Long-time local deejay Shotgun Tom finally gets his name on the Walk of Fame. "Visit my star," he says, "at 7080 Hollywood Blvd and La Brea." Here's a reprint of the story I wrote last year when K-EARTH 101 announced the news that Shots had made the final cut:

“Thirty thousand dollars.” It’s Shotgun Tom Kelly on the phone from his L.A. apartment to talk about the star he will be getting next year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “That’s what they cost. And then it costs another …

Pomona-based collective tours through San Diego for first time.

Pomona art and music collective Moon Block Party recently held their second annual Desert Daze festival in the Salton Sea-side town of Mecca with headliners including Tinariwen (a world-music group formed in a Libyan refugee camp), Los Angeles occult drone-folk …

Weller led a superb ensemble through the music of vocal icon Ella Fitzgerald.

Young double-bass virtuoso Danny Weller is back in town for a week or so, and he somehow found time to organize a tribute concert to the great Ella Fitzgerald with a San Diego all-star band at 98 Bottles on April …

The vibraphonist led a stellar sextet celebrating his new music in front of a sold-out house.

Vibraphonist Anthony Smith celebrated the CD release of two new discs on April 27 at 98 Bottles, leading an all-star sextet with pianist Mike Wofford, flutist Holly Hofmann, guitarist Peter Sprague, bassist Danny Weller and drummer Duncan Moore through two …

The Burning of Rome ranked #14 on MTVs’ artists site for their video “Little Piranhas,” filmed in part at the Casbah. Get More: The Burning of Rome, Little Piranhas, Music, More Music Videos

Endlessly inventive and swinging, White really shines in the small room.

San Diego pianist Joshua White continues to demonstrate that he is ready for virtually any high-profile gig. I can see him making an immediate contribution to the groups led by Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter or Charles Lloyd, for instance -- …

DJ Arkon celebrates his birthday with a U.K. invasion at the Kava Lounge.

Dragon Lounge, one of San Diego’s longest-running electronic dance music monthlies held at the Kava Lounge, garnered international attention over the last year for their future jungle showcases. “This sub-genre is a combination of break beats and jungle that resurrects …

Alternating between the classical instrument and a highly processed electric, Riley impressed on both axes.

I really had no idea who Gyan Riley was before attending his Fresh Sound @ Space 4 Art debut on April 25 — just a matter of faith, I guess, that curator Bonnie Wright would not let me down. Of …

Music and Arts School Rock 'n' Roll San Diego will begin hosting music concerts this weekend.

San Diego has lost a lot of music venues in recent months, including 4th & B, Anthology and the Calypso Café, but there is at least one new location for live performances, music and recording arts school, Rock ‘n’ Roll …

MIT holds a concert community concert of Brahms Requiem.

In the week following the events at the Boston Marathon there was a communal singing of the Brahms Requiem at MIT. Over 30 Boston choirs participated to raise money for One Fund Boston, a relief fund for the victims of …

Tori Roze on her band's new #2 release, Turbulence

Dave Good: The music on Turbulence…kind of is turbulent. At the very least, it sounds driven and complex. Victoria Roze: "The driven and complex music on this album simply reflects each of us as band members. Was it intentional to …

This year's California Electronic Music Exchange Concert features musicians from across the state, and will include the dismantling of a 'nuclear bomb'

In the current time period in which we all live, there are innovations that are conceivably defining new genres within a framework of electronic music, new media, and sound-art. Many of these paradigm-shifting-potentials exist within the confines of individual academic …

The guitarist brings his diverse and exploratory music to the East Village.

Concert promoter extraordinaire Bonnie Wright continues her quest to expand the ears of the San Diego listening public on April 25, with a special solo concert by guitarist/composer Gyan Riley. Riley has a background in the classical world, but he …

Soprano Latonia Moore turns Aida into a group discount

When greatness is standing a few feet away on the stage, it is necessary to write about it. As a member of the San Diego Opera Chorus, it can be a delicate situation for me to write about a performance …

Geek rock and video game covers at the Ruby Room in Hillcrest

Even if you don’t consider yourself especially nerdy, there’s a good chance you’ve heard a song or two from Santa Barbara pop punk poindexters Nerf Herder, a self-proclaimed “geek rock” outfit best known for composing the theme song to Buffy …

The LA saxophone virtuoso delivered a smoking set.

