Tag archives: music
Two years ago, British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor was set to launch his first U.S. tour, including a concert at the Lobero Theatre for CAMA, the Community Arts Music Association. But the pandemic put paid to that with all venues being closed and Grosvenor flying back to the U.K., having not played one note. Now, with […]
A boffo bunch of bibliophiles descended on Tecolote in the Upper Village to mark the publication of Steven Gilbar’s Little Book of Montecito Writers, a 160-page paperback including more than 60 authors, which derived from a talk he gave at the village library last summer. The book signing, which benefitted the Montecito Library, also featured […]
The pandemic sure played havoc with the Music Academy of the West’s (MAW) landmark transcontinental partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), postponing both the orchestra’s second appearance in 2021 and nixing the opportunity for fellows who won the annual Keston MAX competition to travel to London to a week with the LSO for the […]
Fusing hard rock with their own edge, the LOC DAWGS band is tearing up venues from Santa Barbara-Goleta south through Anaheim, due to play at the vintage club, The Mint,in Los Angeles in March. The group was birthed by multi-instrumentalist songwriter Christian Pelonis (Stolen Thunder and the Shaun Cassidy Band), who wrote, played, and recorded […]
David Cale’s Lillian, which just opened at the Ensemble Theatre Company’s New Vic, is a wonderful one-woman show about love, life, and loss. The 75-minute production about a bookish middle-aged British woman, who falls for a man half her age, taking her on a whirlwind adventure, stars Nancy Travis, who co-starred with Tim Allen in […]
CAMA – Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara – hosted the first concert of its Masterseries at the Lobero with international Grammy winning string player Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations. For Spaniard Savall it was his fourth appearance in our Eden by the Beach having performed in 2008, 2010, and 2016. Playing […]
Two of our favorite pastimes have plenty to offer on their own. Drinking great wine enhances everything from consumption to conversation. Listening to music we love can lift our spirits and set the mood. Both also make us feel good. But what about putting these two actions together? And I’m talking about beyond just turning […]
Chase your dreams. It all too often is considered just the ideals of naive dreamers, but for Larry Vigon it has led to a lifelong career designing album covers, posters, and other artworks, including Carl Jung’s The Red Book. His commercial design has had a significant cultural impact but his personal artwork – drifting somewhere […]
The Westmont Music Department handed out tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to musicians and singers as part of its annual guild competitions. Corrie Bascom, a violinist from Minnesota, won the 10th annual Instrumental Guild Competition February 26 and Hailey Somphone, a soprano from Fullerton, won the Vocal Guild Competition on March 5. Each […]
With apologies to all of the other rock groups, solo travelers, and dedicated duos who might lay claim to being “The Hardest Working Band in Rock,” Tony Rock and the Cadillac Angels take a backseat to nobody. Rock – who recently changed his last name from Balbinot for personal reasons – no biggie, since the […]
Just three days are left in Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) ‘22, but that’s still plenty of time to partake of a plethora of movies in virtually every genre as a significant percentage of the films are either premiering or having second screenings March 10-12, while others might enjoy a third showing to fill […]
Tunisian artist Gerald Incandela celebrated the 20th anniversary of his half century in exotic style at the Summerland aerie he shares with his longtime companion George Schoellkopf. More than 50 guests attended the sunset soiree on the new terrace of their estate with Montino Bourbon playing a dotard (an Indian stringed instrument) with Joss Jaffe […]
Maison Mineards Montecito has been particularly busy of late with a German TV crew interviewing me in the garden, phone calls from the London Evening Standard and Daily Mail, and last week hosting a TV crew from France’s TF1 for its 16-year-old show, 50 Minutes Inside. After being interviewed outside Pierre Lafond by producer Sarah […]
Santa Barbara Symphony was in fine form under maestro Nir Kabaretti when it staged Beethoven in Bloom at the Granada. The show featured five-time Emmy Award-winner Jeff Beal’s new work The Great Circle, with an impressive backdrop of photos provided by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden of the damage done by the cataclysmic fire and […]
Few things have been more terrifying in the world of streaming fictional TV than House of Cards and the inexorable march of Francis Underwood toward the American presidency without regard for any person, place, or thing in his path – except perhaps later in the same series when his wife Claire ascended to the office. […]
SOhO’s schedule this week showcases a bunch of Santa Barbara-based acts covering a huge swath of genres. Soul Majestic, which seamlessly segues from roots reggae to R&B and folk-rock, headlines on Friday, February 19, followed the next night by M.O.B. Quintet, an all-star ensemble that performs an eclectic blend of Euro-Brazil progressive jazz and fusion […]
International violinist Joshua Bell was at the top of his game when he performed at the Granada, marking the glorious return of UCSB Arts & Lectures classical shows to the venerable venue, which celebrates its centenary in two years’ time. With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award-winning Bell, 54, has performed with virtually […]
A.I.M. Artistic Director Kyle Abraham is easily not only one of today’s most in-demand choreographers but also one able to traverse an array of disciplines as he has had works commissioned by companies spanning Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and New York City Ballet. A.I.M. (aka Abraham.In.Motion.), exists for Abraham to […]
CAMA – Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara – hosted the second concert of its international series at the Granada with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which has visited out Eden by the Beach more than 144 times since the venerable venue was built in 1924. Both organizations are celebrating their 103rd anniversaries. Under guest […]
SoCal native Karla Bonoff came of age during the early days of the emergence of the singer-songwriter in Los Angeles, playing her original songs on open mic nights at the famous Troubadour in the late ‘60s, where she met lifelong friends Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman, and Andrew Gold. The foursome formed Bryndle and made a […]
