Zakir Hussain is the world’s most renowned player and composer on the tabla, the traditional drum of India. He has led a distinguished career on several continents, and is particularly well-known for collaborating with such Western bigwigs as the Beatles. He is a cofounder-with Grateful Dead veteran Mickey Hart-of Planet Drum, a quartet of percussionists that plays world music and won the first-ever Grammy for that genre in 1992.
These two short plays were written by the little-known British absurdist James Saunders. Saunders began his career writing for the radio, and his stage plays retain the emphasis on contentious conversation so characteristic of classic radio comedy.
From the gated George Washington Smith mansions of Hope Ranch and Montecito to the Taco Bell logo on the wrapper of last night’s chicken gordita, mission style and symbolism saturate Santa Barbara and all of California, providing a kind of aesthetic template for the architecture and imagery of the entire state. From a practical point of view, the resounding triumph of mission style here makes sense-the white walls, red-tiled roofs, and simple, dramatic arches work exceedingly well in our natural landscape.
A solo exhibition by the abstract artist.
Shows through Sun., Oct. 8, Artamo Gallery, 568-1400.
Alia El-Bermani’s Perceptions of
Beauty A feminist painter’s investigation of the way
human physical beauty is socially constructed. Shows through
Wed., Oct. 18, Sullivan Goss Gallery, 730-1460.
A new sculpture on State Street has set off a sometimes angry debate about public art, free speech, and the rights of corporations to protect their logos. The work-titled “W”-is by Santa Barbara artist Colin Gray, and is on display outside the Bank of America on the corner of State and Canon Perdido streets.
o the strains of Gavin Bryars’s melancholy composition “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet,” Conor Lovett takes the stage at the Rubicon alone, faced with holding the attention of an audience for more than an hour without props, jokes, or other actors.
When Macy Weiser and Rob Ready formed We Wear Pants Productions last year, there was no way to know that the concept would take off and develop into Santa Barbara’s hottest young original theater company.
Five years ago this September I left New York City, and frankly, the place just hasn’t been the same since. I’m not trying to claim that my departure marked the tipping point, but repeated recent return visits have convinced me that, however easy it may still be to spend money there, the Big Apple has lost its edge. Somehow the alternative most frequently suggested–going to New York in order to hang out in Brooklyn–lacks appeal. Enter Downtown Los Angeles, the new hipster playground that’s only an hour and a half (if you’re lucky) from Santa Barbara.
Many stars like to let their bands warm up the crowd before stepping into the spotlight, but that’s not Carlos Santana’s way.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will give its inaugural Kirk Douglas Award for Career Achievement to the man himself on July 30 at the Bacara. Douglas, who is 89, will be doubly honored by being both the first recipient and the namesake of the award. I spoke with Douglas-who is not only a distinguished actor but also the author of several best-selling books-recently at his home in Montecito.
