| June 23, 2013 |
She & Him, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell |
Pop |
The Hollywood Bowl, June 23, $1-$138
Two duos and a rising solo artist inaugurate the summer Hollywood Bowl season with a touch of twang. As She & Him, the team of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward offer sing-along Grand Ol' Opry-styled pop. Sublime country vocalist Emmylou Harris pairs with smart Nashville songwriter-guitarist Rodney Crowell in support of their new album "Old Yellow Moon." And opener Matthew E. White offers gothic old-time Americana, richly arranged and executed.
— Randall Roberts |
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| June 24, 2013 |
Ambrose Akinmusire |
Jazz |
The Blue Whale, June 24 and 25, $15
Just because lauded Blue Note artist Akinmusire has become a regular presence in L.A. as a result of his teaching gig at USC doesn't make him any less than appointment viewing. Here the trumpeter performs as a duet with another bright young talent in pianist Gerald Clayton, who has come together with Akinmusire on his recordings as well as Clayton's latest album, "Life Forum."
— Chris Barton |
|
| June 28, 2013 |
The BET Experience |
Pop |
L.A. Live, June 28-30: $55-$75, Three-day packages for $199-$399
Anchored by the cable powerhouse BET and its annual awards ceremony, the BET Experience's first-year expansion to three days promises to deliver onto six stages and neighboring venues some of rap, R&B and pop's biggest names and most bankable young talent. Artists slated to appear include Beyoncé, R. Kelly, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Lion, Miguel, Schoolboy Q, the Roots, Nelly and more.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| June 30, 2013 |
Stefan Betke |
Pop |
California Plaza, June 30. Free
The German techno minimalist records as Pole and over a decade has crafted deep, bass-heavy, dub-inspired rhythm music. His work has inspired a generation of techno producers and seems hand-designed for the echoed outdoor space used by Grand Performances. He appears with Los Angeles techno chameleon John Tejada and British creators of labyrinthine electronic music Plaid.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| July 3, 2013 |
Fleetwood Mac |
Pop |
Staples Center, July 3. $49.50-$149.50
By the time it returns to Los Angeles after a few months on the road, the band will have logged more than 40 gigs during this year's reunion cycle. It played the Hollywood Bowl and the Honda Center in May and returns for an arena gig to celebrate nearly 50 years of rock 'n' roll.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| July 7, 2013 |
The Space Migration Tour |
Pop |
The Hollywood Palladium, Aug. 7. $31. Also the Observatory, Santa Ana, Aug. 6. $35
A new generation of rappers is bum-rushing the genre, injecting a new vibrancy into a movement whose chart success has resulted in another valley of formulaic pop-rap. Some of the smartest young voices will gig at the Palladium: Mac Miller stormed YouTube to become a sensation; Action Bronson's wit, spirit and sous-chef background infuses his work with insider foodie rhymes and much narrative detail. And Chance the Rapper's recent mix-tape, "Acid Rap," is one of the year's best.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| July 9, 2013 |
Michael Tilson Thomas |
Classical |
Hollywood Bowl, July 9 and 11, $1-$136. Also at the Davies Concert Hall, San Francisco, June 27-July 2, $79-$115
Thomas' last appearance at the Hollywood Bowl was a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Suite from "West Side Story" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in summer 2007. It was glorious, Bernstein's Broadway score resurrected into music of Mahlerian expressivity and Tchaikovskian lushness. The emotions expressed were as complex and transcendent as those found in opera. MTT, as he is known, finally will be back. This time he conducts two programs to open the L.A. Phil's summer Bowl season, with a full-blown Mahlerian "Resurrection," as the composer's Second Symphony is known, and Tchaikovsky's fraught Fourth Symphony. "West Side Story" will, moreover, very much be in MTT's blood. At the end of June in the Bay Area, he concludes his San Francisco Symphony June festival with a rare concert performance of the complete score in Davies Hall.
— Mark Swed |
|
| July 10, 2013 |
Allison Miller |
Jazz |
The Blue Whale, July 10, $15
A powerhouse behind the drums, Miller's rambunctious debut as leader of her ensemble Boom Tic Boom was one of the top jazz albums of 2010, and she sounds as electric as ever on this year's follow-up, "No Morphine, No Lilies." Her deft way around rhythms from inside and outside of jazz is an immediate draw, as is her interplay with pianist Myra Melford, bassist Todd Sickafoose and a wild card guest in clarinetist Ben Goldberg.
— Chris Barton |
|
| July 12, 2013 |
Vieux Farka Toure |
Pop |
Levitt Pavilion Pasadena, July 12. Free
When the Malian guitarist arrives for an evening at the bucolic Levitt Pavilion-Pasadena, he brings not only his own brilliant guitar style but teachings of his father, Ali Farka Toure, who helped propel an entire continent with his influential guitar style. The son arrives to perform in support of his typically inspired new album "Mon Pays."
— Randall Roberts |
|
| July 23, 2013 |
The Postal Service |
Pop |
The Greek Theater, July 23, $39.50-$50
A decade after its release, the band's only studio album, "Give Up," remains a touchstone. The catchy singing of vocalist Ben Gibbard and the infectious way that producer Jimmy Tamborello has with both melody and rhythm sent a generation to the bedroom dance floor. They reunited in the spring to celebrate a decade and arrive at the Greek for its first-ever Los Angeles performance. Opener Big Freedia is a charismatic purveyor of bawdy New Orleans "sissy bounce" music. Expect much twerking.
