By CHARLES ANDREWS
TOROSIS, ZWICK, HALL, ZERNITSKAYA
Why am I starting this music column off with the boldface, all caps names of four Santa Monica City Council members? Because they made themselves legendary a week ago in the performing arts history and legacy of this very artistic city. Not in a good way. They also made history in the areas of economics, land use, preservation, faulty math, housing, and a couple other areas I won’t mention now because I would have to present a few paragraphs of supporting evidence in order to avoid legal threats. Later, I’m sure. This attempted trashing of our historic Civic Auditorium ain’t over yet.
But there is the moral argument that Jesse Zwick should have recused himself from the vote because his rejection of a brilliant restoration and use plan by the RPG Group leaves the door open for housing on that civic site, and that would be a conflict of interest since Zwick recently took a highly-paid position as a lobbyist for a developer and housing advocate. Even though our new City Manager, Oliver Chi (not gaining points with me), is defending it as “not illegal.” There are lots of things politicians CAN do that they shouldn’t do.
My more political CURIOUS CITY column runs every other Friday now, in print in the Santa Monica Mirror, and online. My weekly NOTEWORTHY live music and arts recommendations is online only, and the best way to have both automatically pop up in your email is to subscribe (free, no strings) to my substack, MUSIC, POLITICS, LIFE. Go to –
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight – BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET – It would be a simplification, of course, but you could say there are two important families reigning over the New Orleans music empire, the funky Nevilles and the smooth Marsalises. Branford has been an acclaimed saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator for more than four decades. He has played with Miles, Dizzy, and Herbie, composed for stage, film, and TV, and soloed with prestigious classical symphonies. He usually plays one or two shows at a time, but we get him for four. Two left, tonight. He doesn’t blow into LA that often, so this is something to take advantage of. Tonight, Wed, 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m., Blue Note, Hollywood, $77-200.
THE POET LAUREATE OF OCEAN PARK! – Mariano Zaro is launching his new book “The Weight of Sound” (love the title), which features “language rich in texture and syntax, allowing the reader to feel every verse on the page.” And he is very good at reading his own works. It’s a double launch also featuring Ramón García’s “Strange Signatures.” On YouTube and live Sat 7 p.m., Beyond Baroque, Venice, $7-11, free to members.
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.
ITZHAK PERLMAN – It’s ITZHAK PERLMAN. Are you nuts? Are you deef? What else are you going to be doing on a Tuesday night? Maybe you should move back to Omaha. Tues 8 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, $102-320.
RECOMMENDED:
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON – I can hear what you’re saying, and worse, what you are thinking. But most who dismiss her out of hand have never listened to her for more than a minute. Now that we have a ghastly picture of a president with no political experience and no moral compass, Williamson seems like she would not have been such a crazy choice after all. Her cabinet choices likely would have been brilliant, not buffoonery. Her ideas for government are not airy fairy, but real common sense, with compassion for Americans and solutions to enduring problems. I know that ship has sailed, but I still think you would enjoy her ideas, and the Saban is a gorgeous theater. Sat 10 a.m., Saban Theatre, Beverly Hills, $299-454.
“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): BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET, Blue Note, 10/22; BOZ SCAGGS, Disney Hall, 10/25; TIM BURTON’S “THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS” in concert, Hollywood Bowl, 10/25, 26; MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, Saban Theatre, 10/25; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 10/26; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 10/27; 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;
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, Dolby, 11/11; OZOMATLI, Venice West, 11/14, 12/12; PATTI SMITH, “HORSES,” Disney Hall, 11/15; RICK HOLSTROM BAND with STEVE BERLIN, McCabe’s, 11/16; 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; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Theatre, 12/14; 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
