Jazz at the Lobero Continues, Diemer Releases CD

MEA CULPA DEPT.: Two weeks ago in this column, the subject was the depressing diminishment of jazz programming in general, and in Santa Barbara specifically, especially given the absence of a Jazz at the Lobero series to whet our swing-based appetite. In our zeal and righteous indignation, a few facts were fuzzed. We regret but are also happy to report that we misspoke. While the Jazz at the Lobero series hasn’t commenced in the fall, as in the past several years, the series is “alive and well,” according to the Lobero director David Asbell. The sentiment was seconded by fellow jazz series coordinator Stephen Cloud, stating that an “epitaph for the series is premature.”

In fact, these intrepid organizers and jazz supporters are erring on the side of caution in the face of economic fragility, which is affecting the Lobero as elsewhere. They opted to avoid the fray of an unusually busy fall for live music here (thanks to the rising tide of acts forced on the road by tanking “product” sales, and the coinciding audience hunger for musical escapism). Instead, the Lobero’s jazz series commences early next year, so far with bookings of two of jazz’s greatest singers-Tierney Sutton and Dee Dee Bridgewater-and trumpeter par excellence Terence Blanchard. Stay tuned for more info. We stand corrected, and comforted. Meanwhile, for the rest of this year, fans of live world-class jazz will just have to hibernate or travel elsewhere for fixes.

MUSIC FROM ANOTHER AMERICA: Coincidentally, this weekend’s musical menu includes two recommendable acts from the often underexposed traditional music traditions from south of the border. Friday at the MultiCultural Center, its concert series continues with the ace jarocho group, Conjunto Hueyapan de la Familia Herrera. Sunday at the Luke Theatre, the UCSB-sponsored ¡Viva el Arte de Santa B¡rbara! series hosts the brassy and lauded Banda Viento de Oro (also playing in Isla Vista on Friday and in Guadalupe on Saturday).