ON the Beat | Inclusive Chamber Music Manners, Mardi Gras Appetizer

Sphinx Virtuosi | Photo: Scott Jackson

When the Sphinx Virtuosi, with a focus on black and Latinx musicians and composers, made its local debut at the Lobero Theatre two years ago, the chamber group opened auspiciously, with the then-new Habari Gani, by the then 23-year-old Quentin Blache. Last year, the piece appeared as the bright fanfare-esque “opening” statement of the group’s album American Mirror (hear here).

Blache will again be in the mix, with “Vision of Peace,” the title piece of a program the ensemble is bringing to the Lobero on Thursday, March 12, as part of CAMA’s “Masterseries.” Blache will be part of a judicious mix of old and new composers, from Prokofiev and 19th-century Afro-Cuban composer José White Lafitte and William Grant Still to well-established young black composer Jessie Montgomery.

In the interim between then and now, the ensemble has become evermore important, in this era of DEI decimation and racist policies.

On another front, the group’s outstanding violinist, Randall Goosby, has since performed twice in recitals at the Music Academy of the West’s (MAW) Hahn Hall, hosted by MAW and UCSB Arts & Lectures, respectively.

Sphinx Virtuosi is a proud feature of the host Sphinx Organization, a social justice non-profit that emphasizes the power of the arts. Asked about changes in the organization since its founding in 2004,Bill Neri, violist and Director of Ensemble Advancement, noted that the conductor-free group began in a more traditional mode before opting for a more democratic approach.

“In its original formation, we were led by a conductor,” Neri said, “so in that way it’s a huge transformation, but we are still a lean 18-member ensemble. Our programs have evolved to feature more commissions and expand the canon by showcasing new works by upwards of four Black and Latinx composers each year.”

Putting a finer point on the leadership character of Sphinx, he added, “We prefer the term ‘self-conducted’ to denote our ability to treat each other as leaders. It is key that each member knows the score inside and out and can live their music through the lines of the player standing next to them. We’re a very diplomatic and democratic group of friends, and respect each other’s thoughts during rehearsal, and are always open to hearing ideas during rehearsal.”

In general, the group holds fast to the mission of making fine music while expanding awareness in its outreach. Neri asserts, “I hope that [we] can serve as a call to action to ensembles and organizations around the country and leap at opportunities to widen their palate and that of their audiences to savor the richness of new music by voices from underserved communities.”

Mardi Gras Mojo in the House

Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen | Credit: Courtesy

Mardi Gras may be in the rearview, but its presence was weighing heavily in the house at Campbell Hall last week, when master pianist-bandleader Jon Cleary’s Absolute Monster Gentlemen flew in from the hometown of New Orleans for a one-off show in our town. Yes, Cleary is British, but he’s one bad honorary American gentleman, with a seriously versatile and true style and awareness of the roots of the New Orleans culture he is steeped in.

A fellow N’Awlins-based outfit, the Mardi Gras Indian–based Cha Wa, opened the evening, with a decent enough party-stoking sound, and such peripheral highlights as a wild-style Mardi Gras costume and the pumping closer “Rise Up.”

We’ve heard Cleary in these parts before, at SOhO and as a valued sideman for Bonnie Raitt at the Santa Barbara Bowl, but he dug deep into his personal mojo with his own band, equipped with a cult following deserving wider recognition. And what a band! It is a compact but mighty unit, with percussion accounting for half of the ensemble whole — in the form of the grounded and highly musical drummer Thomas Glass and percussionist Pedro Segundo.

The set bristled and grooved with second line pulses, up-tempo energizers, and saucy Crescent City business, a tip of the hat to New Orleans piano Professor Longhair, and a set-closing gallop through “Boneyard.”

Cleary may be an immigrant (block that power word). Still, he’s the real deal, fluid as a keyboardist and deeply informed by and understanding of a root system in a musical power spot which itself has tentacles in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and other spices in the gumbo. He’s welcome back any old time, in whatever context.

Ojai Festival Pre-order Concert

Diehard fans of the Ojai Music Festival, present company included, are already anticipating the arrival of the major cultural big top in early June. It’s an especially exciting prospect to have conductor-composer extraordinaire Esa Pekka-Salonen at the creative controls as music director this year.

As an enticing foretaste, the festival is presenting a special concert at Ojai’s Krotona Institute this Saturday at 5 p.m., featuring the premiere of noted composer Reena Esmail’s piece Meera Kahe. Multiculturalism is alive and well in this program, in which Email’s dual Indian-American heritage is reflected through the presence of the respected period-instrument group Tesserae Baroque, along withHindustani vocalist Saili Oak and tabla player Rohit Panchakshari. Also in the mix are a baroque repertoire by the likes of Couperin and a rare female musician of the day to get notice, harpsichordist/composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.

All in all, the concert sounds like a very Ojai Festival moment, and something for musical adventure-seekers to keep on the radar.

2025 Performance of Meera Kahe | Credit: Courtesy

TO-DOINGS:

In another chamber music chamber worth noting, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Mary Craig Auditorium lays out its alter ego as a prime classical music haven on Thursday, March 5, when the mostly string quartet series there spotlights the local debut of the Poiesis Quartet. Winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, Poiesis, featuring non-binary gender identifying musicians, puts an emphasis on new works by emerging composers. Sounds good to us.

Now into its 55th year, the Dos Pueblos Jazz Festival — a k a “Jazz in Paradise” — packs a multi-faceted punch into its one-day affair, happening this Saturday, March 7, from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.-ish. The daytime action brings school jazz bands from far and wide into competition and showcase mode. At 7:30 p.m., the doors open to the wider public for a concert, with the DP Jazz Band and the SBCC Lunchbreak Band. The special guest soloist slot this year goes to respected Los Angeles–based trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, whose work has graced countless studio and film sessions, while he maintains his abiding dedication to jazz big band culture. The special guest list in the past includes such notables as Dave Weckl, Tom Scott, Rickie Lee Jones, the Yellowjackets, and Diane Schuur.