Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "jackson hall"

Danú opens the holiday season for the Mondavi Center

2012-12-07T04:33:06Z

On Wednesday the holiday season officially began at the UC Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. “An Nollaig in Éirinn,” or “Christmas in Ireland,” was the theme for the evening of entertainment by award-winning Irish ensemble, Danú. The performance was all about sharing Irish Christmas traditions – both those that include music and those that don’t.

Christmas in Ireland must be a whole lot of fun. The six-member group shared the stage throughout the night, each taking the mic on different occasions to introduce a song, story or joke to educate and amuse the Jackson Hall audience.

Lead vocalist Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh had a voice that was powerful, smooth and entirely enchanting. She could have been singing about anything and it would have been lovely. The fact that she was oftentimes singing traditional Christmas hymns simply added to the romanticism of the evening. Nic Amhlaoibh also played the flute throughout the night and even jumped on the whistle once or twice. Donal Clancy, on the guitar, had a tremendously rich voice as well.

Brendan (Benny) McCarthy played melodeon and button accordion, while Martin O’Neill, a self-proclaimed half-Irish, half-Scottish addition to the group, played the Bodhran, an Irish Drum, with superlative skill. O’Neill also hopped on and off the piano throughout the night.

Éamon Doorley sang backup vocals and played the Irish Bouzouki, cracking jokes along with the others. Liam Flanagan shined on the fiddle, and was a particularly noteworthy addition to Nic Amhlaoibh’s lead vocals in “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Flanagan clearly demonstrated his ability to use the fiddle to inspire an amazing range of emotion.

Danú’s repertoire included a few songs known by all, but also several more “instructional selections,” one might say.

How and when should one make a Christmas cake? Exactly how much liquor is fed to the marzipan encrusted cake? The morning after a pleasant and appropriate Christmas day in Ireland, when does the drinking begin?

The group’s responses and explanations were certainly both entertaining and educational. They introduced each and every piece, noting that they would play “several reels” and “a few reels;” they played so many reels, each of which made you feel unreasonable giddy and wanting for a beer to sip along with your toe-tapping.

As is the Irish way, pubs were mentioned on no less than two dozen occasions. Add to this the way English rolled rollickingly off their tongues and the fascinating licks of Irish we got to hear, and I’m searching for flights. Christmas in Ireland, I’m on my way!

The night flew by, even with a short intermission, and soon it was all ending.

After the first verse of “Silent Night,” which was beautifully sung in Gaelic by Nic Amhlaoibh, the crowd joined in for the English version.

The evening’s display of Christmas spirit and tradition was the perfect start to the month of December. Danú has released seven CDs as well as a DVD over the last decade and a half. Following Wednesday evening’s show, the group has just a few more U.S. performances before heading back to Ireland just in time for Christmas.

The next holiday event hosted by the Mondavi Center will be this Saturday, Dec. 8. Cantus Vocal Ensemble will perform, “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.” For tickets and information for the Theater Latté Da performance, visit MondaviArts.org.

Editor’s note: Every Thursday we deliver a local event guide straight to your inbox, right on time to make your weekend plans. Sign me up.

David Sedaris-Entertaining Reading At Mondavi Center

2011-05-03T16:49:39Z

David Sedaris approached his appearance at the UC Davis Mondavi Center like a typical book-reading tour stop. Never mind he was in the 1,800-seat Jackson Hall versus a bookstore.

Still, Sedaris created the same sense of rapport with the sold-out house that he would in a smaller setting. Sedaris is good at this. He is a very popular contributor to National Public Radio, and a lot of his success on NPR can be attributed to how well he connects with his audience.

After a technical glitch — which was fixed by alerting an audience member with hearing loss that they could not both use their hearing aid and the theater listening device without blasting the rest of the audience and Sedaris with feedback — he started talking about what he had been up to lately.

First he shared his feelings about staying at a particular Courtyard Hotel, and especially a woman who went on and on while ordering a latte while he waited impatiently to order a coffee at the coffee stand. Sedaris can create a great deal of humor out of what most of us would like to say but are too polite to.

This soon turned to a description of his recent visit to Japan and mainland China with his husband, Hugh. Much of Sedaris’ description of China was about his experience of the Chinese attitude and behavior around bodily functions. It is a credit to Sedaris’ humor that he can have the audience on the edge of gagging, or worse, while also laughing hysterically.

“I hope this does not discourage you about visiting China. I would go back in an instant,” he said.

Another passage Sedaris read reflected strongly on his relationship with his father, as well as the state of race relations and public society growing up as the child of Yankees in Raleigh, N.C. The story revolved around the second-tier country club his family belonged to. The first tier was reserved for the founding families and very well-to-do of Raleigh. The second tier would allow anyone who could afford it except blacks, Jews, etc. The blacks just worked there and were called by their first names, even by the youngest child of the members.

The gist of the story was about young Sedaris being forced into the club’s children’s swim team and all the humiliation that came with it. The sad part was his father’s disappointment in him and admiration for another boy to the point of wishing that he was that boy’s father instead.

When he finally beat the other boy in a race, his father said, “Well, you only beat him once. It’s no big deal.”

All this sounds like it could be very sad or depressing, but Sedaris has a talent for telling these stories with a great deal of humor, albeit ironic humor. I believe there can be a lot of self-recognition for the audience laughing at these stories.

Sedaris read from the beginning of his new book, “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk,” whose title is a play on personal ads.

While on tour, Sedaris has been asking people in the book-signing line to tell him jokes, several of which he shared with the audience. The most suitable for SacPress: A guy answers the door. There is a snail on the front porch. The snail asks, “Can I interest you in some subscriptions?” The guy gets mad and kicks the snail off his porch. Two years later the doorbell rings. The man opens the door, and there is the snail on the porch. “WTF was that about?” asks the snail. Yes, it was much funnier when Sedaris told it.

