By CHARLES ANDREWS
YOU MAY SAY I’M A DREAMER
But doggone it, I’m not the only one. Not even close. Take any peace-on-earth issue you want, and we have the overwhelming, avalanche-burying, white-out arctic blizzard, tsunami-soaking, LBJ over Goldwater, FDR over Alf Landon, George Washington over everybody majority.
Who’s we? Good hearted people. Who just want to be live-and-let-live left alone in peace and don’t want to tell others how to live their lives. Yes, we do have way too many of the latter, but they are misguided and misinformed and will straighten out given the chance. They’re good people too. We still have that overwhelming majority. Numbers. I believe every human being at their core is good, and the world over wants the same simple things. Enough, for themselves and their families. Peace, life, liberty, and sometimes even a little happiness.
THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
Right? How many epochs of evolution and we haven’t come close. So what? We know what is needed. We have the tools. We have the abundance on this beautiful green Earth. Nothing stops us… but us. As that wise philosopher Pogo once drawled, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” (Which he borrowed from an early ‘70s Earth Day poster.)
Sure, the forces of greed, with all their power and wealth, are a formidible barricade. But – the numbers. We always seem to forget that we have the numbers. The grasshopper and the ants. Have you reread George Orwell’s brilliant “Animal Farm” lately? I highly recommended that. It’s short, but so wise, a fable for any time and especially this one. “1984” is also great to revisit, but it’s hard to find the hope in that one.
This is being published on Christmas Eve. No matter what your faith or philosophy, despite my abhorance of the selling of Christmas, you have to admit people do seem to find a spirit around now that’s missing much of the rest of the year. So let’s celebrate that! And keep it going, why not? Hundredth monkey. There is absolutely no reason why tomorrow has to be the same as today. Life is a grand adventure, every day. I keep saying that we need a revolution of governing ourselves, and that this is the perfect moment in history, but that has to start with a revolution of thought, and we all can do that.
Peace on Earth. It’s time. Aren’t you ready for that?
SLIM PICKIN’S this time of year but it will pick up by mid- to late-January. To keep your interest I have combed through the schedules of some venues which book far in advance. It’s always better to get your tickets early for some shows you know you don’t want to miss, rather than be disappointed.
I will add more next week, then you may want to download to your phone, because that comprehensive list won’t be up every week.
HOORAY! Peter Lesser’s long-anticipated book on the history of McCabe’s will be out in February. Can’t wait to see it.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9:00-11:30, 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 9:00 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
RECOMMENDED:
TOLEDO DIAMOND – His decades-long Sunday night residency at Santa Monica’s Harvelle’s, the oldest blues bar in LA (almost a century!), is the stuff of myth. 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. Sun 9:00 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $13.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 12/21, 28; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 12/22, 29.
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): SHEILA E. & THE E-TRAIN, Blue Note LA, 1/7, 8; SCRIABIN “PROMETHEUS,” SIBELIUS, ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, LA PHIL, Disney Hall, 1/9, 10, 11; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Theatre, 1/11, 2/8, 3/8, 4/12, 5/10, 6/14, 7/12, 8/9, 9/13, 10/11, 11/8, 12/13; MUSIC 101: THE SYMPHONY, Disney Hall, 1/14; SALONEN, LEVITT, BUSONI PIANO CONCERTO, Disney Hall, 1/17, 18; STANLEY CLARKE, Blue Note LA, 1/22-25; IVES, ADAMS, HARRIS, COPLAND, LA PHIL, Disney Hall, 1/23-25; MAHLER, BARTÓK, RAVEL, LA PHIL, Disney Hall, 1/29-2/1; JIM KWESKIN & FRIENDS, McCabe’s. 2/7; DUDAMEL, BEETHOVEN, LORENZ, SCHUMANN, Disney Hall, 2/12-15; ALBERT LEE, McCabe’s, 2/13; WARREN HAYNES Solo, Blue Note LA, 2/17, 18; KAUKONEN The Final Tour, McCabe’s, 2/20, 21, 22; GUSTAVO, BEETHOVEN “MISSA SOLEMNIS,” Disney Hall, 2/20-22; BEETHOVEN, ORTIZ, DUDAMEL, Disney Hall, 2/26-3/1; GLASS “AKHNATEN,” LA OPERA, 2/28, 3/8, 11, 14, 19, 22; BILL FRISELL TRIO, Blue Note LA, 3/4, 5; DUDAMEL, “Dante,” BEETHOVEN 6, Disney Hall, 3/5, 6, 8; CHARLIE HUNTER TRIO, Blue Note LA, 3/9; THE BAD PLUS POTTER TABORN, Blue Note LA, 3/10, 11; MADELEINE PEYROUX, Blue Note LA, 3/17, 18; “VERTIGO” in concert, Disney Hall, 3/21; SAMARA JOY, Blue Note LA, 4/15, 16; VERDI “FALSTAFF,” LA OPERA, 4/18, 26, 30, 5/2, 6, 10; TAKE 6, Blue Note LA, 4/30-5/3; MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, Blue Note LA, 5/4, 5; MOZART “THE MAGIC FLUTE,” LA OPERA, 5/30, 6/6, 11, 14, 17, 21.
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
