With a fiery summer coming to a close, expect smoking acts to fill area venues with everything from new indie sounds to hip-hop beats. Sizzling underground sounds and lesser-known acts hit smaller venues like Jensen’s Mainstage and Muddy Waters Cafe, which are working hard to keep alive the arts in town. Whatever your pleasure and whoever your company, there is a pop or rock reason to be living it up in Santa Barbara this season.
This fall’s jazz fare includes some authentic legends, including a long-awaited return by guitarist John McLaughlin, and more expected return visits from keyboardist Herbie Hancock and vocalist Dianne Reeves, both in the upper echelon of their respective disciplines. McLaughlin’s upcoming Lobero show represents a healthy pattern of jazz greats who stop in Santa Barbara on their way to or from the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival.
But the biggest newcomer on the fall schedule is the first annual Solvang Jazz Festival, a brand new event started by Crusaders’ drummer Stix Hooper. For two days, Solvang will be host to a few concerts and a great idea in terms of jazz culture in the area.
It’s hard to believe, but the summer movie season has wound down, and it is now time for the most exciting part of a film fan’s year: fall. This is when studios scramble to release their best films-just in time to qualify for consideration in next year’s Oscar race. In just three short months, we’ll be getting new films from some of the best directors working, like Wes Anderson, Joel and Ethan Coen, Ang Lee, and Ridley Scott. Additionally, UCSB Arts & Lectures plays host to its stellar lineup of special screenings, the Magic Lantern film series in Isla Vista continues going strong, and HopeDance FiLMS presents its series of progressive documentaries at the Santa Barbara Public Library.
Mysteries and memoirs, science and social commentary, politics and family relationships are all on the reading list this fall in Santa Barbara. Authors and speakers appearing in town range from veterans and Iraq War journalists to comedians, historians, and conservation writers. The days may be getting shorter, but they’re packed with literary events.
September 13, 1814
Francis Scott Key writes “Defense of Fort McHenry,” the poem that would become the “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Fall brings out the absolute best in our theater companies, and 2007 looks to be a record year for total output by professional theaters in Santa Barbara. We have new and less well-known works coming from big names like Sam Shepard and Edward Albee, debuts by highly touted young playwrights Sarah Ruhl and Evan Smith, and plenty of politics, just in time for the ramping up of the 2008 presidential campaigns.
A proposal to change a number of Santa Barbara zoning rules in the name of increased user-friendliness and improved clarity came under fire from a former mayor and neighborhood preservationists.
The City of Santa Barbara leads the country in housing market decline, down 12.6 percent from the end of 2005.
Pink Martini is the little orchestra love child of pianist/composer Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes. Their distinctive, hyper-glamorous, neo-retro world music has made them best-selling international recording artists and a tremendously successful touring act. They played the grand opening of the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with the L.A. Philharmonic in 2002, and then returned to sell out two consecutive New Year’s Eve concerts in the same venue.
The recent hot spell inspired a return to a cocktail classic (a good 200 years old) that refreshes without smashing you too much about the head. The Tom Collins first and foremost needs a fantastic glass. Into a shaker filled with ice, add 1½ oz. of gin (Plymouth or Tanqueray are good enough), 1 oz. simple syrup (just slow simmer 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water and you’ll be rich in simple syrup), and 1 oz. fresh lemon juice.