— Randall Roberts |
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| July 28, 2013 |
Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z |
Pop |
The Rose Bowl, July 28. Sold out
Two of the most successful and powerful men in show business step down from the mountaintop to appear at the Rose Bowl. Timberlake arrives in support of his new "The 20/20 Experience." And Jay-Z is touring to promote ... Jay-Z.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| July 29, 2013 |
Midori |
Classical |
Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West, July 29 and 31, Montecito, $50
Midori is a violinist who never wastes a note. She is not one to fuss over a phrase but rather relies on sheer intensity of tone, pure intonation and careful placement of dynamics. A former child violin star, she has matured impressively. Now popular concerto performances must compete for her time with her teaching at USC, her social work and her advocacy of new music. These are also the ideal, caring attributes of a great Bach player. This summer Midori will play the purest of all solo violin music, Bach's complete sonatas and partitas for violin in the intimate Hahn Hall of Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West, just up a Montecito hill from a pristine stretch of SoCal coastline.
— Mark Swed |
|
| July 31, 2013 |
Dr. John |
Jazz |
The Hollywood Bowl, July 31, $1-$138
The inimitable, New Orleans-bred sound of Dr. John freely draws from the Crescent City's broad musical gumbo, including blues, rock, jazz and R&B (to terrific effect on 2012's "Locked Down"). Here the artist formerly known as Mac Rebennack gives "Props to Pops" in a rootsy tribute to Louis Armstrong that calls upon a murderers' row of guests including Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Blind Boys of Alabama and trumpeters Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard and Arturo Sandoval.
— Chris Barton |
|
| Aug. 2, 2013 |
Ozomatli |
Pop |
California Plaza, Aug. 2. Free
The longtime Angeleno Chicano-rap-rock institution arrives to resurrect formative Los Angeles songs as displayed in the book "Songs in the Key of L.A." The book highlights sheet music written about Southern California from 1849 to 1950, all held in the archives of the Los Angeles Public Library, and Ozomatli and guests will perform selections from this work.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| Aug. 7, 2013 |
Steve Martin |
Pop |
The Hollywood Bowl, Aug. 7, $1-$138
Though best known as an actor, comedian and writer, Martin is also, of course, a banjo player, and in recent years he's focused as much time on this passion as others. He'll perform with guest vocalist Edie Brickell and the band the Steep Canyon Rangers along with famed New Orleans group the Preservation Jazz Hall Band and talented singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux.
— Randall Roberts |
|
| Aug. 10, 2013 |
|
Classical |
Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Aug. 10, $32-$52. Also at the
Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 5, $1-$167
Glass is an ever busy composer. Along with all his dozens of operas and film scores, his numerous chamber works and concertos, he's written 10 symphonies, two of which will be played in California this summer. Marin Alsop will lead the U.S. premiere of Glass' Tenth at the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz. And the Los Angeles Philharmonic has commissioned the Diavolo Dance Theater to choreograph Glass' Third Symphony for the Hollywood Bowl. Bramwell Tovey will conduct.
— Mark Swed |
|
| Aug. 11, 2013 |
Gustavo Dudamel |
Classical |
Hollywood Bowl, Aug. 11-15, $1-$167
Dudamel's normal two weeks at the Hollywood Bowl are, this summer, but one. And after last season's huge and hugely varied "Americas and Americans" festival, this year he limits himself to but one composer and only two of Verdi's late works at that. In keeping with the worldwide celebrations of the Italian composer's 200th birthday, Dudamel will lead a concert performance of "Aida" and two performances of the Requiem with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Master Chorale and a fine group of soloists. If the Bowl in August feels a little local and provincial, your other option is to book a flight to Japan in September. La Scala, Italy's famed opera company and once Verdi's home house, has given Dudamel the rare honor of leading the company's celebratory touring "Aida" performances in Tokyo and Osaka.
— Mark Swed |
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| Aug. 16, 2013 |
La Jolla SummerFest |
Classical |
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Sherwood Auditorium, La Jolla, Aug. 16, $45-$65
Significant new music for some crazy reason — cooked brains at the beach, perhaps? — isn't thought summer-worthy hereabout. For a day in August, though, La Jolla is a beach town that breaks with tradition. Its annual SummerFest program of commissions is part of the tony town's annual and excellent chamber music festival. This year there will be world premieres by three premier senior American composers — Steven Stucky's Violin Sonata, John Harbison's "Crossroads" and David Del Tredici's "Bullycide." Oh, yes, the beach there is great too.
— Mark Swed |
|
| Aug. 17, 2013 |
The Cookers |
Jazz |
Catalina Bar & Grill, Aug 17-18, $20-$25
Maybe the most aptly named ensemble working today, this collection of longtime pros that includes Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart deftly navigates the fertile ground between hard bop and post bop. The spirit and sound of '60s jazz may be well represented in spirit, but the results are hot enough to sound thoroughly of today.
— Chris Barton |
|
| Aug. 28, 2013 |
Wayne Shorter |
Jazz |
The Hollywood Bowl, Aug. 28, $1-$138
Can someone double-check that Shorter is really almost 80? Because his recent output indicates otherwise. His live album "Without a Net" will surely be a fixture on many of this year's best-of lists, and this appearance with the same crack band in honor of the saxophonist-composer's 80th birthday should be equally timeless, to say nothing for all that guests Herbie Hancock, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas and Esperanza Spalding have planned.
— Chris Barton |
|
| Sept. 9, 2013 |
Michael Feinstein |
Classical |
Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia, Sept. 9, $20-$100
Feinstein reportedly got off to a good start as music director of the Pasadena Pops in June, not only as the wonderful musician that he is, however inexperienced as a conductor, but also as a font of historical insight. "Throughout the evening," Richard Ginell wrote in his Times review, "Feinstein offered a flood of useful, accurate information and anecdotes about each piece." For the "Gershwins & Me" program, expect the flood to marvelously overflow the Gershwin levees. There really is a Gershwins and Feinstein. In the late '70s, Ira Gershwin took the twentysomething singer under his wing.
— Mark Swed |
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