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Upcoming Events in Santa Cruz
Thursday, October 9
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Rumbache
at Moe's Alley; $8 adv/$10 door; 8pm
Simmering with rhythmic tension, Rumbache offers a delectable blend of salsa, timba, bomba and any number of other Latin jazz hallmarks for a danceable sound that’s a quick cure for economic woes and the winter's-coming blahs. Hailing from San Francisco, the eight-piece band has in aggregate over 100 years of experience kicking out the Cuban dance jams, and it shows. This is percussive, dynamic music that justifies a night away from balancing the checkbook to hit Moe's well-trodden dance floor.
Friday, October 10
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Sean Hayes
at Crepe Place; $12 adv/$15 door; 7:30pm
Departing his North Carolina home at 20, Sean Hayes arrived in San Francisco and found you can take the singer/songwriter out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of him. The slight warble in his lilting voice adds a playfulness and honesty to the simple lyrics, and while the sound could certainly be called “stripped down,” the result is both profound and effective. With enough Southern charm to get booked to bluegrass festivals and enough dark edginess to satisfy the indie crowd, Hayes’ music blends hints of Elliot Smith, Ben Harper and Lyle Lovett.
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Chris Cain
at Moe's Alley; $13 adv/$15 door; 9:30pm
Chris Cain is a soulful guitar player whose bluesy laments owe much to the compositional refinement of jazz. A self-taught player who began his music career around the same time he began shaving, Cain drew inspiration from the likes of Muddy Waters, Ray Charles and Albert King. In the intervening years, he's drawn notice as one of the Bay Area's premier players, a four-time W.C. Handy Blues Award nominee with plaudits from blues guitar's toughest critics.
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Abhijit Banerjee’s Tarang
at Kuumbwa; $18 adv/$21 door; 7:30pm
Hailed as one of the best Indian percussionists in the world, Abhijit Banerjee is a master of the tabla and an ambassador of classical Indian music and culture. The tabla is no more than a set of two drums, one larger than the other, and has been played for more than 600 years. In swift, syncopated rhythms, Banerjee bumps and clicks on his instruments with the speed and creativity of a jazz pianist. And with back-up from the Tarang ensemble on an assortment of traditional instruments including the morsing, mandolin, ghatam and thumba, this concert is a close look at the colorful fabric of Indian music.
Saturday, October 11
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B Foundation
at Catalyst; $8 adv/$12 door; 9pm
Arcadia's B Foundation is a rarity among the resurgent West Coast reggae-rock community: though the band claims the likes of Slightly Stoopid and Sublime as inspirations, it also reach esfar back into the sound's roots. Reminiscent at times of the fertile punk and reggae interplay that was mastered by the Clash and the Police, B Foundation is a raga rock outfit with real teeth. Which isn't to say that the band is necessarily aggressive—the members emphasize a positive, good-time vibe—but there's an edge to it that’s absent among many of B Foundation’s peers.
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Aza
at Kuumbwa; $15 adv/$18 door; 8pm
Local polymorphic outfit Aza uses the players' Northern African roots as a point of inspiration to explore a diverse array of styles, including reggae, funk and jazz. The six-piece band is consummately eclectic, switching between musical forms as quickly as the members switch instruments. Aza recently returned from a whirlwind tour around the state, performing Moroccan festivals up and down the coast. The Moroccan heritage of Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou is clearly in evidence in Aza's music, though the band's wide-reaching stylistic approach is firmly rooted in American musical traditions.
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Junior Reid
at Moe's Alley; $25 adv/$30 door; 8pm
From the mean streets of the Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica, Junior Reid spent his childhood idolizing the reggae dancehall scene, and by the time he was 13 years old he’d recorded his first song. Later, Reid went on to lead the Jamaican dub band Black Uhuru and work with some of reggae and hip-hop’s finest, including Wu-Tang Clan, Ninjaman and Dennis Brown. Reid howls in a rare reggae falsetto, hitting the high register and typically staying there. With a heavy crunk influence and a generous helping of hi-fi sound effects, Junior crosses cutting-edge production with roots-reggae crooning.
