ON the Beat | A Music Temple, Hang, and Local Landmark Passes

Chris Jensen | Photo: Paul Wellman

Chris Jensen deserves a star on State Street, should there ever be such a hall of local fame. Or at least it should be planted on De la Vina Street, where his independently owned-and-operated Jensen Music perched for 52 years. It’s hard to imagine Santa Barbara without this funky music temple, which finally reached its last coda, after struggling with the poltergeists of online shopping, the COVID monster, and shifting musical tastes.

A mayoral proclamation is in order, along with a crescendo of thanks from thousands of musicians — and budding musicians — who passed through Jensen Guitar & Music Co. over its half-century run. That list of musicians is vast, from locals and famous passers-through. Ben Harper was a major fan, who related not only to the grassroots-y goodness of the establishment but recognized the kinship to his parent’s music store Claremont Folk Music Center (in Claremont).

In an interview years ago, Harper told me, “I’ve been coming to Santa Barbara since I was a kid, actually. We used to come every weekend. We have family friends there, so we’d come and hang out quite often. Jensen’s was our satellite music store hang in Santa Barbara.”

Contrary to the slicker, more hustle-heavy model of music stores, Jensen’s had a woodsy bonhomie, befitting its strong accent on acoustic guitars and other unplugged instruments alongside electric guitars. The inventory at Jensen’s — officially Jensen Guitar & Music — waxed and waned and extended beyond the standard issue stuff of guitar culture (“Hey, that’s a guitarrón hanging on the wall!”). A robust lesson component served generations of up-and-comers and amateurs, while giving working musicians some gainful employment.

Suffice to say, I’ve never heard anyone play “Stairway to Heaven” in this hallowed space.

Jensen’s branched out, adding “the Main Stage,” a memorable showcase space across De la Vina for a few years. The venue offered a bonafide performance space for young and not-young local musicians (Bruce Winter and I played a tripped-up “Helter Skelter,” on a Beatles night). Indie rock of note made its way through onstage, the likes of Real Estate and Freelance Whales.

This musician/scribe was part of the Jensen’s tribe going back decades, with gear I now associate with this legendary spot. Guitar guru John Mooy gave me a bro deal on an Alvarez steel string I could afford, and Bill Flores — guitar repair dude and masterful pedal steel and more musician himself — set me up with the goods when I was switching from electric to live acoustic guitar for a project. (That was after he sniggered when I told him I was just playing it through an electric guitar–suitable amp.)

Even my sturdy go-to music stand, bought at Jensen’s, emanates with some kind of ancestral memory. The vibe abides.

An era has sadly passed in the music life of Santa Barbara, but the Jensen’s legacy sings on in hearts, minds, and the cavalcade of instruments bestowed through its portals.

Opening on a Pianistic Pinnacle Note

Santa Barbara has long been fertile soil for the live local presence of globally renowned classical pianists. On the luminous list of great pianists who have concertized in the 805 are Sir András Schiff, Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson (at the Lobero Theatre just recently), Stephen Hough, Jeremy Denk, and from a young set, Vikingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang.

And then there is the special case of Russian wonder Daniil Trifonov, whose third performance in town opens the UCSB Arts & Lectures season, at Campbell Hall on Tuesday, September 30. Trifonov, 34 now, arrives with an impressive bevy of accolades and awards validating his dominant position in the ranks of international pianists, but the proof is in the live experience. Trifonov can summon up an almost mystical atmosphere with his playing, technically commanding but never at the expense of a deep and poetic sensibility. He’s got a certain transfixing je ne sais quoi in a live setting, making each moment, pause, and gesture count.

When last we heard Trifonov at Campbell Hall, in 2023, he had me at the conspiratorially hushed opening of Rameau’s Suite in A minor and rose to the climactic occasion of his profound rendition of Beethoven’s towering “Hammerklavier” Sonata on the second half. Encore time brought on the delicious contrast of Scriabin and a virtuosic, Art Tatum–tapping spin around “I Cover the Waterfront.” This was a “by the way” reminder that this is one classical pianist also excels in jazz mode, also heard on last year’s album My American Story: North. All in all, it was a sublime and memorable experience.

To date, Trifonov’s discography, on Deutsche Grammophon, has revealed in him a ready and willing versatility and command of diverse musical worlds, from the lisztomania of his Grammy-winning 2016 album Transcendental to his American music sojourn last year and to Bach: The Art of Life. Here, he pairs music of the Bach dynasty — primarily father Johann Sebastian and underrated son Johann Christoph, with detours into works by Carl Philip Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann. Bach fans: take note.

Trifonov’s return to town finds him on a strongly Russian turf, with music of Prokofiev and lesser-known composers Taneyev and Myaskovsky, with a finale of Schumann’s first piano sonata. No doubt, the pianist will confer upon these scores his transcendental touch, on the keyboard and in terms of an abiding, natural musicality.

Count this as one of the must-see classical events in town this year. Nip FOMO in the bud.

Let the Chamber Games Begin

Camerata Pacifica, that bold and venerable force for chamber music good in Santa Barbara — and extending elsewhere in SoCal — is back among us, for season 36. As usual, they are first to the starting gate of the official fall season of classical groups, preceding the October rush with its opening concert on Friday, September 26, at Hahn Hall.

Concert one is, in keeping with CamPac’s sense of balance between standard repertoire and contemporary fare, features Brahms’ String Sextet alongside music by living Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks and Russian romantic Anton Arensky.

Speaking of piano eloquence and repertoire worth savoring, CamPac’s new season also presents the launch of a three-year “Beethoven 32” project of presenting the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, as played by Gilles Vonsattel. It kicks off with the fateful “Hammerklavier” on Wednesday, October 29, and includes a pack of seven sonatas in both March and April. This comes, coincidentally, on the heels of another Beethoven-ian sonata celebration over three nights by Jeremy Denk in this same hall, a highlight of this year’s Music Academy of the West festival.

I can attest to the fact that Hahn Hall is a prime and acoustically inviting location in which to bask in well-played Beethoven.

To-Doings:

Blues of a high order is headed to town, courtesy of the Santa Barbara Blues Society (SBBS), a reliable supplier of blues content in the 805 for nearly 50 years. This time out on the SBBS calendar, the cherished venue of the Carillo Recreation Center — replete with spring-loaded dance floor — will be brought to life on Saturday night by veteran singer/blues harpist Curtis Salgado. Based in Portland, Oregon, the former lead singer of the Nighthawks, who has also worked with the Robert Cray Band, has proven his might and special gift locally before at his 2018 Blues Society show at the New Vic. He’s the real deal, steeped in and lauded for his contribution to the blues/R&B art.

Opening the show is the fiery fine vocal-guitar talent Katie Skene, a bright light on the regional music scene.

Santa Barbara Bowl show of the decade(s) alert: Sir Paul. Friday night. ‘Nuff said.