I’M BACK!
From Norway, sorry I had to skip a column. A year older, rested and rarin’ to go and now it’s not t-Rump attacking just the arts, but now going after LA, CA, Newsom and Bass, Marines in the bushes and tanks rolling in DC for a tin foil hat, wanna-be dictator’s military parade birthday present (at our expense), who seems to be imploding from his own ignorance and lack of understanding how our government works.
Still acts like he was elected king. So it is fitting that this Saturday, his birthday, is also No Kings Day, with some 2,000 protest gatherings organized for all over the USA, including at north Palisades Park, at Montana and Ocean, from 11 to 12:30. Go through the Promenade first and see if Jerry Rubin is at his sticker table, where he has tirelessly protested t-Rump almost every Saturday for years. If not, he’ll be at the rally.
Tuesday SMDP will carry a new CURIOUS CITY column, my first since last November, about all this, including my solution. You don’t want to miss that.
R.I.P. TWO GREAT ONES, BRIAN WILSON. SLY STONE
I’m going to blame jet lag, COVID (#5) and of course Donald Trump. I will find morer space for them next week. Both deserve it..
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight! - LA OPERA’s “RIGOLETTO” – Oh great, one more “don’t miss” on the same night. I need a clone. Fortunately, this Verdi classic will be performed five more times in June. With baritone star Quinn Kelsey in his signature role. “Seduction, murder, revenge - decadence and corruption” – sounds like today’s headlines, but with more class, I’m sure, and a better soundtrack. You'll hear some of the most famous music passages ever. Thurs, Wed 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, $84-450.
BLUE NOTE JAZZ FEST Day 2, GRACE JONES, STANLEY CLARKE N.4EVER, others – Yes, many others, and there is a Day 1 but if you can only make it through one day I would pick this one. I would pick it because a full set by long tall Jamaican ethereally funky singing dancing fashionista model Grace Jones is a rare spectacle, but if you picked Day 2 for master bassist Stanley Clarke, or Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet, NOLA’s Soul Rebels with many guests, or Willow, good on ya, or maybe just to see that host Arsenio Hall still has a gig… nah. Sun 3:30 p.m., Hollywood Bowl, $27-299.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9-11:30, for almost 14 years now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhart-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
RHIANNON GIDDENS, STEVE MARTIN, ED HELMS, others – I kept missing Giddens live, then saw her twice in settings that disappointed. This is the show I’ve been waiting for, where she uses her knowledge of folk, bluegrass and country music, culture and and history, and skills on banjo, fiddle and vocals, as well as composition, to become the ultimate folk music tour guide, tying together history across centuries, playing it for you as she goes. She has won two Grammys, a MacArthur “Genius” grant, and a Pulitzer Prize. She’s the Artistic Director of the Grammy-winning Silkroad Ensemble, composer of opera and ballet, has hosted TV shows and podcasts and recorded with everyone from Beyoncé to Yo-Yo Ma to Ben Harper. With her group Carolina Chocolate Drops, she helped to make the Black roots of American folk music better known to generations of music fans. A couple of her pickers, Martin and Helms, have also been knowm to crack a good joke. Wed 8 p.m., Hollywood Bowl, $12-178.
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 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): LA OPERA’s “RIGOLETTO,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 6/12, 15, 18, 21; PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT’s “H.M.S. PINAFORE,” Heritage Square Museum Lawn, 6/13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22; BLUE NOTE JAZZ FEST Day 2, GRACE JONES, STANLEY CLARKE N.4EVER, others, Hwd Bowl, 6/15; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 6/15, 22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 6/17, 24; RHIANNON GIDDENS, STEVE MARTIN, others, Hwd Bowl, 6/18; LYLE LOVETT & HIS LARGE BAND, Orpheum, 6/20; MAKE MUSIC DAY, global, 6/21; GETTY VILLA MUSEUM reopens, Pacific Palisades, 6/27; DAN NAVARRO, McCabe’s, 6/28.
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): JOHN FOGERTY, Hwd Bowl, 7/6; PAUL SIMON, Terrace Theater, 7/7, Disney, 7/9, 11, 12, 14, 16; ALISON KRAUS, UNION STATION, Greek, 7/13; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin, 7/13, 8/10, 9/14, 10/12, 11/9, 12/14; BRAHMS, GRIEG, LA PHIL, Hwd Bowl, 7/17; GERSHWIN, DVOŘÁK, LA PHIL, Hwd Bowl, 7/22; “THE PLANETS,”, LA PHIL, Hwd Bowl, 7/24; DAVE ALVIN, JIMMY DALE GILMORE, McCabe’s, 7/25, 26, 27..
Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 3,000 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 39 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Not even Kauai. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com