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Entries
Mahesh Balasooriya, Gilbert Castellanos, Marshall Hawkins
Castellanos continues to inspire with his weekly concert series featuring top flight trios connecting in the moment.
Every Friday night, at the downtown Westgate Hotel, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos is featuring a different world-class pianist with the bassist of their choice in a series titled, Some Of My Friends Are Piano Players. Last night it was LA phenomenon …
Strange Stage Stories from San Diego Musicians: Skid Roper, CC (Little Hurricane), Stevie Harris (The Styletones) and more...
Skid Roper, CC from Little Hurricane, Vanja James, Stevie Harris of the Styletones and Mishey Touchie of the Touchies relate odd and interesting moments that have happened while performing...
Skid Roper: “I think it was in 1987, Mojo Nixon and I were playing at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on a bill with Camper Van Beethoven and Ten Foot Faces. It was a packed house and right in …
Holidazed and Confused: Led Zeppelin tunes for the holidays at Winston's Dec. 1
Anyone who would like some music to kick off the holidays which doesn’t involve a reindeer named Rudolph or other such clichés might want to check out the third annual Holidazed and Confused show being held Saturday, December 1, 8 …
Piano Summit 2012: Nov. 18
Eight exemplary pianists perform Sunday at the new Dizzy's
I don't envy Chuck Perrin, who had to pare down a list of local pianists to just eight for the upcoming Piano Summit 2012 to be held at the new Dizzy's November 18 at 7 p.m. A lot of really …
Waiting to inhale: Mahler Ninth
Salonen and the Philharmonia steal your children with Mahler's Ninth.
The Philharmonia delivered the goods on Thursday night at Symphony Hall. What were the goods they delivered? A colossal struggle between Western subjectivity and Eastern detachment; the Confessions of Augustin and the Tibeten Book of the Dead in musical guise. …
Secret Sci-Fi-Surrealist-Soul
A new San Diego music project has finally been let out of the bag. Taj Easton along with Zack and Shelby Wentz have embarked upon a new concept-band called (Charles) Book&Record, which they kept under tight wraps for over a …
No beheadings this year
East County high school marching bands perform for each other in the season finale
"Last year, I beheaded someone." Heather Luck, flutist, is the instrumental music director at Steele Canyon High School in Rancho San Diego. "It was really cool. The kids loved it." "We did a Civil War show," says Michael Benge from …
Dead but a saint
San Diego Opera provides historic presentation of Henry II vs. Thomas Becket
I wandered into the Cuvier Center of St. James by the Sea in La Jolla to attend a talk about San Diego Opera's upcoming production of Murder in the Cathedral. The event was well attended and almost every seat was …
Jazz Live : featuring Jaime Valle
The rock-solid jazz veteran assembled a killer group to fill in for NYC guitarist Mark Elf--sidelined by Hurricane Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy did a number on the KSDS Jazz Live program on Tuesday. A concert featuring guitarist Mark Elf had to be scrapped because of ongoing problems getting a flight out of NYC. Thankfully, local jazz veteran Jaime Valle was …
All My Friends update: Upsilon Acrux, Beaters, Tron added
Plus shuttle information and time slots for the third annual Tijuana music festival
A few months ago, Tijuana's All My Friends music festival coordinator Marty Preciado told The Reader that the third annual AMF is geared toward “serving the rich cultural and musical exchange lived throughout the US-Mexico border.” As such, #AMF12 has …
Festival Norte Sonoro: international DJs remix Tijuana
Tijuana through the ears of the world, this Friday on Revolucion
DJ Rupture Last November, Northern Mexico music promoters NRMAL invited six international DJs to stay in Monterrey with host Toy Selectah (Mad Decent's cumbia/guarachero innovator and foundational member of the Sonidero Nacional music collective) to remix traditional songs recorded by …
Guest conductor
Cristof Perick returns for a walk in the park.
This weekend, German conductor Christof Perick will be conducting the San Diego Symphony in Richard Strass’ Don Juan and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6: The Pastoral. Maestro Perick is not a stranger to the San Diego musicians. In 2011 he led …
Elev8's year-end party with Mr. Bill, Bran Richards, and Crazy Daylight
Groundbreaking electronic bass music event Elev8 closes the year strong.
Digital art by Jesse Noemind Elev8 is closing out 2012 with a glitch, a hop, and a bang featuring three massive headliners and some serious stereo thunder from down under. Elev8 honcho Osal8 jumped on board Melbourne-based Enig’matik Records' roster …
Switchfoot/Nickel Creek superduo Fiction Family's new album drops 1-29-13
Currently signed to NJ-based Rock Ridge Music, Fiction Family will release their sophomore album Fiction Family Reunion (with distribution via ADA) on January 29, 2013. The second full-length partnership of Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) and Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) sees the …
Philharmonia
One of the most august orchestras in the world is coming to San Diego to perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. The orchestra is the Philharmonia and they will be performing at Symphony Hall on Thursday the 15th at 8:00 pm. …
Local Neil Diamond impersonator recording album, playing AVO Nov. 17
"Calypso Music Television wants to film my upcoming San Diego area concert to be broadcast as a special," says David Sherry, whose Neil Diamond tribute Diamond is Forever! did a six-week overseas summer tour that included TV performances in Malta. …
Megan Combs album release party Dec. 1 at Lestats
In March, Encinitas songstress Megan Combs began recording a new full-length, Home is Where the Heart is, with local reggae legend Tommy Dubs. "The album will be a digital, and physical CD release," Combs tells the Reader. "It will be …
Ben Wanicur Quartet live at 3rd Space
Wanicur steps out as a leader to hone new original compositions before heading into recording studio.
I caught another encouraging glimpse at the future of the San Diego jazz scene last night when the Ben Wanicur Quartet played two sets at 3rd Space in University Heights. I've been tracking Wanicur pretty regularly since the bassist moved …
Jeff Kaiser, Phil Skaller : Endless Pie
Wicked trumpet meets prepared piano in this intense and hilarious pairing of twisted minds.
Trumpet + piano duos are a relatively rare commodity in jazz — and this collaboration between Jeff Kaiser and Phil Skaller is not going to remind anyone of Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Roberts. For that matter Endless Pie is a …