From Brass to Glass to Guitars with Class, the Westside Has It All This Week

by Tomm Carroll

Friday, October 19-Thursday, October 25—Mardi Gras is still some four or five months away, but the brass band sound of New Orleans is perpetually timely. In other words, it’s always Fat Tuesday, no matter what day of the week or time of the year that the members of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band pick up their horns to blow.

The band’s last album, Buck Jump (Mammoth), was produced by John Medeski (of progressive jazz’s Medeski, Martin and Wood fame) and continued the septet-plus’ penchant for playing all types of music – from jump blues to Marvin Gaye to Thelonius Monk to "The Flintstones" theme song. And how many bands do you know who have a sousaphone player as a charter member?

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band will bring a little bit of the Crescent City to the intimate environs of Temple Bar in Santa Monica Wednesday night. Also on the bill are Jeremy Soul and The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey.

Full House: It’s a busy weekend at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, with no less than five performers spread over three evenings. Friday, it’s the double bill of singer-songwriters Ellis Paul and Susan Werner for two shows – 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. Boston boy Paul is a literate, passionate performer who has graced this stage often and is best known for his song on the "Me, Myself and Irene" soundtrack, "The World Ain’t Slowin’ Down." Werner is an accomplished guitarist and pianist and her wit is guaranteed to disarm you.

On Saturday, McCabe’s welcomes multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, founder of The New Lost City Ramblers, whose performances encompass a compendium of American folk music. Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., Kim Saunders, with her classic kids’ tunes in tow, performs at the matinee children’s show.

The 12-piece, all-woman Some Like It Hot Review present their female take on the blues at Harvelle’s in Santa Monica.

Funk-and-roll outfit Deep Banana Blackout get down and slippery at Temple Bar.

R&B legend Billy Vera returns for two shows – 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. – at Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier.

Former cowpunks The Uninvited team up with Marlo, Darcy Ray and 3 Faze for a gig at Santa Monica’s 14 Below.

Aussie guitar lord Tommy Emmanuel, on whose album the late, great Chet Atkins made his last recorded appearance, wails away at Boulevard Music in Culver City.

The West End in Santa Monica welcomes Halfway Home and Triggerfish to its stage.

No-nonsense blues babe Janiva Magness holds court at Harvelle’s for her weekly showcase.

It’s "Guitarapalooza" night at Rusty’s once again with Curtis, Jetpack and Mike Fuller.

Thelonius Monk’s kid, drummer T.S. Monk and his Sextet visit The Jazz Bakery in Culver City for a run that extends through next Sunday.

Singer-trumpeter-comedian Jack Sheldon brings his California Cool Quintet back to Century City’s Lunaria.

L.A.-based ace jazz pianist James Carney performs in trio (with Dan Lutz, bass, and Dan Morris, drums) at Rocco in Bel Air through next Saturday.

The Samurai Homeboys wow the crowd with their rock-and-soul covers every Thursday at 14 Below. This week’s opening act is Soul Shaker.

The musician who took minimalism to the max, Philip Glass is no stranger to film scores – or performing them live with his ensemble or an orchestra as the film screens above him. But this week, UCLA (home to most of his L.A. appearances) institutes its ambitious "Philip on Film" series, which finds Glass and his ensemble playing five straight nights of live concert screenings – with a different program each night – at Royce Hall.

The series opens Tuesday with the L.A. premiere of five short works (by such visually challenging directors as Peter Greenaway, Atom Egoyan and Glass’ previous collaborator Godfrey Reggio), each with a Glass score performed live.

The other evenings are welcome reprises of past Glass filmworks: Wednesday, Reggio’s Powaqqatsi; Thursday, Tod Browning’s Dracula; Friday, Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête; and Saturday, Reggio’s "Glass-terpiece," Koyaanisqatsi. All screenings feature new 35mm prints. If you’re a fan of film music, you owe it to yourself to catch at least one of these concert screenings.

(Note: Nocturnal Missions embarks on a long-overdue vacation next week; see you November 16!)