Superlative studio musicians of ’70s rock revealed in ‘Immediate Family’ doc
Dec
14
2023
This is the portrait of an artist. Don’t recognize him? His name is Waddy Wachtel. Never heard of him? That’s intentional. Wachtel, whom Keith Richards calls a “natural maestro,” made a life decision — to become, and remain, a top-notch, back-of-house studio musician. Playing behind front-line artists like Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Keith ...
Glitches and snafus: arts-writing errata that drives us crazy
As the Internet has expanded opportunities for all kinds of people to be published (including riff-raff like artsmeme!) with bylines, so too has spread misinformation, glitches, and snafus, the kinds of mistakes that an editor used to safeguard from readers. I myself am in this situation; I self-publish without editorial oversight. I am always grateful ...
Middle Eastern cultures to convene in peace at Yuval Ron’s ‘Rumi’s Wedding’
banafsheh sayyad We’re in faraway Los Angeles. But here’s guessing peoples in every corner of our hurting world would love nothing more for our Middle East brethren to enjoy a resplendent Sunday evening of Arabic/Sufi/Israel culture at Rumi’s Wedding Night Celebration. The December 17 concert features acclaimed world music artist and peace activist Yuval Ron ...
Trio of ‘Priscilla’ female creatives take time-out from The King at movie opening
Last night at the Academy Museum’s Ted Mann Theater, film distributor A24 hosted the Los Angeles premiere screening of Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. Writer/director Sofia Coppola and executive producer Priscilla Presley were in attendance. The plot of the movie, written and directed by Sofia Coppola, goes like this: When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu ...
The Stone who stopped rolling: Nick Broomfield doc about Brian Jones
As a schoolboy aged 14, Nick Broomfield, later a British filmmaker and award-winning documentarian, met Brian Jones, by chance, on a train. Jones was at the height of his success. Six years later he would be dead. Nick Broomfield’s new documentary THE STONES & BRIAN JONES explores the legacy of Brian Jones, who, in this ...
Anoushka Shankar, virtuoso of ancient sitar, in artsmeme interview for The Soraya 1
Oct
11
2023
Ed. note: This story by Debra Levine, commissioned and previously published by the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for the Arts, is reprinted with permission. It’s a just-released “mini-album” from a first-rate artist who’s trailing a maximal career. Anoushka Shankar, the acclaimed virtuoso of sitar, music producer, and composer, will wind up a three-week, fifteen-U.S.-city ...
Imani Winds to bring breezy, jazzy, dancey woodwind sound to 92nd St ‘Y’
Oct
10
2023
In a chamber music program that can only be described as scintillating, the trailblazing wind-instrument quintet, Imani Winds, will make their first 92NY appearance with acclaimed pianist Terrence Wilson in a program conceived around rhythm and dance. Repertoire includes Paquito D’Rivera’s take on the Venezuelan joropo, Fleur de Cayenne, Imani hornist Jeff Scott’s arrangement of ...
REVIEW: When opposites attract, Bridgewater & Charlap at CAP UCLA 1
It was a provocative entry to a fall jazz season: singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and pianist Bill Charlap, performing in a duo format at Royce Hall for UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. Like a pro wrestling match between a pile-driving heel and a gymnast babyface, it was a potential mismatch too tantalizing to ...
artsmeme to glimpse CAP-UCLA ‘Nimoy’ the erstwhile Crest Theatre
photo courtesy chris nichols for los angeles magazine Named in honor of artist, actor, director and philanthropist Leonard Nimoy, The Nimoy is a reimagining of Westwood’s historic Crest Theatre, acquired by UCLA in 2018 and since renovated into a flexible 300-seat off-campus performing arts space. The show artsmeme will attend features performances by Grammy Award-winning ...