Hi friends,
Friends, family and fans of the late Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston will gather to celebrate her astonishing, amazing, Hall of Fame life journey at the Cocoanut Grove on Saturday. Let’s pack the place. Whaddya say?
Now, on with the show.
THIS JUST IN
It’s getting closer to Cali Roots again. The California Roots Art & Music Festival is set to return again to the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey for three days of reggae, dubstep, hip-hop and more. The dates this year are May 23-25, and the lineup includes more than three dozen acts, many of whom have played or perform regularly in Santa Cruz such as Collie Buddz, J Boog, Matisyahu, Rebelution, Steel Pulse and Slightly Stoopid. Get your tickets here.
Closer to home, the Kuumbwa Jazz Center will celebrate 50 years with an outdoor concert in beautiful San Lorenzo Park on May 18. The great bluesman Roy Rogers and his band the Delta Rhythm Kings play Moe’s Alley on June 22. Freak folk icon Devendra Banhart comes to the Rio on May 15. The Buzzcocks — there’s a name from punk rock’s distant past — play at The Catalyst on May 14. Novelist Shelby Van Pelt, whose recent novel has a distinctly oceanic theme, appears at an event at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on May 19. Caldecott Medal-winning young-adult author Brian Selznick comes to Bookshop Santa Cruz on April 15. The Rio presents an evening showcasing the images and innovations of early cinema called “Right in the Eye” on April 13. And a collection of fine local poets get together to celebrate the new anthology “Winter in America (Again): Poets Respond to the 2024 Election.” That happens at Bookshop on April 1.
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.
CHECK THIS OUT
Best 9: Top events for the week ahead in Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment, Feb. 27-March 6
The Lookout Santa Cruz app is available now in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Learn more here.
THIS WEEK IN A&E
Microdosing’s moment: An increasingly popular mental health treatment looks for mainstream credibility
James Fadiman, the man who coined the term “microdosing” and who is a part-time Santa Cruzan, has written a new book with his collaborator Jordan Gruber that serves as a kind of primer on the whys and wherefores of microdosing psychedelics, its benefits for mental […]
The women’s walkout: Lessons from the 1980s Watsonville cannery strike
Next week, the Watsonville Film Festival will mark the 40th anniversary of the Watsonville cannery strike with a re-screening of Jon Silver’s 1989 documentary on the strike, and Silver’s new short film on the strike’s effect on one family.
Farewell to Jeanne: Santa Cruz’s Houston told a story that Americans should never forget
Santa Cruz’s Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, who died in December, left behind a legacy of bringing light to a dark period in American history, with her landmark memoir, “Farewell to Manzanar.” A celebration of life is planned for Saturday.
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.