And don’t forget the movies!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
GERALD CLAYTON QUARTET (important young jazz lion born in Utrecht, NL but LA all the way, his daddy is Venice-born famous composer-big band leader-classical and jazz double bassist John, from LA County HS for the Arts to USC’s Thornton School of Music with Billy Childs, then off to NYC to study with master Kenny Barron, second place in the prestigious Monk jazz piano competition, four Grammy noms, tours and records the last six years with the amazing Charles Lloyd, musical director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour, I adore his ethereal touch and exploring mind in his playing so go get yer ticket NOW and then come back and finish the column, because there’s lots more), Sat 8 p.m., Sun 5 p.m., Jazz Bakery, Moss Theater, SM, $25-$35.
LA BOHEME -- LA OPERA (I’m not a Boheme expert, saw it just once before, at LA Opera in ‘93, boy have a lot of fat ladies sung since then, for me and them, it’s a chestnut but you’ll want to see this one, it’s gotten a boost from Berlin’s star stager Barrie Kosky, nothing too radical, not set in the Kremlin or underwater, but with some appealing modern touches, the big rotating stage for the Cafe Momus scenes is so packed with frantic characters you can’t take it all in, the singing is outstanding, especially the four main actors and the characters are so endearing and strong, especially the women, that you won’t need your handkerchief unless you want to wave it in the air, huzzah! ), Sat, Wed 7:30 p.m., also 10/6, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, DTLA, $24-$354.
-- also, Opera at the Beach, 9-camera hi-def broadcast from Dorothy Chandler, big LED screen, English and Spanish subtitles, Sat 7:30 p.m., gates open 5:30, bring chairs and blankets, SM Pier, free
RECOMMENDED:
TONIGHT! -- JOSH NELSON TRIO (have never seen Nelson but Sam First, always reliable bookers, calls him “one of LA’s most well-respected pianist/composer/arrangers,” presenting four different combos this week, I’m recommending the Fri-Sat quartet because of Larry Koonse, guitar and Darek Oles, bass, whom I have seen and highly recommend), Thurs-Fri-Sat 8 p.m., 9:30 p.m., $10-$20.
TONIGHT! -- Celebrate Bossa Nova with ANGELO METZ GROUP featuring Marcele Berger and Natália Spadini (OK, OK, another group I haven’t seen myself but I do know there’s not that many Brazilian music concerts here so for y’all who dig it I thought you should know, the Skirball knows what they’re doing when it comes to world music, this group will pay homage to the album “Elis & Tom,” a collaboration between legendary composer-arranger Antônio Carlos Jobim and the iconic singer Elis Regina, recorded in LA in ‘74 and still considered one of the greatest Brazilian albums of all time), Thurs 8 p.m., Skirball Cultural Center, Sepulveda Pass, LA, $25 $20.
TONIGHT! (ONLY - but moves to the Laemmle Monica Film Center Fri, for one week) -- LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE (this great doc will perhaps open your eyes with more respect for a woman who blazed early trails in male-dominated rock, 11 platinum albums, first artist ever to simultaneously top the Pop, Country, and R&B charts, 26 Grammy noms, 10 wins, always advocated for human rights, shared a mattress on the floor of the Governor’s Mansion with Jerry Brown, lived life and her art on her own terms and succeeded wildly, and as Dolly Parton declares, “that girl could sing ANYthing!”), Thurs, Landmark Theater, Westwood.
TONIGHT! (ONLY - but moves to the Laemmle Monica Film Center Fri, for one week) -- MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL film (musical giant, cultural icon Miles Davis, visionary, innovator, originator who embodied the word cool but was fiercely independent, featuring never-before-seen archival footage, studio outtakes, rare photos, the story of a singular talent unpacks the man behind the horn, I learned a lot, it is so well done), Thurs, Landmark Theater, Westwood.
RICK SHEA (one of my favorite local troubadours, Rick rocks, folks around and goes up the country with his rich baritone and rich song stories, in this nearby tiny, friendly, since the mid-1950s watering hole with music every night and never a cover), Fri 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
NICK MANCINI (cool cat jazz vibraphonist celebrates new album, great listening venue), Sat 9 p.m., Bluewhale, Little Tokyo, $20.
FINAL PERFORMANCES for all four plays -- “AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” (check my previous CURIOUS CITY column for some description of this excellently acted, thought-provoking adaptation by Artistic Director Ellen Geer of a classic Ibsen about… a poisoned water supply, and racial tensions, topical enough for ya?), Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, Topanga Canyon, $10-$42;
“TWELFTH NIGHT” (they’re known for their mastery of the Bard), Sat 8 p.m., Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, Topanga Canyon;
“MOBY DICK - REHEARSED” (based on Orson Welles’ 1955 adaptation of the novel, requires a lot of “acting” because there’s no leviathan on stage, no big ship -- and yes, the company acts their whale tales off, you can see the big whaler, you can feel the white whale, and we even had a sub Ahab and he was sensational), Sun 4 p.m., T. Botanicum, Topanga Canyon, $10-$42;
“THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH” (set in WWII-era New Jersey, and the Ice Age -- !?! -- Thornton Wilder’s oblique, mysterious, confusing, thought-provoking and wonderful), Sun 8 p.m., W.G.’s Theatricum Botanicum, Topanga Canyon, $10-$42.
EASY RIDER (oh yes, I’m gonna be there, by any measure it’s a landmark film, with a kickass soundtrack, but for those of us who lived through it it’s an emotional, cultural touchstone -- and while you’re there, if you go in the afternoon you can catch a Marlene Dietich pre-Code double feature, Morocco and Shanghai Express), Sun 7:30 p.m., Aero Theater, SM, $8-$12.
SOUNDWAVES presents MICHAEL VINCENT WALLER (post-minimalist composer Waller's work will be performed by R. Andrew Lee on piano and William Winant, percussion), next Thurs 7:30 p.m., Main Library, DTSM, free.
CHICK COREA, CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE, BRIAN BLADE (hear the 2013 three-disc hit live recording by these three music giants come to life and you don’t even have to go to Slovenia, opined Allmusic, “...the three have an uncanny connection, filling space with gorgeous and subtle phrasings, gliding through all manner of styles with a seemingly effortless elegance, grace, and freshness"), next Thurs 8 p.m., Royce Hall, UCLA, $15-$139..
COMING ATTRACTIONS: ROGER WATERS film US + THEM, two days only! 10/2, 10/6 Laemmle Monica Film Center, SM, 10/6 Landmark Theater, Westwood; ELIANE ELIAS 10/4, JOEY DEFRANCESCO TRIO 10/5, JOHN CLAYTON’S BASS MONSTERS 10/6, Jazz Bakery, SM; VAN MORRISON 10/6, Hollywood Bowl; NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALL STARS 10/11, CACHE VALLEY DRIFTERS, Crary, Evans, & Barnick 10/20, McCabe’s, SM; LAEMMLE LIVE presents Elemental Music 10/13, DTSM; LIBRARY GIRL 10th Ann. Show + Party 10/13, Ruskin Group Theater, SM; Ace 20 Year Celebration with RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, Serpentwithfeet, Zola Jesus 10/18, Theater at the Ace Hotel, DTLA; TY WOODWARD 10/20, Jacaranda, DTSM.
BODACIOUS BIRTHDAYS: GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898), CARLENE CARTER (1955), KOMITAS - Armenian-French composer (1869), DARBY CRASH - the Germs (1958), BRYAN FERRY - Roxy Music (1945), CESAR ROSAS - Los Lobos (1954), MARTY ROBBINS (1925), SERENA WILLIAMS (1981), JOHNNY APPLESEED (1774).
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
