By CHARLES ANDREWS
I HAVE TO LEAD WITH THIS: This past weekend, Gustavo Dudamel presented an extraordinary and courageous performance, transforming Beethoven’s formidable “Egmont” into a searing rebuke for the horrors being inflicted on Americans, and others living here “legally” or otherwise, by their own government. He commissioned a new narrative by noted playwright Jeremy O. Harris, and boy, did he deliver. It was apparently Harris’s idea to switch genders for the Egmont role, and Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett pulled it off fiercely. I hope to write more about this noteworthy performance and to interview Dudamel about it.
THE RPG GROUP, looking to restore our world-famous Civic Auditorium to performance status again, should have come up with “the numbers,” a friend said the other day. Maybe so. But that’s like telling a brilliant cancer researcher whose funding you just cut off to prove that any cure they might come up with will not cause autism. That’s not the real reason they refused to extend exclusive negotiations even 30 days. In this case, there is no funding at risk. CAROLINE TOROSIS, NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA, DAN HALL, JESSE ZWICK – have espoused a “densify Santa Monica” philosophy that drives their rejection of an extremely credible RPG Group, which would open up that land for housing, after that pesky Civic Auditorium is bulldozed.
But no, they will not be allowed to kill our historic and still viable Civic. They must go from our City Council. They are not representing the best interests of our residents, but rather of the special interests who fund their campaigns and God-knows what else, as in the case of ZWICK and his six-figure “consulting” job with an “affordable housing” developer. We must organize and fund-raise, find great candidates, and develop Santa Monica responsibly, for the benefit of those who live here.
THE SANTA MONICA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, created by the legendary bassist-composer Stanley Clarke, May 1-9 at the Broadstage, just now released their lineup, so I will have to wait until next week to fill you in. They are celebrating the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Mark your calendars, save your nickels.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
TONIGHT (Wed)! – MARDI GRAS IN SANTA MONICA WITH THE DAMN WELL PLEASE ORGAN TRIO – Always primed to be the best club party of the year, at the top of my list. The title needs explaining. (And I am going with the traditional one, even though the club has altered it this year. I don’t want anyone to think this might be a different group, different wild party.) It’s N’Awlins-flavored music, but not Trombone Shorty or Tuba Slim authentic. There may be more like a dozen to two dozen musicians overflowing the stage, or it may be a trio. The important thing is frontman Darius Holbert, who is not only a great musician but a rare performer. He controls the room, no matter what’s happening. Themed drinks, maybe some Crescent City victuals, but definitely rockin’ music with nonstop energy. And the cover is just ridiculous. Wed 9:30 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $5.50.
“HONOUR” – The first theatrical presentation at the new, beautiful Ruskin Group Theatre at the airport, just a couple doors down from the old location, was worth waiting for. It is running for a while, so I will go into more detail later, but I can tell you that it is Ruskin’s top-notch, from the provocative writing to the four superb actors. Thurs, Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Ruskin Group Theatre, SM Airport, $20-45.
GUSTAVO, BEETHOVEN “MISSA SOLEMNIS” – Not surprisingly, our creative conductor and music director is leaving us, in June, in the fashion of a comet blazing through our sky and disappearing. More Beethoven, then nothing until late May. Here’s all you need to know about this concert: Beethoven considered this his greatest work, and it is so intimidating (two choirs, soloists, 125 musicians) that even our wunderkind Venezuelan has never attempted it, until now. Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $310-380.
KAUKONEN The Final Tour – Airplane Tuna blursman Jorma is holding that last note. I think you should be there. Even though it’s sold out. Fri, Sat, Sun 8 p.m., McCabe’s, Santa Monica.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – The HCOLA don’t claim to play note-for-note Django, but they are the spot-on purveyors of his spirit, and I think if he were to walk into the Cinema Bar on a Monday night and sit in with them, they would all be smiling big. Just be sure to call me if that happens. Mondays 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, always no cover.
RECOMMENDED:
TONIGHT (Wed)! – PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND – They are legendary for a reason, a stageful of smokin’, stompin’, New Orleans musicians tracing a long history of that famous music city. Wed 8 p.m., The Soraya, Northridge.
TOLEDO DIAMOND – Who’s been showing up even longer than the Hot Club, with a very different but also virtuosic show? 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 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. Toledo is perhaps the longest-running proof that Santa Monica is a City of the Arts. Sun 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $13.
TV RECOMMENDATIONS:
“THE DAILY SHOW” – has been skewering political and cultural figures for 30 years now. Some years were better than others, but they now have probably their best cast ever. In the early days, polls showed that young adults got most of their news from “TDS” – maybe we’d be better off if this were still the case. And that the other meaning for TDS didn’t exist. Mon – Thurs 11 p.m., COMEDY CENTRAL.
“HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU” – Roy Wood Jr. (was a regular on “TDS”), Amber Ruffin, and Michael Ian Black are magicians who take you through the news stories of the week and make you laugh instead of weep. Ridicule has always been a staple of political satire, and boy, do we need it now. And you will become better informed, too, whether you want to or not. Sat 9 p.m., CNN.
‘“DARK WINDS” – I don’t understand how this was passed by for awards consideration. Based on the very popular series of murder mysteries by Tony Hillerman, set on the Navajo Reservation, his daughter Anne took up the series after he died and added a female police officer, and her novels have all hit the NY Times bestseller lists. Four years ago, Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin began producing shows that combined some novels by both Hillerman, and the results have been spectacular. Stunning NM scenery, great stories integrating Native American spiritual beliefs (sometimes metaphysically scary), superb soundtrack, and a phenomenal cast of nearly all Indigenous Peoples. The fourth season started this past Sunday on AMC and also airs on AMC+. The previous three seasons are available on Netflix, and I seriously recommend you binge-watch them all first. You will thank me. Sundays 9 p.m., AMC, AMC+.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): “HONOUR,” Ruskin Group Theatre, 2/19-22, 26-28, 3/1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-22; “HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,” CNN Sat 9 p.m., 2/21, 28, 3/7, 14, 21, 28; ANNE HILLERMAN’S “DARK WINDS,” Season 4, AMC/+, 2/22, 3/1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 4/4; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 2/22, 3/1, 8. 15, 22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 2/23; DAMN WELL PLEASE ORGAN TRIO, Harvelle’s, 2/17; PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND, The Soraya, 2/18; 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; LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO, BroadStage, 2/27; BRANDI CARLILE, Kia Forum, 2/27; GLASS “AKHNATEN,” LA OPERA, 2/28, 3/8, 11, 14, 19, 22;
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 3/1, 8, 15, 22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 3/2, 9, 16, 23, 30; BILL FRISELL TRIO, Blue Note LA, 3/4, 5; DUDAMEL, “Dante,” BEETHOVEN 6, Disney Hall, 3/5, 6, 8; SANTA CECILIA, Fonda, 3/6; “HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,” CNN Sat 9 p.m., 3/7, 14, 21, 28; 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; ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES, Kia Forum, 4/3; 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; STANLEY CLARKE’S SANTA MONICA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, BroadStage, 5/1-9; MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, Blue Note LA, 5/4, 5; LA SANTA CECILIA, Fonda Theatre, 5/7; 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 40 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com