Monday, October 13
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Babatunde Lea Quartet
at Kuumbwa; $22 adv/$25 door; 7pm & 9pm
Garnering comparisons to masters Charles Mingus and Art Blakey by jazz bible Downbeat, Babatunde Lea is a percussionist with few contemporary peers. Lea has played with many of the greats—Leon Thomas, Pharoah Sanders, Stan Getz, McCoy Tyner and countless others—but he is an incendiary bandleader in his own right. The San Francisco-based player explores the rhythmic complexity of Africa and Caribbean music forms through compositions that drip with passion and intensity. Lea is joined by his impressive quartet, which includes saxophone superhero Ernie Watts.
Tuesday, October 14
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The Subdudes
at Moe's Alley; $25 adv/$30 door; 8pm
A big ol’ bowl of New Orleans rock gumbo, the Subdudes blend gospel, blues, funk and R&B into a spicy swamp boogie. By substituting a tambourine player for a drummer, these dudes allow big bass and vocal harmonies to get plenty of air time. Although the band broke up in 1996 after nine years of touring, it reformed in 2002 with two new members and has since released three albums, including the latest LP, Street Symphony. And having garnered lofty comparisons to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the Band by critics, the quintet is determined to prove a rebuilt band is just as good as a new one.
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Belleville Outfit
at Don Quixote's; $10 adv/$12 door; 7:30pm
The acoustical sextet Belleville Outfit plays Americana with all the freedom of jazz and all the emotions of blues. Hailing from the Lone Star State of Texas, the upstart act released its debut album, Wanderin, just eight months ago and has already toured nearly every state in the union. With a heavy dose of swing, a killer pianist and a gorgeous singing violinist, the Belleville Outfit is turning heads wherever they go. Hitting Donny Q’s before playing two dates at the Joshua Tree Music Festival, these six swingers are on their way up, but you can catch them on the ground floor.
Thursday, October 16
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Cappadonna
at Catalyst; $10 adv/$14 door; 9pm
As the world’s most influential hip-hop crew, the Wu-Tang Clan family tree has been spreading rap roots through musical soil for 17 years. Cappadonna, though not an original member from the Wu’s 36 Chambers days, was first featured on Raekwon’s ground breaking 1995 album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, before being sworn in as an official Clan member in 2000. But after a series of beefs with other members, Cappa quit the biz and worked as a cab driver for eight months in Baltimore. Today, he’s traded the beaded seat cover back for his microphone and is set to spit at the Cat.
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Grupo Fantasma
at Moe's Alley; $12 adv/$15 door; 9pm
Building an audience the old-fashioned way—one fan at a time, one city at a time—has been a long but worthwhile process for Austin's Grupo Fantasma. The 11-piece Latin ensemble is the toast of Texas, reaching deep into the region's Mexican roots for a sound that’s entrancingly vibrant, full of passion and remarkably diverse. Perhaps no better indication is the band's ability to turn on a dime from Latin raveups to funkadelic breakdowns—a skill that has served it well during recent stints backing up Prince. Still, this band doesn't need Minneapolis' mini-mogul to make a strong impression: straddling the worlds of Latin jazz, funk and even indie rock, Grupo Fantasma is the most striking pancultural melange to emerge from Austin since Alejandro Escovedo.
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Eric Vloeimans
at Kuumbwa; $18 adv/$21 door; 7pm
Denmark's Eric Vloeimans doesn't succumb to the muso pretenses of so many players. Though the trumpeter certainly has earned his stripes with his fluent mastery of the instrument, Vloeimans prefers the audacity of ambition to technical skill, finding inspiration in the gregarious sensibility of Don Cherry. This expansive awareness is apparent in Vloeimans' compositions, which are notable for their tonal energy and high-wire acts of melodic mastery. Vloeimans is a true original in a time when too many composers are content with playing it safe; he evokes the greats of yesteryear by patterning himself after their risktaking natures as opposed to their compositional techniques.
