HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
DARIUS AND THE DAMN WELL PLEASE ORGAN TRIO (this name may not mean anything to you unless you used to hang out at the late lamented Liquid Kitty on Pico, they deign to play Harvelle’s because it’s run by their old Kitty buddies Jason and Damian, tonight celebrating their two year anniversary of running our local treasure Harvelle’s, Darius is An Entertainer and he can damn well play too, plus cool guests), Tues 9:30 p.m., Harvelle’s, DTSM, $5-$10, free before 8.
RECOMMENDED:
TONIGHT! -- PSYCHO!! LIVE! (well, the music is live and it’s expertly screeched by the LA Opera Orchestra in the perfect goth temple so this will probably be the scariest version of the Hitchcock masterpiece you’ve ever seen and heard and they have a party afterward, it had been so long since I’d seen it I forgot just what a great film it is, sure we all know about the shower scene but that’s only about halfway through, keep your eye on the shots and lighting and angles, good ol’ Hitch, the master, Hitch-spotting spoiler alert: did you spot him in the tiny window almost at the beginning?), Thurs 8 p.m., the Theater at Ace Hotel, DTLA, $20-$150.
TONIGHT! --THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (if Psycho! is too modern for you, and you regretted missing Clark Wilson’s Nosferatu last Halloween and Phantom the year before, the haunting organist is back with another of his live recreations of old movie scores to creepy classics, with the brilliant, truly scary Lon Chaney gallumping about in 1923 as a pretty stooped dude with an awesome crib and a dating problem), Thurs 8 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, DTLA, $36-$67.
TONIGHT! - 1984 (how memorable does this sound? stage adaptation of the chilling George Orwell novel, now with Tim Robbins not only directing but in the lead role of O’Brien), Thurs, Fri, Sat, next Thurs 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., The Actors’ Gang Theater, Culver City, $20-$35, Thursdays “Pay What You Can,” must sign up by 7:30.
ENDS TONIGHT! - THE GIFT: THE JOURNEY OF JOHNNY CASH (just as good, in different ways, as Ronstadt’s doc but didn’t last nearly as long, oh well, love Linda but in the final tally Cash is a giant of 20th Century music and culture, his story here told through photos, film and first-person narratives from family and friends, taking you to where the Man in Black grew up, unwinds his life to get some insight into this very complicated man of many coats, oh and the music sounds pretty dang good too plus early video footage that’s priceless, how young does Joni Mitchell look?), Thurs-next Thurs, Laemmle Music Hall Beverly Hills.
ENDS TONIGHT! -- LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE (finally at the end of a very long run, she blazed early trails in male-dominated rock, advocated for human rights, lived life and her art on her own terms and succeeded wildly, and as Dolly Parton declares, “that girl could sing ANYthang!”), Thurs, Monica Film Center, DTSM.
TONIGHT! -- MANUEL THE BAND, Tyler Alexis (I’m going to be straight with you, people, I know nothing about these two acts and don’t have the time to research them but the boys at Harvelle’s, who never hype anything, have mentioned three times in the last two months that they really like them a lot and I should do myself a favor and come hear them, and so I shall), Thurs 8 p.m., Harvelle’s, DTSM, $10.
DUDAMEL CONDUCTS BRUCKNER (ya like “Romantic,” ya gotta love Bruckner’s 4th, some people wait with baited brass till it comes round again, you can snag a seat for 20 bucks, are you kidding, why would you miss it? it’s been a hit for nearly 150 years, because Bruckner kept reworking it majorly until it was), Fri 8 p.m., Sat, Sun 2 p.m., also Fri 10 a.m., exclusive invitational rehearsal for Friends and Patrons of LA Phil, Sonata Level, which you should be because I can’t dig up that kind of scratch and we have to support this magnificent orchestra), Walt Disney Concert Hall, DTLA, $20-$209.
GUITAR SHORTY (was a very busy teenager, got his name on the local club marquee at 15, joined Ray Charles at 16 and toured for a year, then Willie Dixon produced his single for Cobra Records, Guitar Slim lured him away to New Orleans, left Slim and formed his own band which became the house band at the legendary Dew Drop Inn where he played with T Bone Walker, Big Joe turner and Little Richard, Sam Cooke put him in his band and on a bus to the West Coast, became Jimi Hendrix’s bro-in-law when he married Jimi’s sister Marcia, but he’s a down to earth guy who will chat with you after his set), Sat 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, DTSM, $
JANE PARKER-SMITH (I love organ music! -- when I travelled around Europe I would go into cathedrals toward the end of Mass just to see if the organist would go kind of crazy after the service as people were exiting and often they did, this Brit star organist takes on the mighty Disney Hall instrument, all 6,145 pipes ranging in size from drinking straw to telephone pole, with her “musicianship, virtuosity, entertaining programs and electrifying performances… her innate interpretative ability, prodigious technique and flair for tonal color”), Sun 7:30 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, DTLA, $20-$64.
A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (I’ve seen this, it’s really good, and my old buddy Rick Grunauer, intense music geek non pareil, contributed clips to it that only he had, that’s something, huh?), Mon-Thurs, Regent Theater, WLA.
SUDAN ARCHIVES (lots of good press, she played in a cool festival downtown LA I missed her, played the Pier I missed her, “Brilliant singer-violinist-arranger Sudan Archives weaves together an enchanting spell of sounds,” add electronics wizard, wish me luck this time), Tues 8 p.m., Moroccan Lounge, DTLA, $16.
THE FAMILY ACID, CALIFORNIA book signing (this is a little hard to explain but let me try -- Roger Steffens has led the most interesting life of anyone you’ve never heard of, from Brooklyn to wartime Viet Nam to CA to JA to Morocco, he’s taken superb photos, 10s of 1000s, every step of the way, now finally curated and cataloged by son Devon and daughter Katie and broken into eras and themes and tonight you will see a CA volume plus DJ ARK and please, what is cooler and more interesting than CA?) next Thurs 7-11 p.m., The Standard, Hollywood, free.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: SIGNIFYIN’ BLUES Benefit for Barbara Morrison’s CA Jazz & Blues Museum, also featuring KEB’ MO’, 11/8-10, Renaissance LAX Hotel; JUDY COLLINS, 11/8, The Canyon Agoura Hills - 11/10, The Rose, Pasadena; JACARANDA - THE PARTCH ENSEMBLE, 11/9, First Presbyterian Church, DTSM; MAGIC FLUTE - LA OPERA, 11/16, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, DTLA.
Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 2,000 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 33 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or rebuke to him at therealmrmusic@gmail.com
