Lustful doings: Barcelona Flamenco Ballet @ The Alex
Suspense, intrigue, sex, scandal, love. That sounds like a pretty typical Saturday night in Glendale, California. But the town’s lustful doings will notch up to a new level Saturday April 16, when the historic Alex Theatre presents Luxurîa (“Lust”), a flamenco dance-theater sensation from Spain’s internationally renowned Barcelona Flamenco Ballet. Barcelona Flamenco Ballet artistic directors, ...
‘Long live Sondheim,’ pianist Anthony de Mare soon to pronounce at Royce
Mar
25
2022
It sounds so intriguing doesn’t it? In 2007, Anthony de Mare, a champion of contemporary music and devotee of the musical theater genius of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) embarked on a project that has proven enduring. His big idea was to commission leading composers in jazz, film, theater and classical music, and the pop world, ...
Martha Graham’s ode to nature, ‘Canticle,’ re-imagined for 21st-C
jacob larsen, so young an, martha graham ‘moon’ ed. note: This story by dance critic Debra Levine, commissioned and published by the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for the Arts, is reprinted with permission. When Martha Graham premiered a new, full-company work with a poetic title, “Canticle for Innocent Comedians,” it was the Spring of ...
Gifted Cuban pianist López-Nussa to bring Soraya jazz fest to smoking finale
ed. note: The trio of concerts over a single weekend—Gerald Clayton Sextet (Feb 17), Gretchen Parlato (Feb 18), and the Harold López-Nussa Trio (Feb 19)—are the grand finale of the Soraya’s jazz festival, Jazz at Naz. This interview, conducted by artsmeme jazz writer, Kirk Silsbee, was commissioned by The Soraya and first appeared on the ...
Gerald Clayton, Gretchen Parlato set to open ‘Jazz at Naz’ weekend @ The Soraya
A trio of cutting-edge Jazz at Naz intimate concerts takes jazz’s temperature and points to the art form’s future. Hungry for the potent experience live music brings, jazz fans (safely distanced and masked) will encounter, over the course of one weekend, a blazing sextet, a sensual vocalist, and a scintillating up-and-coming pianist from Havana. The ...
Saturday February 5th: Just say ‘no’ to Netflix!
an untitled love, chor: kyle abraham 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? ...
Hendrix, Sunset Strip, 1969 — part 2 2
Dec
20
2021
ed note: This excerpt from “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” by Harvey Kubernik & Kenneth Kubernik, Sterling Books (2021) is published with permission of the authors. Part one is here. Part two is below. Cover image “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” Wendy Weatherford believes: “What happened there was entirely different from what happened at the Whisky and ...
From our Washington D.C. correspondent, Toni Basil
photo courtesy toni basil, and the kennedy center awards Toni, who choreographed multiple of Midler’s ornate staged pageants, writes on Facebook: So proud to have been with my incredible, long-time friend, Bette Midler, to watch her receive her lifetime achievement award for artistic achievement at The Kennedy Center Honors. Other honorees included Berry Gordy, Lorne ...
Jimi Hendrix, Los Angeles, 1969
(left) Monterey Pop Festival, Nurit Wilde/from “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child”(right) with Michelle Phillips & Mama Cass Henry Diltz/ from “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” ed note: This excerpt from “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” by Harvey Kubernik & Kenneth Kubernik, Sterling Books (2021) is published with permission of the authors. In 1960s rock royalty, none wore the ...
REVIEW: Count Basie Orchestra swingin’ at The Soraya 2
count basie orchestraphoto: luis luque for the soraya When the Count Basie Orchestra concert at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts was cancelled for the COVID shutdown in March 2020, it was a bitter pill. When the cloud lifted, Soraya director Thor Steingraber declared that the match would no longer be ...