Friday, October 17
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Acorn Project
at Crepe Place; $8; 8pm
Classic jam bands are a dime a dozen; indie rock jam bands are slightly more expensive. Bellingham, Washinton’s Acorn Project gives listeners their money’s worth with funky epics that rock enough to make a good Christmas present for your Deadhead uncle but are jazzy enough to play for your hipster friends. With a heavy horn section, a nimble pianist and a cracked-out flutist, these acorns grow into a wild jungle of solos from each of the band’s six members before being trimmed down by occasionally atmospheric interludes. Constantly changing and seldom boring, this is a show for those like their jam spread thick.
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Hayes Carll
at Don Quixote's; $10 adv/$12 door; 8pm
Hayes Carll caught some flack in Nashville and Americana circles for his hilarious video to “She Left Me For Jesus,” a takeoff of late-night bottomfeeding TV show Cheaters starring the big man himself. It's not surprising the song offended Sarah Palin's target demographic, but Carll's sense of humor is far more good-humored than incendiary. Carll certainly knows how to play a good attention-grabbing joke, and he offers a clever twist on modern country songwriting. At times, his sound comes across as a radio-ready recapitulation of what Bobby Bare Jr. and the Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood have already done better, but much of that blame can probably be laid at the feet of the bean counters at his label. Look past the gimmicks and the bids for CMT play and you'll find Carll has many hidden gems in his repertoire.
Saturday, October 18
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Norma Jean
at Catalyst; $18 adv/$20 door; 7:30pm
God’s a busy guy. Heaven’s phone rings off the hook day and night and sometimes the only way to get heard up there is to scream. Atlanta mathcore band Norma Jean does just that by turning prayers into earsplitting screeches that could make Jesus himself throw elbows in the mosh pit. With a brand new album, Norma Jean vs. the Anti Mother, the quintet is spreading the gospel far and wide with a grueling daily tour around the country. So even if you didn’t like the original “Our God is an Awesome God,” come hear it shrieked at 60 decibels. It’s what Jesus would do.
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These United States
at Crepe Place; $8; 9pm
Somewhere between the open plains and the freeway gridlock, These United States sing anthems of the American dream. Gone are the ramparts we watched and the bombs in mid-air, but in their place are the reality shows we watched and the moms in midriffs. A modern Johnny Appleseed adventure through folk, pop, blues and Americana, These United States are one of the best new indie bands of the year. Anchored by poet songwriter Jesse Elliot and hailing from none other than Washington, D.C. , this constantly changing cast of musicians hopes to declare indie-pendence with a killer show at the Crepe.
Monday, October 20
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Dar Williams
at Rio Theatre; $25; 8pm
Coffeehouse diva Dar Williams has a classic story of overcoming fear and reaching for the stars. Although she studied theater in college and afterward set out for a career in stagecraft, her occasional gigs at Boston coffee shops started getting her some notice. And after coming to grips with paralyzing stage fright, Williams soon found herself opening for Joan Baez, who took the young singer under her wing and helped her record a few tracks. Since then it’s been one hit record after another for the folk pop mistress. Playing radio-friendly ditties tailor-made for FOX teen dramas, Dar is your go-to girl for girl’s night.
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Eliza Gilkyson
at Don Quixote's; $18 adv/$20 door; 7:30pm
A staunchly political performer, Austin-based Eliza Gilkyson effectively bridges the gap between rural American and urban Blue State value systems. Gilkyson's pastoral folk clearly evokes the wide expanses of middle America, but shares much more in common with the beliefs of the ’60s Greenwich Village folk community than those found in most Wal-Mart parking lots across the country. In this day and age, such an approach could easily devolve into the soggy liberalism that has made many folkie heroes seem archaic, but Gilkyson sidesteps this trap with unflinching honesty, clear-headed critique and a blue collar sensibility. It certainly also helps that she can write a damn fine song.
