ON the Beat | Confession of a Whalehead

Guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento brought his hypnotic blend of Brazilian, classical, and improvisational sounds to the Whale House. | Photo: Josef Woodard

I have been a good culture-fearing Santa Barbaran for nearly all of my days, eager to know all that’s important to know about our more than fair and wondrous city. But I was somehow very late to the Whale House party. That would be the strange, mythic, right-angle-eschewing structure on Mission Canyon Road on the way to Botanic Garden, built between 1973 and 1978 by iconoclastic architect Michael Carmichael and (to quote my own scribbling) with a “Gaudi meets Greene & Greene meets Lord of the Rings meets Whole Earth Catalog mentality.”

With its vaguely whale-shaped structure, curves for days and cedar-shingle-clad exterior, it is a jewel in the crown of local houses which could be dubbed quirky architecture (quirkitecture?). After delving into the place and its history for an article and then experiencing live music in this magical space just last week, I have been inducted into the ranks of Whaleheads.

An evening at the Whale House, where the boundaries between house, garden, and landscape seem pleasantly blurred. | Photo: Josef Woodard

New owners, fixer-uppers, and thoughtful stewards Josh and Marley Raab, currently working on defining the function and community connection of the place, invited me to bask in the engaging musical bath supplied by Fabiano do Nascimento. The ambient-leaning Brazilian-American guitarist, presently based in Japan but spending time in his longtime haunt of Los Angeles, played in the courtyard area of the property, by the long pool which descends into a dark “tunnel of love” section and winds up inside the outer guest house area of the compound. Said compound feels like a world unto itself, part of Santa Barbara and yet of its own environmental configuring.

This evening, Josh told me, was the first officially private show they have hosted, of the five musical nights so far — a birthday party, with youngsters in tow, for a guest who, he told the gathered crowd, was “turning infinity.” Visitors could also partake of scrumptious Thai food on hand. By way of greetings, Marley told the crowd “happy eclipse — and meteor shower,” while Josh advised us to “tune into your body and feel the buzz.”

Equipped with his classical guitars (sometimes open-tuned), pedals, and laptop for subtle electronic additives,Nascimento was at the ready to fuel that feel.Fittingly, he opened his hour-long set in this ethereal space with “Creature Ethereal,” from his 2025 album Cavejaz (hear here), much of which was in collaboration with Brazilian percussionist and instrument maker Paulo Santos Uakti.

Nascimento’s set ranged from improvisational outings over hypnotic looped rhythms — in odd and conventional time signatures — with often muted strings for extra-percussive effect almost suggesting West African guitar music to impressive touches of his organic classical and bossa nova cred. Venturing further out and back into ramparts of world culture, his piece “Spring Theme” is based on an ancient scale used in the culture of the Japanese free reed instrument, the shō.

The Whale House courtyard provided an otherworldly setting for an evening of live music. | Photo: Josef Woodard

Nascimento, who, after his set, admitted the unorthodox live setting made him feel something akin to a “contact high,” at one point told the audience, “I’m zoning out, forgetting where I am.” Therein lies a charm of the place. Escapism is possible, within driving or biking distance of Santa Barbara, proper.

On the Whale House horizon of musical happenings is a meet-up with ambient/new age artist Laraaji — who had Brian Eno links in the back in the day — who includes “laughter yoga” sessions in his performances on zither, mbira and piano. Sounds like Whale House–ready fodder, with ethereal sauce to suit.

TO-DOINGS:

Late August is the last gasp of the summer calendar, proper — although many of us are clinging to the last vestiges of the summertime, which officially stretches to September 20. At least mentally and emotionally. It’s a get-out-of-town and take-a-breath-or-two time, in terms of the music calendar, although we get an outing option at the Santa Barbara Bowl — always worth a visit, almost regardless of who’s onstage — this weekend, with Train. The San Francisco–born band, launched in 1994 and with major hits in their back pocket like “Hey Soul Sister,” “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” and “Meet Virginia” among them, is out on the road this summer celebrating a quarter century since the game-changing album Drops of Jupiter (hear here).

Next Thursday, August 27, marks a return visit to the Bowl from that supreme pop-soul queen, Diana Ross. Ross, at 82, is on her Diana in Motion tour, a truth-in-advertising moniker.