10, 14; DENGUE FEVER, Venice West, 12/5; JACKSHIT, McCabe’s, 12/9, 10, 11; LA PHIL, MOZART, SIBELIUS, Disney Hall, 12/12, 13, 14; CHARLES LLOYD QUARTET w/ GERALD CLAYTON, Blue Note, 12/15.
Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 3,500 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 39 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com
