ON the Beat | All-American Early Music, Reconsidered

Davóne Tines and Ruckus perform with additional singers from the San Marcos High School Madrigals chamber choir | Photo: David Bazemore

When we think of early and period music practices, the geo-cultural doesn’t generally land on American soil. But in the fascinating mostly 18th-century American music program at Hahn Hall last week, the open-minded and progressive early music group Ruckus and captivating bass-baritone Davóne Tines made us think twice, or thrice, about various musical, cultural, and racial contexts.

In a special project dubbed “What is Your Hand in This?,” as part of UCSB Arts & Lectures’ Hear and Now series, the accomplished musicians presented a program well-timed with significant calendar markers — Black History Month and America’s 250th birthday. The adventurous conceptual package was assembled by Tines and Ruckus’ Douglas Adam August Balliett, featuring arrangements, compositions, and the strangely out-of-character sound of his electric bass. That would be “early” only in terms of possibly the early 1960s.

Davóne Tines and Ruckus perform with additional singers from the San Marcos High School Madrigals chamber choir | Photo: David Bazemore

But the whole group sang as an ensemble, and Tines showcased quite beautifully, adorned by singers from San Marcos High School’s highly regarded Madrigals. In a program opening with Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer,” and including a fresh take on the Dinah Washington hit “This Bitter Earth” and John Dickinson’s anti-slavery, 1776-vintage “ The Liberty Song.”

Along the way, the menu included under-sung Black composers of the day, including Sawney Freeman’s “The New Death March & the Rays of Liberty” and Joshua McCarter Simpson’s “To the White People of America.” The timeline of music wended through “Buddha,” by guerrilla Black minimalist composer Julius Eastman (whose music Tines performed at the Ojai Music Festival in 2022), up until this day — Tines’s own newly composed “theme song” “What is My Hand in This?,” suitable for an audience singalong. Another surprising anthem this night came in the form of the “Why do the Nations so Furiously Rage” aria from Handel’s Messiah, mixed in with Benjamin Carr’s The Federal Overture.

All in all, early music rarely sounded so hip, and so disarmingly American.

Acoustic Guitar Heroes on Parade

By some fluke, two powerful proponents of the art of instrumental acoustic guitar are landing in Santa Barbara on Sunday night. Most importantly, the great American guitarist Leo Kottke, going strong at 80 years young, returns for one of his thankfully fairly regular appearances at the Lobero Theatre — an ideal “room” for his signature blend of musical sauces and diversions. From his early days linking up with John Fahey’s Takoma label in the late ‘60s and taking the idea of idiosyncratic individuality seriously, Kottke has always gone his own way, bless his heart and oddball musical mindset.

Up the street at the Unitarian Church, the Santa Barbara Acoustic series continues, in its new location, with the artist known as Twanguero. BornDiego Garcia and winner of a Latin Grammy in 2013, the hybrid-style guitarist has validated his cheeky moniker by having Guitar Player magazine dub him “Spain’s King of Twang.”

Cinematic Symphonic Venturing

Just in time to sync up with the closing of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this weekend, the Santa Barbara Symphony is diving back into the world of film music at The Granada Theatre on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The program “Romantic Hollywood” draws on film music from several decades, with a special romantic touch that aligns with Valentine’s Day.

TO-DOINGS:

Other Classical concert news hits town this weekend. The Noon Concerts series at Trinity Episcopal Church (free, at 12:15 p.m.) features the church’s fine organist, Thomas Joyce, on harpsichord, accompanying soprano Sophia Bakaev, and tenor Grace Wenzel in the program called “Baroque Love Songs.” On Saturday afternoon at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church — also free — the Santa Barbara Music Club presents a Valentine’s Day Concert, featuring violinist Valerie Malvinni, soprano Brett Mutinelli, and pianists Peter Wittenberg and Eben Drost.