Alto saxophonist Danny Janklow made his San Diego performance debut as a bandleader on April 20, teaming up with fellow sax man Christopher Hollyday, bassist Hamilton Price, pianist Joshua White and drummer Bob Weller for an exciting night of post-bop …

Kiss Kids by locals Chris Ryall and Tom Waltz to debut in Autumn

Kiss Kids, an upcoming comic book series from local publisher IDW, will be co-created by previous Kiss series writers Chris Ryall and Tom Waltz with art by Jose Holder (Mars Attacks, the Real Ghostbusters). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/21/44127/ "Kiss is used to rocking …

Strange Stage Stories from San Diego Musicians: Aquile, Jan Tonnesen (of 1960's local heroes, The Contrasts), Tony Tonite (The Sara Groban Band), Joel Kmak (The Farmers, The Hitmakers) and Jarrod Lucas (The Phantoms, The Dragons) relate odd and interesting moments that have happened while performing...

Jan Tonnesen / The Contrasts: “In the mid-1960s my band was playing a New Years Eve gig at a Naval enlisted men's club at Ream Field. The place was packed with sailors and their girlfriends. We were in the middle …

Pianist Joshua White brought drum icon Marvin "Smitty" Smith, bassist Hamilton Price and tenor saxophonist Ben Schachter into the Pacific Beach venue.

April 18 represented a special day in the evolution of piano master Joshua White. Drum legend Marvin "Smitty" Smith made the trek down from LA, as did bassist Hamilton Price to join White and tenor saxophonist Ben Schachter for a …

The San Diego Record Show returns Saturday April 20. Here's an interview with Record Show manager Alan Garth from a couple of years ago:

Alan Garth’s record collection is too big to fit into his North Park row house. For now, he keeps his 2000 or so discs in storage. Garth’s living room is without television and instead is organized around a couple of …

Mission Bay High School will host a pair of concerts, on April 19 (at Tango Del Rey) and May 18 (on campus) to raise funds for thier music programs.

Mission Bay High School will host a pair of fundraisers this spring for their music programs. First up will be a student concert on April 19, at Tango Del Rey, with guest, boogie woogie pianist, Sue Palmer. Then on May …

The young LA alto saxophonist makes his San Diego bandleading debut.

Brace yourself for some "alto-madness," jazz fans. On April 20, young LA saxophone master Danny Janklow comes to Dizzy's, sharing the frontline duties with SD reed virtuoso Christopher Hollyday, fellow Angeleno bassist Hamilton Price with local heavyweights pianist Joshua White …

Ross-Ma'u led a tight ensemble of veteran and younger players through an ambitious program of original material and lesser known standards.

One of Chuck Perrin of Dizzy's greatest attributes is his fondness for showcasing emergent or lesser known talent to the wider San Diego jazz fan base. On April 14, I got the opportunity to take in a show that featured …

Whistle Stop monthly says so-long with Maniqui Lazer, Moonshake, Machino, and more.

Three years ago, a rare and mystical union of Weird was forged between two entities known as Monsterpussy and Freak Sauce. Like a modern day Megazord, they fused together to form a formidable beast that was greater than the sum …

Nate Jarrell led an all-star quintet through the difficult music of Ornette Coleman and Pat Metheny.

It takes some balls to commit to a concert celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the iconic Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman recording Song X, one of the most powerful and singular musical statements of our time. On April 13, guitarist Nate Jarrell …

Time to look at Aida with a disgusting tie in with *Twilight* and a sampling of The Smiths.

It’s time to get into Verdi’s Aida. The show opens on Saturday April 20th at 7:00 p.m. The venue is the Civic Theater. As operas go, I think this one has a story that develops well. The love-triangle is between …

A brand new American play by Richard Montoya prominently features local jazz stars.

I had the privilege of attending opening night of Federal Jazz Project on April 12, so I thought I'd pass on some observations -- although, I'm certainly not a theater critic. In case you haven't heard, Federal Jazz Project is …

Pianist Geoffrey Keezer pretty much knocked it out of the park with a wide-ranging, very dynamic performance.

Piano virtuoso Geoffrey Keezer dropped in to Jazz Live ( the excellent series produced by Jazz 88.3) on April 9, performing a rare, local solo concert that was also being recorded for an upcoming DVD. Opening with "Bag's Groove," Keezer …

The story of Gesualdo's mania continues with infanticide.

I wish I could say that Gesualdo’s atrocities ended with the murder of his wife and her lover. I cannot. The double murder occurred at Gesualdo’s town-palace in Naples. He immediately fled to his castle in the town of Gesualdo. …

TV Girl recently released an interactive video for their catchy single "Girls Like Me" that allows viewers to make a cameo via webcam shots. Directed by L.A.-based duo fourclaps, the video was filmed via Skype with TV Girl fans and …

Mark Dresser, Michael Dessen, Nicole Mitchell and Myra Melford performed with musicians from across the country and the Atlantic Ocean while staying put in La Jolla.

