Hi friends,
Is it my imagination or has the First Friday art tour taken an evolutionary leap forward since the pandemic ended? If you haven’t checked in for a while, now’s the time to see what’s new, just in time for the tour’s 20th anniversary celebration next month.
Now, on with the show.
This Just In!
I reported last week that the wonderful jazz band Pink Martini would be performing at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Dec. 2 — in fact, Pink Martini will be performing at the Rio Theater that day in a show presented by the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Elsewhere, look for the performers from the great old TV improv-comedy classic “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” to play the Santa Cruz Civic on Aug. 24 in a show called “Whose Live Anyway?” The Strawberry Festival is set to return to downtown Watsonville Aug. 2-4. The fine throwback blues/jazz performer Pokey LaFarge is set for Moe’s Alley on Aug. 4. And the great New Orleans funk band Dumpstaphunk comes to Moe’s on July 18.
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 merry-month-of-May B9:
Kids Day postponed, but free comics still await downtown
Kids Day in downtown Santa Cruz has been postponed. The annual day dedicated to kids and families in Santa Cruz was originally scheduled for Saturday, but because of expected rain, the festivities will be postponed and rescheduled for June 22, the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz announced Thursday afternoon.
Kids Day is an annual tradition in Santa Cruz with performers, exhibitions and demonstrations happening throughout the afternoon on the north end of Pacific Avenue, and especially in Abbott Square (with plenty of family-oriented discounts in local shops).
Still happening downtown rain or shine is Free Comic Book Day, at Atlantis Fantasyworld (if you don’t know it, just ask a kid), a promotion that Atlantis has been holding for years. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Atlantis has hundreds of free comic books to give away to anyone interested in getting one … or two, or 10.
And Saturday is also May 4 … you know, as in “May the 4th Be With You.” That’s right: Star Wars Day, which a certain nerd community regards as a national holiday. So, in case you’re wondering why the guy in front of you at Verve is dressed as Vader …
I bet there’ll be a Luke and/or Leia sighting Saturday downtown.
‘Urinetown’ at the London
So, what was all that hubbub going on at the London Nelson Center? It was the opening weekend of a new production of “Urinetown,” brought to Santa Cruz audiences by All About Theatre. The good news is that it’s happening again this weekend, with three performances over two days at the London.
“Urinetown” is, of course, the popular satire of modern-day capitalism, but with a heart as well. The production is AAT’s teenage performers, ages 13 to 17, getting their shot at stage performing in front of a live audience. Check them out Friday evening at 7 p.m. or on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Then, the following weekend, AAT goes after it again with a new production of “13: The Musical,” for seven shows May 10-18.
Library’s virtual author series
The Santa Cruz Public Library knows how much readers love to interact with the writers of their favorite books, and the Friends of the Capitola Branch Library is now hosting online interactive author talks this summer. Next up in the series is Santa Cruz mystery author Nina Simon, to talk about her book “Mother-Daughter Murder Night,” next Wednesday, May 8, at 4 p.m.
Future virtual talks will include science historian Matthew Shindell, anti-racism educator Tiffany Jewell, celebrated poet Elizabeth Acevedo and many more. All events are free, but you have to register.
The new Journal X
The writers and artists behind the literary magazine Journal X will gather for a celebration of the publication’s fourth edition next Thursday, May 9, at the Watsonville campus of Cabrillo College. (The X stands for “Xinachtli,” a word from the Nahuatl language that refers to a seed about to germinate.)
The event will feature a presentation by a number of local artists and writers as well as a short film from Cabrillo’s Gabriel Medina. Everyone is welcome to come by Room A150, just off the Watsonville plaza, from 6 to 8 p.m. that Thursday.
Live music for Mom
Looking for Mother’s Day ideas? On Sunday, May 12 — yep, Mom’s day — the local performers collaborative known as Musical Soulmates will present an afternoon of high-art entertainment with chamber music, and other music from Black composers with a gathering of fine musicians and performance poets, with guests to include former Santa Cruz poet laureate Danusha Lameris, UC Santa Cruz history professor David Anthony III, and the Musical Soulmates musical ensemble.
It all takes place at Mariposa Coffee Bar, at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Cathcart Street in downtown Santa Cruz, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Tim Jax gets love
We couldn’t be happier for the great Tim Jackson, co-founder and longtime director of the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. In April, Tim was awarded the Ed Bradley Award for Leadership in Jazz by Jazz At Lincoln Center, for his championing of jazz on the West Coast at Kuumbwa and as longtime director of the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Of course, we locals know all about what Tim has meant to jazz and other forms of live music in Santa Cruz and Monterey. Count all us music lovers lucky and grateful for Tim Jackson’s amazing career.
A new laureate
Our belated congratulations to the recently named first-ever Youth Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County. On April 10, that post was bestowed upon Dina Lusztig Noyes, a junior at Pacific Collegiate School. Dina will wear the sash of Youth Poet Laureate for the next year, championing poetry among her peers and in the community. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of her. Congratulations, Dina.
Earworm of the Week
We continue our series of greatest duos through the decades, landing this week in the 1970s. And yes, I’m going with the great Steely Dan (sorry haters), the hugely successful hitmaking project of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. No one captured the bruised cynicism of the ’70s in the wake of the ruined hippie dream of the ’60s better than Fagen and Becker. And I don’t know of any specific song that delivered the dagger to the Sixties dream more savagely than “Only a Fool Would Say That,” from Steely Dan’s 1972 album “Can’t Buy a Thrill.” “Only a Fool” was a response to John Lennon’s anthemic “Imagine,” released only the year before. The song’s title tells you all you need to know about Fagen and Becker’s attitude about Lennon’s lighter-than-air fantasy of humankind living in peace and harmony. But a deeper dive into the song’s lyrics expose Lennon — at least in the view of Steely Dan — as a vacuous peacenik dilettante. Speaking for the working stiff, the song says to the ethereal white-clad Lennon of the “Imagine” video: “You do his nine-to-five/ Drag yourself home half-alive/ And there on the screen/ A man with a dream.” You may say Fagen and Becker are being unfairly ruthless to Lennon, but they’re not the only ones.
All the Earworms in one place
For those who’ve been following my Earworm of the Week, I’ve assembled a playlist that contains them all.
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.
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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to reflect that Kids Day in downtown Santa Cruz has been postponed due to a rainy forecast. It has been rescheduled for June 22.
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