A slightly late birthday show for the late Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, whowould have been 99 years old last Sunday had he not died 31 years ago as of Dec. 8,an infamous calendar day for musicians that also saw the deaths of John Lennon andDimebag Darrell — in different years, of course. Anyway, the […]
Ramsey Isaacs
Posted inMusic
Music Tonight: Thursday, Sept. 25
The Creative Sanctuary presents the latest in an ongoing series honoring the musical alumni of the rotating, midcentury supergroup the Jazz Messengers. Tonight’s star attraction is the recently late Wayne Shorter, whose saxophonic splendor lit up the world in a career that spanned from bebop to hip hop and beyond. Join hosts James Zeller, Ramsey […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Thursday, Aug. 21
The good folks at the Creative Sanctuary are continuing Homage to the Message, a chronological celebration of various satellite members of the Jazz Messengers. This installment is all about the tunes of trumpeter and composer Lee Morgan — gone too soon at the age of 33, when his girlfriend shot him between sets at an […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Thursday, July 24
The Creative Sanctuary’s fine cadre of jazz musicians continues rolling along with their excellent series celebrating the various satellite musicians associated with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Tonight’s gig at 7 p.m. at the Arcata Playhouse is a celebration of tenor sax player Benny Golson, whose brief stint with the Messengers produced the 1958 […]
Posted inMusic
Storytellers
I’ve been all over the place in these pages lately, writing about everything from the excellent Eureka Symphony, the Spanish Civil War, the architectural history of our own rapidly expanding police state and the incumbent circumstantial depression that comes with it, to some of the music from years past which I have overlooked or had […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Saturday, July 5
The Creative Sanctuary continues its Jazz is Peace series with an homage to one of my heroes and the father of some of the greatest music this country ever produced, from the Delta womb of all good American sounds, my spiritual home, New Orleans. I’m talking about Satchmo himself, Mr. Louis Armstrong, who would be […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Saturday, June 28
The Creative Sanctuary presents another jazz show at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 7 p.m., this one is a tribute to trumpeter and composer Kenny Dorham, a criminally underrated musician who died far too young and is perhaps most famous for his work with the early iteration of the Jazz Messengers. Co-producers James Zeller and […]
Posted inMusic
That Summer Feeling
We live in a culture where apology, a change of temperament or evolving ideological alignment are considered signs of weakness. This seems like an intractable, complex problem, but it’s simple to sidestep when you remember everyone who runs things here is stupid as hell and arrogant to boot, and that you don’t have to be […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Saturday, June 7
It’s a big show night tonight, which will hopefully make up for two quiet nights in the beginning of next week. Here’s what’s on the marquee for the evening. At 5 p.m., the Eureka Vets Hall is the venue for a benefit show for missing native man Ray Tsatoke, featuring Oakland grindcore band Bob Plant, […]
Posted inMusic
Talkin’ Baseball
Summer comes in pieces, with many unofficial starting points before the solstice. Around here, one of those points is the beginning of the Crabs’ baseball season, which started Friday. Opening night is always a big deal in Arcata, with people of all ages filling the metal bleachers and picnic tables to root for the home […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Thursday, May 22
The Creative Sanctuary is putting on another jazz gig at the Arcata Playhouse, the first in a series basking in the glow of the formidable works of Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers. Tonight’s program is an homage to Horace Silver, the post-bop pianist and co-bandleader who brought the group to his highest peaks of […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Sunday, May 11
More jazz on the docket tonight, when the Creative Sanctuary presents Jazz is Peace: A tribute to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 7 p.m. The line-up features a rogues gallery of top-notch musicians, including James Zeller, Katie Belknap, Danny Gaon, Ramsey Isaacs, Allison Muench, Matt Seno and Tree. There’s […]