Hi friends,
We’re hearing reports that the annual tradition known as the “Naked Run” at UC Santa Cruz took place earlier this week. For years, as the custom has it, many on campus take a bracing jog across campus in the nude after the first big rain of the rainy season. As appealing as that sounds, I’m afraid I missed the fun again this year, darn it all. That means my streak for remaining fully clothed out of doors in the winter months has reached 37 years, and I’m afraid I’m legally prohibited from talking about that February day in 1987.
Now, on with the show.
This Just In!
Make plans for Cabrillo Stage’s new summer musical, “In the Heights,” from the man behind “Hamilton,” Lin Manuel Miranda. Just announced and already sold out: The onetime Santa Cruz phenoms known as The Devil Makes Three land at the Catalyst on April 5. Veteran rocker Melissa Etheridge will get the bleachers rockin’ at Kaiser Permanente Arena on March 14. Santa Cruz Roller Derby makes a comeback March 9 at the Santa Cruz Civic. The “future folk” foursome Gone Gone Beyond is on the slate at Felton Music Hall on April 13. Surf-rock warriors Los Straitjackets play Moe’s Alley on March 29.
Be sure to check out Lookout’s carefully curated and constantly updated planning guide, Down the Line, for the staggering riches and amazing choices awaiting Santa Cruz audiences. It’s our look ahead at the best shows, concerts and events through the rest of the year at clubs, stages and venues all over the county.
Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the Groundhog Day B9:
The FFF
Call it the Triple-F. It’s February’s First Friday, going down all over Santa Cruz on Groundhog Day. A big highlight for this month’s First Friday is a reception honoring the Rydell Fellowships in the Visual Arts, which have been supporting artists in Santa Cruz County for two decades. The M.K. Contemporary Art gallery on Front Street (formerly Curated By the Sea) is taking a big look back at those who have been honored with the Rydell over the years, including Skip Epperson, Daniella Woolf, Robert Larson, Beverly Rayner, Tim Craighead, Kathleen Crocetti and many more.
Also, you can meet photographer and artist Kate Roberts at Botanic & Luxe on Cooper Street, right by Abbott Square. The Felix Kulpa Gallery is hosting a retrospective on the local sculptor Geoffrey Nelson. The Santa Cruz Art League is opening a group show of women, nonbinary and trans artists called “She/They: Pacific Rim Sculptors,” with a reception as part of First Friday. You might want to check out a solo show from painter Erika Rosendale featuring her work from the past 25 years. That event takes place at The Vision Sanctuary, on Cedar Street (across the street from the Kuumbwa Jazz Center). And, of course, you can drop in on a show celebrating People’s Disco, a Santa Cruz-based revolutionary socialist dance party, at Little Giant Collective, near Mobo Sushi.
If you want to check out the rest of the iceberg when it comes to First Friday, you know where to go.
A ‘Prayer’ in song
Black history and Black art are fundamental to the American experience, and certainly no designated month on the calendar could hope to contain its breadth and depth. But one event on Sunday is going to take a stab at it anyway. “Prayer for Humanity” is a musical celebration of Black culture, to take place at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Sunday evening.
Los Angeles pianist, singer and composer Victoria Theodore — perhaps best known as the keyboardist for a couple of people you might have heard of named Beyoncé and Stevie Wonder — comes to town to front the band that features vocalists Sarah Cruse, August Lee Stevens and Anthony Jones, drummer Zack Olsen, bassist Etienne David Franc and pianist Kate Saphir Alm. Bhavananda Lodkey will deliver a poetic introduction.
And what exactly will these musicians be playing? The set list features a collection of songs from Black composers — India.Arie, Bill Withers, Gregory Porter, Jill Scott and others — in a program designed to uplift and celebrate, said Alm, the show’s musical director.
“It’s a concert celebrating Black artistry and Black history,” she said, “and it’s really about celebrating joy. People should come prepared for a really happy night out.”
“Prayer for Humanity” is raising funds for Santa Cruz’s annual Juneteenth celebration. The show is Sunday at 7 p.m.
‘Heights’ auditions
Cabrillo Stage is bringing the work of Lin-Manuel Miranda to Santa Cruz County with its big summer production of Miranda’s “In the Heights,” to open July 11 at the Crocker Theater on the campus of Cabrillo College. In March, Cabrillo Stage will be holding auditions to fill out the cast.
Vocal auditions are now open via appointment, to take place March 2 and 3, with callbacks March 9 and 10. You should bring sheet music in your key for a “stylistically appropriate” song. Accompaniment will be provided.
More coffee and Eggers
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries’ “Our Community Reads” program is only just getting started. The program this year is zeroed in on Dave Eggers’ nonfiction book “The Monk of Mokha,” the story of a young man from San Francisco named Mokhtar Alkhanshali who decides to go back to his family’s native land of Yemen to revive the Yemeni coffee industry.
On Friday, writer Flagg Miller of UC Davis will be on hand at the Scotts Valley Library to discuss the religious, political and cultural dimensions of coffee in Yemen, a specific area of research for him. And on Tuesday next week at the Capitola Library, Yemeni American activist Jehan Hakim will discuss the immigrant experience from her perspective. All events are free, but registration is required.
Meet Joe Sib
Los Angeles comedian Joe Sib has deep roots in Santa Cruz County, and he’ll be seeing some old friends when he drops in at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center for a show Feb. 9. Here’s a preview.
Earworm of the Week
We all know Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, but behind them stand a phalanx of male singers in tuxedos who, unlike Frank and Tony, are in danger of fading from collective memory as the years go on. One of my faves in this genre has always been the criminally underrated Lou Rawls, a Chicago-born baritone who is most well-known today for his 1970s late-career hot streak as an R&B hitmaker. A protégé and friend of the great Sam Cooke, Rawls began his career as a gospel singer and, at some point in the mid-’60s, he turned toward Philly-style soul music. But in between, he performed and recorded as an oh-so-elegant jazz singer who could add a bluesy vibe to any Space Age, bachelor-pad, “Playboy After Dark” cocktail party. In that spirit, take a spin with old Lou on the definitive version of the much-recorded little jewel “Scotch and Soda.” It’s a big, round, full recording that sounds great on the old hi-fi, and will set a glossy tone to any Super Bowl party you might be hosting soon. The tux is, of course, optional.
Santa Cruz County Trivia
What well-known Santa Cruz literary figure was informally known as a “sexpert” for her writings on sexuality?
Last week: Who was the beloved local surf-community icon and KPIG radio personality who died 10 years ago? Her birth name was Robin Janiszeufski, but those who knew and loved her in Pleasure Point and all over Santa Cruz County knew her simply as “Zeuf.” Married to the equally iconic surf personality Frosty Hesson, Zeuf was one of the area’s most prominent women surfers and competed in surfing competitions even as a cancer survivor. Radio listeners knew her as the voice of KPIG’s daily surf reports. Her cancer returned with a vengeance, but she did get to experience a paddle-out in her honor in 2013, shortly before she passed away at the age of 54.
***
That’s all I got, friends. Come at me with comments, ideas, complaints, or thundering insights. Thanks to all Lookout members for your faith and support, and please, spread the word on what we’re doing.