The Woodman Cometh with His Woodwind to the Jazz Bakery; Dread Zeppelin Goes Down Below

by Tomm Carroll

Friday, August 3-Thursday, August 9—The biggest name on this week’s roster of live music on the Westside isn’t even known as a musician. Before he commences his perennial "Unitiled Fall Project" film, internationally acclaimed actor-writer-director-comedian-and-part-time-clarinetist Woody Allen comes to town with Eddie Davis and his New Orleans Jazz Band for a two-night stand at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City. (What a coup for the club’s impressive impressario Ruth Price!) He performs Tuesday and Wednesday nights. One wonders if he’s doing his weekly Monday evening gig at New York’s Café Carlyle the night before…(actually, he’s playing Oakland that night)

For a guy who once quipped that the only cultural advantage of L.A. was that you can make a turn at a red light, this seems like a weird place to find the die-hard New Yorker.

Maybe he had some business here and decided to do some moonlighting. And it has been stinkin’ hot back in the Big (Baked) Apple this summer. Regardless. Allen has traveled with a Dixieland band before (remember his European tour back in 1996, as immortalized in Barbara Kopple’s documentary, "Wild Man Blues?"), and so why not L.A.? If you’re one of the lucky few who snagged a ticket to these completely sold-out shows, you can expect some journeyman jazz of the Dixieland variety – with frequent so-so solos from the Woodman on his woodwind – and of course, a massive amount of celebrities in the audience.

But if you can’t beg, borrow or steal a ducat, don’t feel like you’re missing too much. Having seen Allen perform in New York, this writer can attest that he’s no Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw.

Okay, back to the real musicians: Everyone’s favorite Led Zeppelin/Reggae/ Elvis band is back! That’s right kids, with member Charlie Haj having recently survived gall stones, Dread Zeppelin make a return to 14 Below in Santa Monica for a headlining gig Saturday night. The satirical group’s latest album, Live at Larry’s, is available from its website, www.dreadzeppelin.com. Also on the bill are Asbury Park (you knew it was coming -- a Springsteen cover band), Deadweight and Steven Edie (a Lawrence and Gormé cover band?).

Ethnic and Eclectic: McCabe’s Guitar Shop welcomes back two performers to its Santa Monica concert room this weekend. Bilingual folksinger-songwriter Tish Hinojosa weaves her New Mexican musical magic for two shows on Friday night, 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Accompanying her is longtime collaborator Marvin Dykhaus. On Saturday, Mali’s phenomenal self-taught singer-guitarist Boubacar "Kar Kar" Traore will draw on both traditional and contemporary influences in his 8:00 p.m. show.

Other Shows of Note This Week:

Friday

The redundantly named Alison Allison, plus Madhouse 7 and Custom at Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier.

Bluesers Ray Bailey and the Camarillo All-Stars at Harvelle’s in Santa Monica.

Jazzbos The Billy Mitchell Quartet at the UCLA Hammer Museum in Westwood. (Free)

Saturday

Bluesy jazz from Deborah Ash and the R&B Jazz Ensemble at Lunaria in Century City.

Heavyweight composer Leonard Bernstein with jazz musicians Bob Brookmeyer and John Dankworth and The Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra at the Veteran’s Wadsworth theatre in Westwood. (Free)

Irish singer Kiernan Halpin at Boulevard Music in Culver City.

Chi-style blues from Southside Slim at Harvelle’s.

Sunday

Senegalese master drummer Khaley Nguewel and Weapons of Choice at Temple Bar in Santa Monica.

Wednesday

Another night of "Reggae Massive" with Mongoose and DJ Ron Miller at the West End in Santa Monica.

Thursday

The return of the funk-soul-rockin’ cover band The Samurai Homeboys at 14 Below in Santa Monica.

A capella fellas The Persuasions at Culver City Hall Courtyard. (Free)

Latin Jazz from Flora Purim and Airto Moreira at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall in Westwood. (Free)

BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO with Jimbo Ross and the Bodacious Blues Band SANTA MONICA PIER THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 7:30 PM

Are you ready for Cajun-Country Swing? The Santa Monica Bay transforms into the Bayou tonight when contemporary zydeco’s most popular performer, singer-accordionist Stanley Dural, Jr. (stage name: Buckwheat Zydeco), brings his propulsive Creole party music from the swamps of Lafayette, Louisiana to right here on the Santa Monica Pier.

A piano prodigy by the age of four, Dural began playing professionally as a pre-teen in the mid-50s, and later went on to back such performers as Joe Tex, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and the undisputed King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier. Working with the latter, Dural was encouraged to trade in his piano and organ for the accordion and tutored with the master himself. He then re-christened himself Buckwheat Zydeco, formed a combo, and released his first album, One for the Road (Blues Unlimited) in 1979. In 1986, he became the first zydeco act signed to a major label – Island Records – and released the Grammy Award-nominated On a Night Like This the following year. The band also appeared in the New Orleans-set movie "The Big Easy."

Four-time Grammy nominee Buckwheat Zydeco‘s infectious dance music includes irresistible originals like "Ma ‘Tit Fille," "Put It in the Pocket" and "Zydeco Boogaloo," as well as Cajun-ized covers of Fats Domino’s "Walkin to New Orleans," the Rolling Stones’ "Beast of Burden" and an especially effective reworking of the Derek and the Dominos classic, "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?" Buckwheat’s latest album is Down Home Live! (Tommorrow), the group’s first-ever live collection.