PICK ME UP, BOB-STYLE
At a dark moment when I spied a photo of our newly-(s)elected City Council, agonized through the reporting of yet another another another horrid school shooting, and an hour of lies from t-Rump that he called a press conference (aren’t “the press” supposed to ask hard questions, to get at the truth?), I bumped into this sunny video made for the Bob Marley-Curtis Mayfield song, “One Love,” and it made me smile and lifted my spirits. The world seems so complicated, and overpowering, and downright evil sometimes, that I needed to be reminded that people are all the same, and they’re good, and the truth is simple. The video is a parade of all sorts of people mouthing the words. “One Love.” Not a bad notion.
One Love (Official Fan Made Music Video) - Bob Marley
RECOMMENDED:
Tonight - SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK – OK, maybe it has been almost 50 years since I saw them perform at UNM, but this is the kind of ensemble built around a timeless idea that doesn’t lose much if they keep the changing personnel top quality, and I’m guessing they have if they are still around and still touring the world. That idea, birthed in D.C., was a quartet of African-American women singing four (now five) part harmonies a cappella, and dancing and storytelling (with signing), about their heritages and lives. All this sounds perhaps culturally academic and dry, but it isn’t.Their blended voices, vocal improvisations, and choral-stacked spiritual/gospel and jazz traditions are unique and lively. It may be a trek to Northridge but you won’t find a performance like this under any other rock. And oh yeah, they’ve added a bass player. Thur 8 p.m., The Soraya, Northridge, $75.
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, next Thurs 8 p.m., Sat 1 p.m., Sun 5:30 p.m., Santa Monica Pier, $79-310.
BILLIE EILISH – It took my millennial daughter about two minutes to get why Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell became THAT hugely popular so fast; dad maybe two years, because I didn’t sit down and listen to an entire album. But song by unique song I began to understand what a special, rare talent she is. Along with her brilliant songwriting-producing brother Finneas, they were homeschooled by their creative parents to pursue all the arts, and by 13 Billie was working with Finneas out of their Highland Park home to release a successful EP at 16 and two years later her debut album shot straight to the top of both US and UK charts. She has 32 Grammy nominations and 9 wins, Finneas has 17 noms and 10 wins. She did a James Bond theme song, for pete’s sake, as a teen – and won an Oscar. She was diagnosed with Tourettes at 11. She seems to eschew the glittery trappings of pop stardom, and that’s refreshing. I hope she lives to be 100. Fri, Sat 7 p.m., Kia Forum, Inglewood, $230 (but you’ll have to beg a ticket, sold out, five shows, 85,000 tickets!).
SAMANTHA FISH, JESSE DAYTON – You’ll immediately sign up for handsome country rock star Dayton’s fan club as soon as you hear him croon, take an attitude or plant his boots planted Chuck Berry-style, but this is Fish’s show and the first moment she peels off a jaw dropping fusillade of stinging blues notes you will undoubtedly wonder how in hell you had so far missed this phenomenon, and will instantly install her in your pantheon of the best guitar slingers you have ever heard. Such a treat to have her and Dayton touring together. Sat 8:30 p.m., Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, $40-84.
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
ARTURO SANDOVAL “Swinging ‘Deck the Hall’ Holiday Concerts” – I don’t usually go to or recommend “holiday concerts,” but… trumpeter-pianist-composer Sandoval is an LA treasure who was just in the news for receiving the very prestigious Kennedy Center Honors (to go with his Emmy, 10 Grammys and the Presidential Medal of Freedom), and he could make “Mary Had a Little Lamb” swing like crazy. Mon 8 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $45-150.
TONY GILKYSON, RICK HOLMSTROM – Got the holiday blues? Feeling guilty because you’re drawn to this friendly little Culver City watering hole with live music and no cover, when you should be genuflecting in church, in meditation on your sinful ways, on Christmas Eve, for Christ’s sake? Well, there are many ways to worship, to elevate your soul to heaven, and if God didn’t want music to be such a heavenly, healing thing She wouldn’t have made voices and gee-tars sound that good, would She? Gilkyson is a master of voice and guitar, and the Holmstrom Band is as good as anyone could want behind a master. This should be a very holy night. Tues 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, no cover.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK, The Soraya, 12/19; “KOOZA,” CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, Santa Monica Pier, 12/19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; BILLIE EILISH, Kia Forum, 12/20, 21; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 12/22, 29; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 12/23, 30; 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
