I’ve known it for years. Going out for live music is always a gamble. Some artists are reliable — Stevie Wonder, Loudon Wainwright III, Gary Clark Jr, Judy Collins, Dave Alvin/The Blasters, Peter Erskine, The Stones, The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Tony Gilkyson, Gerald Clayton, Bruce, Mavis, X, LA Opera, Southside Slim, Lady Gaga and yes, Taylor. Others… you might get a lousy experience, or you might get pure genius, that you will always remember. Van Morrison comes to mind.
But like the wise philosopher Wayne Gretzky once said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and you will never be there for a magic moment if you never take a chance. Choose wisely, of course, to up the odds. That’s what this weekly column is all about.
Magic took the stage Sunday at the monthly spoken word performance series, Library Girl. at the Ruskin Group Theatre at the SM Airport. It was one of the best LG performances I’ve seen, and I’ve been going nearly every month for more than seven years.
Founder/curator Susan Hayden told me she thought this one would be really special, but when I asked her to write a few sentences explaining why, she had difficulty. Now I know why. She felt the artists involved, and the unusual format she came up with, could lead to something remarkable, but hard to explain.
Matt Sedillo is a mostly political Mexican-American poet, and Dan Navarro a Mexican-American singer-songwriter-guitarist-voice over actor. Both have amazing credits, and both are storytellers par excellence. If for one reason or another, that doesn’t ring your chimes — you shoulda been there. Each of them had at least one moment on stage that clearly moved the audience, but the two of them interacting spawned moments of creativity that rarely happen, anywhere. Hayden posted afterwards that it “exceeded expectations.” Indeed.
You may have missed nearly 15 years of Library Girl, but don’t miss the next 15. It’s in your own backyard.
Highly Recommended
Tonight — Mavis Staples 85th Birthday Celebration — I’ve been telling you for weeks this will be an amazing show, with an unprecedented gathering of guest stars, including Santa Monica’s own drummer extraordinaire, Steve Mugalian. Thurs 7:30pm, YouTube Theater, Inglewood, $29-2,719.
Tonight — La Traviata, LA Opera — This is one of the most enduring tragedies, a new production, with star soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen. What’s Violetta to do, when she wants to settle down but her following won’t let her, even for True Love? This is one of those operas everyone has heard of, for a reason. Thurs 7:30pm, Sun 2pm,Wed 7:30pm, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, $54-399.
Hot Club of Los Angeles — You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday, 9pm–11:30pm, for more than a decade now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhart-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure, just over the border from SM. Mon 9pm, Cinema Bar, Culver City, no cover.
Recommended
Albert Lee — He emerged from the ‘60s London folk scene, playing with the likes of Clapton and The Everly Brothers, to be respected as one of the best to ever pluck a string. He is a masterful picker, on several instruments. Fri 8pm, McCabe’s, Santa Monica, $34.
Herbie Hancock — Aren’t we fortunate to have such a respected jazz pioneer as Hancock in residence at Disney Hall, and closer to home, Stanley Clarke at The Broad? Take advantage, they won’t always be here. Hancock will be on keyboards with a quintet, including two saxophones. Gotta be good. Sat 8pm, Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $108-174.
Toledo Diamond — Unique, riveting, first class act. There’s nothing like it, it is high performance art and great decadent fun. Degeneracy is rarely so well disciplined. And the band is smokin’. Don’t. Miss. Toledo Diamond. Sun 9:30pm, Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $12.
Next Thurs — Rhiannon Giddens — Even though you never know what to expect from her because her interests and talents are so far-ranging and I have been a little disappointed a time or two, she is one of those always worth the gamble. Wonderful vocalist and accomplished fiddler and banjo picker, when Ken Burns was introduced to her partway through the making of his terrific country music doc, he later said, I’m not sure we could have made it without her. She is an encyclopedia of American music, but hardly dry reading. Thurs 8pm, The United Theatre on Broadway, LA, $86-631.
Coming attractions (all Recommended): Toledo Diamond, Harvelle’s, 4/21, 28; Hot Club of Los Angeles, Cinema Bar, 4/22, 29; La Traviata, LA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 4/27; Jacky Terrasson Trio, Jazz Bakery, 5/5; Library Girl, Ruskin Theatre, 5/12; Kraftwerk, Disney Hall, 5/21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30; John McEuen, McCabe’s, 5/24; Chris Stapleton, Hollywood Bowl, 6/26, 27; Rolling Stones, Sofi Stadium, 7/10, 13.
Charles Andrews has lived in Santa Monica for 38 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else.