Hi friends,
As a decades-long veteran of enduring Highway 1 across Santa Cruz County, I think that years from now, we might be boring our grandchildren with tales of what it was like driving that freeway back in ’24. Every day’s an adventure on “The 1.”
Now, on with the show.
This Just In!
Psychedelic stand-up comic Shane Mauss plays the Rio — and soon! He’s due April 27. The masterful smooth-jazz combo Acoustic Alchemy drops in for two performances at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on July 12. Irish American rock stars Young Dubliners take over Moe’s Alley on Oct. 18. The indie rock band Pedro the Lion, whose latest album is called “Santa Cruz,” visits the Felton Music Hall on July 22. And look for the grand master Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, a virtuoso of the Ghanian hi-life sound, playing the Kuumbwa on Aug. 7.
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 spring-in-my-step B9:
Into the ‘White Sky’
It’s a big month for longtime Watsonville playwright Steve “Spike” Wong. He’ll be bringing his original play “White Sky, Falling Dragon” to Actors’ Theatre in downtown Santa Cruz, debuting Friday, April 19. And it’s a rich drama, steeped in both the pathos of the American immigrant experience and the history of Watsonville as well.
“White Sky” is inspired by the life story of Spike’s late father, Ernest Wong, a U.S. Air Force captain and well-known figure at his grocery store in Watsonville for decades before his death in 2014. The play zeroes in on a young Chinese American as he returns home to California after serving in World War II, and his struggles to balance his American sense of possibility with the traditional Chinese values of his family. Besides writing the script and directing the production, Spike Wong also performs as his own grandfather in the play.
It’s a beautiful and heartfelt story, with deeply meaningful resonance for those with a feel for Watsonville’s remarkable ethnic history, and for anyone interested in the “country of immigrants” ideals of America. Mark it on your calendar. “White Sky, Falling Dragon” opens April 19 and runs through May 5 at Center Stage at Actors’ Theatre. Get your tickets soon.
Gathering of the greats
This month is offering local audiences a great opportunity to reconnect with not one, but two of the greatest Santa Cruz performing artists of the past 50 years, Tandy Beal and Philip Collins.
The event is called “Dance of the Living Composers,” and it represents a creative partnership between New Music Works and Tandy Beal & Co. The performance lands at Peace United Church of Christ in Santa Cruz on Saturday, April 20.
If you’re new to town, Tandy Beal is one of the towering figures of the Santa Cruz performing arts scene going back five decades, as a dancer, a choreographer and also as a kind of icon of community engagement for her work in the schools and her leadership in her namesake company.
Phil Collins is a composer and conductor, the founder and director of New Music Works, and also a tireless artist in pursuit of new musical frontiers, much in the mold of the late, great Lou Harrison.
The April 20 event also features the contributions of several other Santa Cruz arts greats — a kind of summit of the people who’ve helped define Santa Cruz’s musical life since at least the 1970s. They include jazz bassist Stan Poplin, composer and pianist Michael McGushin and composer Jon Scoville. Lest you think this is some kind of nostalgia act, four of the compositions at the concert will be world premieres.
On top of everything else, NMW was a particular love of the late arts philanthropist Rowland Rebele, who died last November. And you can bank on it that Reb would have loved this show. Reb can’t be there, but you can.
Cabrillo Fest plans
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is loaded up and ready to roll, after announcing its lineup for the 2024 season, with four world premiere performances and 14 composers in residence.
Under the direction of composer/artistic director Cristian Măcelaru, the festival opens for its two-weekend run Aug. 2 at its home base in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Among the highlights are performances by Russian-born American master violinist Philippe Quint, and the debut of a new concept the Cabrillo Festival is calling the “Creative Lab.” This is an effort to give the composers a bit more voice and authority in the performance of their work, and this year will feature Korean American composer and sound artist Bora Yoon, in a concert that promises a rethinking of the relationship among orchestra, arena and audience.
Full-season subscriptions for this year’s festival will become available April 30, with single-event tickets available beginning June 4. Though, as always, keep in mind that many of the events are free.
Record Store Day
Yes, I’m sure you have some vaguely decadent plans for 4/20. But don’t forget that next Saturday, April 20, is also the annual Record Store Day, when you and I are obliged to show a little love for that institution that has opened up so many horizons for us all. Be sure to show your favorite record store some love. And if you go to Streetlight Records downtown, it’ll give you some of that love back.
Earworm of the Week
There is a difference between a great song and a great record. A great song is timeless, but a great record is of a distinct moment in time. I’ve always thought that a good candidate for the greatest record or recording of all time might be Chris Isaak’s impossibly seductive 1989 hit “Wicked Game,” a near-perfect blend of dreamy vocals, hypnotic rhythm and rich, haunting guitar. However, we’ve all heard that song a zillion times (and yet it never gets old). Isaak, a proud son of Stockton, has turned “Wicked Game” and his amazing suits into a lucrative career on the circuit for nearly four decades now. But he’s done a lot of other great music. A favorite of mine for its sweetly romantic sense of doom is “The End of Everything,” from the 1995 “Forever Blue” record, a really nice example of Isaak’s talent at out-Orbisoning Roy Orbinson, a crying-in-your-beer song that floats on a reverb-y sea of steel guitar. Keep ’em coming, barkeep.
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.