Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the Back-to-school?-Already? B9:
➤ It’s a big night on Saturday at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. First off, the festival’s director and orchestra conductor, Cristian Măcelaru, returns after one week of a guest conductor. He’ll lead the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in a bold program titled “Becoming,” which features at its center a tribute to the late great composer Lou Harrison. As an international figure, Harrison is an artistic pioneer in bringing non-Western influences to modern world music. But locals who’ve been around a while will remember him as a friend and neighbor who changed the music world from his home in Aptos. He was also an inspiration to the LGBTQ community of his day. The festival honors him by performing Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion with guest violinist Justin Bruns. On the same program comes a performance from composer and multi-instrumentalist Darian Donovan Thomas, who has been called “a giant joyous ball of pulsating purple light.” Who doesn’t want to see that? Taken together, the Harrison piece and the Thomas performance make for a big gesture in the direction of gratitude to honor the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride event in Santa Cruz County.
➤ They’ve been entertaining local audiences with regular appearances for a few decades now, so you know there are a lot of fans in town of Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys. The band brings big energy to the classic sounds of rockabilly and Western swing, with big, bold dashes of bluegrass, country, Cajun and so much more. Get out your pomade and your dancing shoes and get over to Moe’s Alley next Wednesday.
➤ The famous Tom Scribner statue outside Bookshop Santa Cruz is a lasting reminder that, yes, some people play a saw blade like a musical instrument. It’s a pity the statue doesn’t make a sound, but there will be plenty of sounds in the air Sunday for the annual International Musical Saw Festival on the grounds of Roaring Camp in Felton. Whether Scribner’s ghost will be on hand is a subject for conjecture, but if he is present, expect him to be right there on stage when all the gathered saw players perform at the same time.
➤ There’s a whole lot of Marley going on next week up on the campus of UC Santa Cruz. The beautiful outdoor Quarry Amphitheater at UCSC is ready to welcome two sons of the late titan of reggae music Bob Marley. They are singer/producer/instrumentalist Stephen Marley, trained at the youngest age by his famous dad, and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, just 2 years old when Bob died in 1981. Together they have both dedicated their careers to keeping alive their father’s rootsy sound and moving reggae forward. This is a special show in a special place.
➤ It’s one more weekend for Cabrillo Stage’s lurid and compelling “Sweeney Todd,” the delightfully bloody musical from Stephen Sondheim. Our own critic, Jana Marcus, said the production is fueled by a powerhouse performance by Adam J. Saucedo in the title role. The musical runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday for evening performances, and Saturday and Sunday for afternoon shows, all at the lovely Crocker Theater.
➤ It’s tough to resist the seduction of John Pizzarelli’s guitar work, sometimes dreamy and atmospheric, other times snappy and crisp. The second-generation New York singer and guitarist embraces both the Great American Songbook and more contemporary rock/pop composers. It’s all there for your enjoyment Monday at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center.
➤ Bluegrass fans, listen up. The four-woman group Della Mae, originally out of New England, brings their mountain soul and their chilling vocal harmonies into The Landing in Scotts Valley next Thursday. Shading somewhere in between traditional bluegrass and the singer-songwriter Americana tradition, this quartet is something special for fans of quintessentially American music.
➤ Seven male voices weave together in astonishingly intricate ways with the a cappella group Naturally 7. The approach here is to simulate a full band using only the power of the human voice, including guitar, bass, drums, horns, even harmonica. The result is not only great music, but something of a magic trick. The seven-piece band is set to fill the Kuumbwa Jazz Center with instrument-less music Friday.
➤ If you haven’t caught it so far this summer, you really should make your way out to the Santa Cruz Wharf’s free live music series, continuing on Tuesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. with the always good-vibes Joint Chiefs playing live. Two hours free parking on the wharf with validation from any business, and tons of summer fun out over the sparkling bay. What’s not to love?
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