As we bumble our way down the primrose path formerly known as real life, many have grown a tad too comfortable passing our evenings looking for love on streaming teevee services. I get it! #metoo! Guilty as charged! But don’cha think maybe the couch routine has outlasted its usefulness? And that the time has come to wean? You did it as a baby! You can do it again.
The time is Saturday, February 5. The time to say no to Netflix.
That’s because, if you live in Los Angeles, you have a fantastic choice of live performances that night, one each at opposite ends of our fair city. The 405 Freeway will take you to both venues. In the northern reaches, at The Soraya on the campus of Cal State Northridge, Wynton Marsalis will be featured with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The Soraya’s executive director, Thor Steingraber, who has a yen for blazing big-band music, is on the cusp of a five-performance jazz festival, ‘Jaz at Naz.’ You’ll be hearing more about this, because, we are going. This is a bellwether house of acoustics — and here’s guessing Mr. Marsalis is ready to clean your clock with some scorching sound.
Way down south in the land of Long Beach, we are so fortunate to experience the state-of-the-art dancers of A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham in a new work now touring the country. Set to the music of the neo-soul, Grammy Award-winning R&B artist D’Angelo, An Untitled Love serves as Kyle Abraham’s creative exaltation of Black love and unity. He dedicates this feel-good work—its visceral hope, solace, and joy—to family, culture, and community strengthened over generations and lifetimes. Did you hear that? It’s a feel-good work!!
After touring An Untitled Love on the West Coast, A.I.M is headed for shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). But please … not need to fly to New York to see it. Instead, drive to the Carpenter Center, and see this hot performance there. We are very fortunate that Megan Kline-Crockett, the Carpenter Center’s executive director, has forged this relationship with Kyle, who just added to his long list of kudos, an honorarium from the Kennedy Center. So let’s support what Megan does for us!
I’ve been attending concerts since the turn of the new year, and find it such an uplifting thing to do. It has a quieter more meditative vibe to it. But that seems to suit the times. Our theaters really need support right now, and wearing a mask at a show is not has horrible as it seems.
February 5. Pick one. Be there, and enjoy!
An Untitled Love | A.I.M by Kyle Abraham | Carpenter Center, Long Beach
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis | The Soraya, Northridge