By Charles Andrews
FRIDAY, MAY 1, A NATIONAL STRIKE, TO RESTORE SANITY
You know what to do…nothing. No work, no school, no patronizing of corporations, shop if you must at mom & pop businesses (and make that a habit). No Costco, no Starbucks (Jerry Rubin), no DoorDash pizza. Fill your gas tank Thursday, buy your groceries Saturday. This has been a very effective tool for change in many European countries.
Watch a movie at home or at a locally-owned theater. Read a book. Take a walk on our beautiful beach. Write some poetry. Water your plants. Plant a kiss on a loved one. Call long-distance friends. Hug your kids. Your furry ones, too.
There’s lots you can do on this one day. The idea is to show government and big business that we are very unhappy with the way things are, and that there must be big changes. Only a one-day precipitous drop in spending by hundreds of millions of us can send the message, straight to the wallet, the only thing they understand and react to. There are 350 million of us; we are powerful, and we are pissed. No more.
MAY 1 2026 – WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES for more info.
This is not politics or even ideology. This is humanity. Ask the Pope. Don’t dismiss these ideas, ripe for this time. If not now, when?
But while making the wrongs right, we can also dance and sing! It’s almost summer! So much great music to revel in. A lot of it jazz.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
TAKE SIX at the Blue Note
TAKE 6 – I haven’t followed them since their debut album back in the ‘80s blew me away, but I’m betting my reputation that they are still amazing. Blending gospel and jazz, they are the most-awarded a cappella group there is. 10 Grammys. Don’t know if any original members are there, but it’s a little different with an a cappella ensemble. You will remember this show for a long time. Fri-Sun 7:30, 9:30, Blue Note LA, Hollywood, $49-66.
SANTA MONICA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL – Technically, the festival is next Fri-Sat, but there are interesting “warm-ups,” one free and right here in Santa Monica. Hiromi’s Sonicwonder is being staged at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown LA Friday, and Sunday, you can trot on over to The Promenade for a slew of bands and performers, for free. OK, maybe this might not qualify for HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, but this first edition of the festival is a big deal, because of the potential it has to put Santa Monica on the international music map, and you’ll want to be able to say you were there at the very first one. It’s the brainchild of the legendary bassist-composer-educator Stanley Clarke, who has been hanging around our town a lot the last few years, particularly around SMC and the BroadStage. I’ll tell you more about the two main shows next week, in next Wednesday’s NOTEWORTHY column. For many details, go to the festival website: https://www.smjazzfest.com/#faq. Fri, Sun, next Fri, Sat, various locations and ticket prices.
“BLUE KISS,” Ruskin Group Theatre – Playwright Stephen Fife has meticulously constructed a bizarre family odyssey that peels off layer by layer, with surprises and even shock. This one is not an easy ride for the audience, not many smiles, but well worth it. They’ve got another winner here, more proof of what an artistic gold mine lil ol’ Santa Monica is. Only an idiot wouldn’t want to preserve and nurture all this. It’s a perfect opportunity to experience the beautiful new Ruskin Group Arts Center, just a couple of buildings down from the old one. This play is in the smaller room, the 55-seat Audre Theatre. Their bar is now open at the Ruskin, so sit back and dig the ride. Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Ruskin Group Theatre, SM Airport, $30-35.
VERDI “FALSTAFF,” L.A. OPERA – Drink it in, the incomparable Romantic Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, with a really good librettist, the British Bard. Expect comic mayhem, disguises and mistaken identities, merry wives and a knight not quite up to it all. Verdi doing Shakespeare, an all-star jam! I hope to see it this weekend and give an in-person report. Only one performance this week, then several more through May. But don’t wait to get tickets, or you may be drinking alone. Sun 2 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, $44-400.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – This rockin’ quintet, known for Django Reinhardt-style ‘30s-’40s jazz (for starters, but they go way beyond), whose across-the-board virtuosity never fails to bring a smile. I have never heard anyone walk away from one of the HCOLA shows and say, “They’re pretty good!” Usually, it’s hard to say anything when your jaw is on the floor. Still at their years-long residency at the intimate Cinema Bar just outside Santa Monica, every Monday night. Lucky us. Take advantage. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, no cover.
RECOMMENDED:
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. (Yes, you bet, this is art.) Sun 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $13.
TV RECOMMENDATIONS:
“THE DAILY SHOW” – Mon – Thurs 11 p.m., COMEDY CENTRAL.
“HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU” – You can learn a lot from this show, but, nah, it’s all about the newsworthy jokes and satire. Sat 9 p.m., CNN.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): “BLUE KISS,” Ruskin Group Theatre, 5/1-17; VERDI “FALSTAFF,” L.A. OPERA, 4/30, 5/2, 6, 10; “HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,” CNN Sat 9 p.m.; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 5/3, 10, 17; TAKE 6, Blue Note LA, 4/30-5/3; STANLEY CLARKE’S SANTA MONICA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, BroadStage, Tongva Park, Promenade, 5/1-9; MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, Blue Note LA, 5/4, 5; LA SANTA CECILIA, Fonda Theatre, 5/7; PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT, “ZORRO,” San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 5/16, 17;
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 5/24, 31; MOZART “THE MAGIC FLUTE,” L.A. 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
