ZUBIN, RUSKIN, CUBA
By Charles Andrews
MUSIC, ART, CUBA - HELP!
Every good cause is now asking for your donations. But here’s a very worthy one you might not otherwise consider.
I was angered but not surprised a few days ago when some MAGA idiot was railing against “dangerous terrorist states” like Iran, China, North Korea… and Cuba. It is for narrow U.S political agendas that the remarkable people of Cuba continue to suffer from an embargo of nearly 65 years. We ended the embargo of Vietnam 30 years ago, a communist state where 50,000 Americans lost their lives. It has made Cuba an impoverished nation, and their great artists and musicians have been unable to obtain even the basic materials to create.
I was introduced to their art by a life-changing show staged by New York’s Center for Cuban Studies, at our SM airport nine years ago. Denied canvas, clay, pens or brushes, photo paper, paint, there were rooms and rooms of stunning creativity and beauty through found objects: pieces of wood, leaves, railroad ties, car parts, cardboard, toys, buckets. It was there I met the amazing Sandra Levinson, who co-founded the Center for Cuban Studies in 1972 in New York (and was in the building, less than a year later, working at night, when a bomb went off).
Misinformation and wrong perceptions about Cuba are the norm in the U.S. Like most misinformation it is intentional, to further the cause of a small group. In a nutshell, Cuba has been controlled to a great extent by the U.S. ever since we won the bogus (“Remember the Maine!”) Spanish-American War at the beginning of the 20th century and were “given” Cuba and the Philippines by imperial Spain. Cuba wound up with a series of corrupt dictators, controlled by U.S. corporate and political interests, for the first half of the century, until the last one, Fulgencio Batista, was overthrown by Fidel Castro, and fled Cuba on 1/1/1959. Castro was forced to get aid from Russia after the U.S. choked off his country with an embargo of all goods. Castro may not have been an angel and some abuses of civil rights continue to this day, but I can tell you from having been there and interacted with many everyday Cubans that it is not how you picture it. If you’d like a clearer history, read “Listen, Yankee! Why Cuba Matters” by SM’s own Tom Hayden. (He was at that art show, and his inscription in the copy I bought told me to “keep writing” - and so I will.)
The CCS offers fantastic organized tours, exchange programs, art, literature, and many educational services. I received a note recently from Sandra that a bill headed for passage in D.C. now will severely damage all non-profits, like CCS. So while there are so many worthy causes for your support, including our local theatre treasure The Ruskin Goup Theatre, who are trying to move to a larger, two-theater space offering great possibilities for Santa Monica, I urge you to help out CCS by ordering their beautiful 2025 calendar. Perfect gift for all your friends, who will remember your thoughtfulness all year. Of course you can donate beyond the cost of the calendar. Thank you!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight - TOM MORELLO – There are a lot of really good guitar slingers (especially in LA), there are a handful of indisputably great ones, and there is Tom Morello. Not to say that he is the best ever – that would be Jimi – but only a very few in a generation have such a metaphysical connection to their instrument that the virtuosic playing is a given and you watch and listen in anticipation of what creative soul will pour out of the amps. I haven’t seen Morello often. The first time was really memorable, on stage outdoors near the Democratic National Convention in downtown LA in 2000, taking their stage with his band Rage Against the Machine as Bill Clinton was speaking across the street. Quite a split screen. MTV wanted to put on a protest music event but when the city fathers learned Rage’s newest album was titled, “The Battle of Los Angeles,” they pulled the plug. Literally. As I saw a phalanx of riot-geared LAPD, 2,000 strong and with mounted police, marching towards the area, I was smart/scared enough to get the hell out, of what was later called “a police riot.” Morello came out of heavy metal, embraced punk, but added melody and chords (and a new guitar, a Fender Strat he named “Soul Power” - now on exhibit in the Met) when he formed Audioslave, due to the influence of vocalist Chris Cornell. Harvard-educated artist, songwriter, and activist Morello says he is living proof of the transformative power of rock’n’roll. Rolling Stone ranked him the 18th “Greatest Guitar Player of All-Time,” but what is that worth? After two multi million selling bands, his signature guitar joined forces with Springsteen’s E-Street Band for six years.) I wish I had seen one of those shows. This is a treat to see him in the intimate legendary Sunset Stip club The Roxy. There will be an opening act TBD. Thurs 8 p.m., The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, $125-232 (guaranteed resale)
RECOMMENDED:
Tonight -“KOOZA,” CIRQUE DU SOLEIL – Now you don’t have to drive to Vegas! This is a good bet as HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, and hopefully I will be able to report back on that, but a couple of friends gave it high marks. No one else really does what they do, on this scale. They invented it. I’ve only seen a few of their shows but they seem to have retained their high standards all these years, ever since I saw their first one also here on SM Beach, by the Pier, 37 years ago, that launched them to great international success. I think they know they have a rep to maintain with Santa Monicans. Thurs, Fri, Sat, next Thurs 8 p.m., Sat 4:30 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 5:30 p.m., Santa Monica Pier, $69-310.
BRAHMS with ZUBIN MEHTA – Brahms not on your top composers list? Should be. You think he’s just that “Lullaby” guy? True he is a Romantic but his symphonies can stand with the classics, and the 2nd is one of them. The evening opens with his “Violin Concerto,” performed by Greek virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos, whom the New York Times calls a wonder on the violin: “The music flowed out of him like a river - big, glistening, and unobstructed, but also tasteful in its frictionless subtleties.” The “Second Symphony” features one of the most affecting melodies the composer has written. And with our old LA Phil guy Zubin Mehta on the podium, you can’t go wrong. Fri 11 a.m., Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Disney Hall, LA, $69-239.
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): TOM MORELLO, Roxy, 12/5; “KOOZA,” CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, Santa Monica Pier, 12/5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; BRAHMS with ZUBIN MEHTA, Disney Hall, 12/6, 7, 8; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 12/8, 15, 22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 12/9, 16, 23, 30; ZUBIN MEHTA Conducts SCHOENBERG’S “Gurrelieder,” LA PHIL, LA Master Chorale, Disney Hall, 12/13, 15; STEVIE WONDER, Crypto.com Arena, 12/14; BILLIE EILISH, Kia Forum, 12/15, 16, 17, 20, 21; KY-MANI MARLEY, Lodge Room, 12/17; LOSTON HARRIS, Jazz Bakery, 12/21; SAMANTHA FISH, Fonda, 12/21; TONY GILKYSON, RICK HOLMSTROM, Cinema Bar, 12/24.
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 38 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com