The recent three-day consecutive telematic virtual tour performed at UCSD with a quartet comprised of Mark Dresser's bass, Nicole Mitchell's flutes, Michael Dessen's trombone and Myra Melford's piano interacting in real time with musicians from Amherst MA, Zurich Switzerland, and …

Robin Adler & Mutts of the Planet delivered two knockout sets of Joni Mitchell music to a packed house at Dizzy's.

Mutts of the Planet is kind of a misleading name for a band that produces such consistently gorgeous music, and unless you're a Joni Mitchell "insider,' you might not realize that the moniker comes from a lyric on Mitchell's Mingus …

Strange Stage Stories from San Diego Musicians: Jessica Hull, Tolan Shaw (New Archaic), Paul Bell (Electric Waste Band), Heather Vorwerck (The Comeuppance) and Michael Inzunza (The Brandy Alexanders) relate odd and interesting moments that have happened while performing...

Michael Inzunza / The Brandy Alexanders: “In 1999, we opened up for Berlin at Cane's. Well, about three songs into our set, I happened to look side stage and saw (their singer) Terri Nunn winking at me. I think she …

Composer Carlo Gesualdo stabbed, mutilated, and displayed his wife and her lover.

“Kill that scoundrel along with this Harlot! Shall a Gesualdo be made a cuckold?” This was more than hyperbole from Carlo Gesualdo the Prince of Venosa. He exited the bedchamber covered in blood and gore only to return and stab …

Lestat's to host charismatic trio's first performance since 2010

"Yes, it's true, the time has come," says Kelsea Rae Little, whose teen trio the Wrong Trousers will play a reunion show at Lestat's in Normal Heights on July 5. "Your favorite nerdy 3 piece San Diego band is getting …

East Village art and performance space hosts local doom/drone metal, pointilistic soundscapes, and psych-rock.

Stay Strange continues their legacy of outsider art and music - which relocated from the Kava Gallery to Space 4 Art (325 15th Street - East Village) at the beginning of the year - with a Saturday, April 13 showcase …

Bands often get paid based on how many fans they bring in the door. On Wednesday, April 3, local glam rockers Purple Church may have set a record. They got paid an eye-popping $100 for each head they brought through …

The brilliant pianist performs a rare home-town gig at SD City College

Virtuoso pianist Geoffrey Keezer will perform solo, on April 9, at Jazz Live, on the campus of San Diego City College in the Saville Theatre at 8 pm. It's easy to forget sometimes that Keezer lives in our fair town. …

Art, music, and wellness festival relocates to Temecula with biggest lineup to date.

Lightning in a Bottle just announced the lineup for their July 11-14 art and music festival at a Toonami and Adult Swim. Australian glitch hop gypsy Kayla Scintilla conjures visions of the deep East and inner realms with organic instrumentation …

Clayton's group delivered an excellent example of modern, small group improvising.

Athenaeum Jazz led off their new concert series with a performance by the Gerald Clayton Quartet on April 3, at TSRI in La Jolla, featuring special guest tenor saxophonist Mark Turner alongside Joe Sanders on bass, Justin Brown on drums …

UCSD hosts multi-venue experimental music and performance art festival.

A couple of years ago, my former roommate Eli took me to a party on a fire road in the hills of Descanso, where a handful of UCSD kids had built a small stage and projector screen to showcase a …

The nation's largest solar sound and stage setup comes to Point Loma

Alternative comedy was popularized in the ‘80s. Alternative music broke through in the ‘90s. Alternative media found a new outlet via the user-generated information boom of the ‘00s. Now, local pioneers of alternative power and wellness are coming together to …

Free wheeling solos and rhythmic adventure characterized this excellent trio of sonic explorers.

These Bonnie Wright concerts just keep getting better. On the last day of March, NYC guitarist Rez Abbasi assembled a special trio with his longtime associate Satoshi Takeishi on drums and SD bassist Mark Dresser for a riveting performance of …

Josquin had family members burned alive, had his employer arrested by a king, and escaped the plague.

While looking for information about musical settings of David’s lament--”Absalom, oh my son" etc, I found Josquin des Prez. Josquin’s setting of Absalom, fili mi is quintessential High Renaissance music. Josquin was born in 1450 and died in 1521. Some …