SAMARA JOY -courtesy photo
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
SAMARA JOY – Careful, Charles, don’t oversell it. But I really am crazy about this gifted young jazz vocalist out of the Bronx who seems to have a DNA understanding of the great ones who preceded her. (Her entire large family is drenched in music.) She released her first album at 21 and was named best new artist by Jazz Times. Her second album a year later hit the top of the Billboard jazz charts. At barely 25, she already has five Grammys, and seems destined to join other Verve Records legends like Ella, Billie and Sarah with one name recognition. But will that be “Samara”... or JOY? Fri 8 p.m.,Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $120-893.
PETER ERSKINE TRIO, BOB MINTZER — My mom, Irene, was kind of famous for a few things that came out of her kitchen. She won blue ribbons at the state fair, mostly for baking. But nothing topped the moist Devil’s Food cake she made for every one of my birthdays. Except – the rich, creamy dark chocolate frosting that did top it. Peter Erskine’s sumptuous trio is the jazz equivalent. I’ve said and written it so many times before and will forevermore, experiencing Erskine’s exquisite longtime trio of Darek Oles on bass and Alan Pasqua on piano, is something you won’t forget. And for these shows, you have Yellowjackets saxophonist Bob Mintzer as frosting. Sat 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., Sam First, LAX, $30 each show.
LIBRARY GIRL, “From Venice to Venice, Poets of California + Italy” – Every monthly LG (16th year now) is worthwhile, but this one has promise of greatness. I have seen many of these writers before, and this is indeed an impressive lineup. If the names Will Alexander, Iris Berry, S.A. Griffin, Richard Modiano, Harry Northup, David Romero and Matt Sedillo don’t mean much to you now, they certainly will by the end of the performance. Founder Susan Hayden has always donated all of the door to the Ruskin, and that’s especially important now as they try to raise very large amounts to make their move down the street to spiffy new digs, with TWO stages. If you want to throw in a couple hundred grand extra, that would be OK too. Sun 7 p.m., Ruskin Group Theatre, SM Airport, $20 (includes free dessert, free parking).
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9-11:30, for more than a decade now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhart-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
RECOMMENDED:
TOM MORELLO – Morello the Rage Against shredder seems to like us lately, showing up in unexpected venues (like the Venice Free Clinic benefit last year). Lucky us. He is of course more accomplished than just his Rage Against the Machine band personna, but only a very few in a generation have such a metaphysical connection to their instrument. Morello came out of heavy metal, embraced punk, but added melody and chords when he formed Audioslave, due to the influence of vocalist Chris Cornell. The Harvard-educated artist, songwriter, and activist says he is living proof of the transformative power of rock’n’roll. 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. Does it even matter that Rolling Stone named him the “18th greatest guitar player”? No, but most of the others aren’t still gigging. Carpe diem. Fri 8:30 p.m., Fonda Theatre, LA, $149-578.
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
Next Thurs - PAAVO JÄRVI, LA PHIL, RAVEL, BRAHMS/SCHOENBERG – I’ve caught Järvi a couple of times and I like his style, and I like this program. The Wall Street Journal says South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho is poised to join the ranks of the great ones, and he delivers Ravel’s piano concerto with technique and emotion. Then Jaavo leads the LA Phil in Schoenberg’s adaptation of a Brahms string quartet into orchestral mode, and that should be spellbinding and especially poignant now that so many of the former Brentwood resident Schoenberg’s papers were destroyed in the fire. Next Thurs 8 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, $68-219.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): PAAVO JÄRVI, LA PHIL, RAVEL, BRAHMS/SCHOENBERG, Disney Hall, 2/13, 14, 15, 16; “Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry,” ROGER STEFFENS, Church in Ocean Park, 2/15; KURT ELLING, PETER ERSKINE, The Soraya, 2/15; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 2/16; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 2/17; MAHLER Grooves Listening Party, Paramour Estate (sold out) 2/19; CHUCHO VALDES, ARTURO SANDOVAL, The Soraya, 2/20.
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): DUDAMEL Conducts MAHLER’s Journey, LA PHIL, Disney Hall, 2/20, 21, 22, 23; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 2/23, 3/2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 4/6, 13, 20, 27; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 2/24, 3/3, 10, 17, 24, 31; DUDAMEL, LA PHIL, MAHLER Sumphony No. 7, Disney Hall, 2/27, 28, 3/1; MAHLERTHON I, Youth Orchestra LA, Inner City Youth Orchestra of LA, Santa Monica High School Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Disney Hall, 3/2; MAHLERTHON II, UCLA Philharmonia, USC Thornton Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, LA Master Chorale, Disney Hall, 3/2; DAMN WELL PLEASE ORGAN TRIO, Harvelle’s, 3.4; GUSTAV + ANNA with DUDAMEL, Disney Hall, 3/6, 7, 8, 9; MOZART’S “COSI FAN TUTTI,” LA OPERA, Dorothy Chandler, 3/8, 16, 19, 22, 27, 30; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Theatre, 3/9, 4/13, 5/11, 6/8, 7/13, 8/10, 9/14, 10/12, 11/9, 12/14;; LA FOLK FESTIVAL/EMMYLOU HARRIS, Bellwether, 3/22; REVEREND SHAWN AMOS, Broad Plaza, 3/22; TONY GILKYSON & RICK SHEA, CINDY LEE BERRYHILL, McCabe’s, 4/6; PUSSY RIOT, Lodge Room, 4/20; LUCKY STARS, Broadstage, 4/26; PATRICE RUSHEN, Disney Hall, 5/2; BEETHOVEN with ESA-PEKKA, Disney Hall, 5/2, 3, 4; JACK WHITE, Hollywood Palladium, 5/12, 13; DIANA KRALL, The Soraya, 5/14; GERSHWIN, “Also Sprach Z,” LA PHIL, Disney Hall, 5/23, 24; ALISON KRAUS, UNION STATION, Greek Theatre, 7/13.
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 39 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Not even Kauai. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com
