Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the B9:
➤ It’s been a wild ride for Jon Scoville, and he’s now ready to share that long ride with the rest of us. The longtime Santa Cruz composer, musician and teacher is the subject of a uniquely diverse evening of artistic expression Friday at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. In a show titled “Futurespective,” the body of work of the man behind the music at Tandy Beal & Co. will be celebrated with friends, fans and family. For decades, Scoville has been a musical adventurist. The son of a Presbyterian minister, his musical journey began with hymns, bled into jazz and then zoomed off into any number of directions from Balinese to ballroom. His close partnership with Tandy Beal has resulted in an explosion of music with a commitment to eclecticism, from composing for stage performances to making a dozen recordings over the years. “Futurespective” is the first of two shows celebrating Scoville’s music; watch for the second one at UC Santa Cruz on Valentine’s Day. Together, they make for a fitting tribute of a fine local artist. A delicious piece of Scoville trivia? How long has Jon Scoville lived in Santa Cruz? He was, in fact, the first employee at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
➤ It’s true, the Tom Ralston who dominates the county’s decorative concrete business is the same guy who fronts the Tom Ralston Band, a big and brash combo that blends soul, R&B and good, old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll. On Saturday night, Ralston and his bandmates are poised to rock the Kuumbwa Jazz Center with a show they’re calling “A Sonic Bouquet.”
➤ Santa Cruz Symphony conductor and music director Danny Stewart is doing something different this weekend. On Sunday, at Samper Hall at Cabrillo College, Stewart is bringing together a seven-piece ensemble — with himself on viola — to perform a set of Dvorak and Brahms in a chamber setting. It’s a performance tabbed “Danny & Friends,” and it’s a peek into what makes the local symphony’s maestro tick.
➤ For years, Santa Cruz County has been home to one of the West Coast’s finest Brazilian jazz interpreters. On Monday, the magnificent Claudia Villela returns to her home club, the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, for a performance that embraces samba, jazz, blues and soul, alongside her collaborator, pianist Vitor Gonçalves. Go see her, but don’t be surprised if you fall in love.
➤ Santa Cruz County has always had a rich legacy in poetry, but standing atop that pyramid these days is the widely admired and nationally significant poet and teacher Ellen Bass. Last year, just days after Election Day, Bass was slated to headline the annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading, but had to withdraw when she was diagnosed with COVID-19. The good news is that she’s well past that, and ready to pick up the mantle again this year, as the headliner at the Marcus reading on Nov. 20 at Merrill College at UC Santa Cruz.
➤ This weekend, perhaps no place on the planet outside of Seoul — maybe even including Seoul — will be more focused on Korean experimental music than the campus of UC Santa Cruz. The Korean Experimental Music Festival takes over the UCSC Recital Hall, blending traditional Korean musical practices and Western instrumentation, for three performances Friday and Saturday. And they’re all free.
➤ Visual artists and poets are kinda doing the same thing, if you think about it: portraying their unique perspective on the world. At “Broadsides 2,” painters and poets collaborate to inspire and be inspired by each other, and the results of these thrilling collaborations all come together in a show Saturday at MK Contemporary Art. For all fans of words and pictures.
➤ One of Santa Cruz’s finest newspaper journalists has made the turn into fiction. Peggy Townsend is poised to release her fourth novel on the world, this one titled “The Botanist’s Assistant,” an absorbing mystery set in the world of plant science and research. On Tuesday, she’ll be on hand to welcome readers and fill in the spaces on her new book.
➤ Roll over, Ibsen, tell Chekhov the news. The UC Santa Cruz Department of Performance, Play & Design is diving deep into Bikini Bottom with a new adaptation of “SpongeBob, the Musical.” Based on the Nickelodeon cartoon that is buried deep in the DNA of millions of millennials, “SpongeBob” is a pop-culture-palooza, full of color and music, guaranteed to make you laugh your squarepants off. It opens Friday, with shows all weekend.