An unusual thing that he did was promote another author’s book, but he said he does this on every book tour. He recommended Tobias Wolff’s “The Barracks Thief” (1984), set during the Vietnam War, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1985. Sedaris said he does not fully understand what attracts him to the book but that he has read it at least 30 times. He included it with the stacks of his own books for purchase in the lobby.

After his presentation, Sedaris sat patiently signing books and chatting with fans who formed a long line that snaked across the Mondavi Center lobby.

In the Q&A after his reading and chatting, Sedaris gave a very telling answer to the question “What is it about writing you like?”

“Part of the the pleasure of writing is reading it out loud,” he said.

Lucky for us.

Review for Pablo Ziegler's "Beyond Tango"

2011-05-02T06:06:54Z

“Beyond Tango,” pianist Pablo Zielger’s 17-song performance, fused the sharp sexiness of tango music with the jaunty improvisation of jazz to create an enlivened and engaging musical experience at the Mondavi Center on Friday.

Zielger began performing classical music at age 14 in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the 1960s, Zielger’s career made the leap to jazz music. Inspired by both classical and jazz compositions, as well as classic tango rhythms, Zielger formed his Quartet for New Tango in 1990.

The Mondavi Center’s 1801-seat Jackson Hall was nearly full for the performance, accommodating all ages of music lovers, from the young family to my left to the college-aged women to my right. The audience’s anticipatory chatter served as a reminder that the night’s performance was one of a just two U.S. tour stops for the performers of “Beyond Tango.”

The performance began in a bare bones fashion, with only Ziegler and fellow pianist Misha Dacić on stage to play dual-piano for opening song “Michelangelo 70.” Tall and thin, Dacić played with grace and precision, fingers tapping away at the keys like a novelist working furiously against a deadline. In contrast, Ziegler greeted the piano like an old friend, playing with warmth and fluidity.

It was as though the two pianos were having a conversation, pausing briefly to let the other chime in. As the song picked up, the performers’ notes became more desperate, cascading over each other to create a rush of emotional harmonies.

By the end of the night, the stage was full with a menagerie of instruments and musicians. Bandoneón (an accordion-like instrument used in tango music), cello, stand-up bass, two violins, viola, bassoon, flute, clarinet and classical drum kit all graced the stage as members of the Chamber Ensemble.

Pieces performed by the full Chamber Ensemble were almost too energizing for a sit-down concert. The heads of audience members were bobbing during the quick and flirtatious “Fuga y Misterio.” A guest appearance from tango dancers ready to interpret the stirring compositions into bodily movement would have been a welcome sight.

Violinst Machiko Ozawa kept the performance’s tension steady with her sharp slices of sound. She stormed through a solo during “Muchacha de Boedo,” channeling an impassioned mother delivering a sharp-tongued reproach to her children: equal parts seething and restrained. The solo was met with applause from audience members so appreciative of Ozawa’s skill they couldn’t hold their enthusiasm until the end of the piece.

When he wasn’t moving his fingers languidly over his instrument’s thick strings like the frantic legs of a daddy long-legs, bass player Pedro Giraudo was delicately waving his bow like a knife through butter to achieve a soft, airy sound.

Héctor Del Curto, the ensemble’s bandoneón player, performed with his whole body, shoulders heaving in his effort to pull the instrument’s layers into the shape of an upside-down “U.” The winding and sustained sound of the bandoneón acted as the glue for many of the night’s tunes, melding the ensemble’s disparate musical expressions into a cohesive unit.

As the stage lighting transformed into a mix of sunny orange and deep purple, Ziegler and the Chamber Ensemble performed the night’s most bittersweet piece, a song called “Nostalgias.” The low reverberation of Jisoo Ok’s cello melded with the slow weep of Girauudo’s bandoneón to conjure feelings of both hope and regret.

But the somber tone didn’t last long as the ensemble made the transition into romper “Milonga en El Viento.”

Arguably the most charming element of the night’s performance was the improvisational percussion executed by both bass and bandoneón players.

During the Chamber Quintet’s performance of “Buenos Aires Report,” Giraudo used an open hand to tap heartily on the side of his hollow instrument and, for added effect, quickly swiped a taught finger across its polished surface to produce crisp, rhythmic punctuation.

Del Curto rounded out Giraudo’s efforts with his own tinnier percussion, produced by rapping his fingertips on the bandoneón's outer shell. The impromptu percussion signaled the song’s move into a section with a quicker tempo.

Though talented stand-alone musicians, the ensemble seemed to thrive off the energy it created as a group. It was apparent that the ensemble’s members enjoy one another as more than colleagues, and their subtle on-stage interactions imbued the performance with an intimate yet inviting tone.

Ziegler and Giraudo smiled joyfully at one another during particularly lively portions of songs, the accordion and bass player riffed playfully off of one another, and Ziegler presented violinist Ozawa to the audience with the warmth of a proud father.

Though classically inspired, the performance was by no means a rigid affair, thanks in part to Ziegler’s personable addresses to the audience between pieces, during which he joked about song titles and thanked the crowd genuinely for their positive response. Rather than using some maestro-like hand signal to begin a song, Zeigler counted the ensemble off with a simple, rhythmic snap of his fingers and a quickly uttered, “one, two.”

In appreciation of the performers’ good vibes, the audience offered up some warmth of its own in the form of a standing ovation. With Zielger ushering the members to stand closer together, the Chamber Ensemble stood smiling in front of us before rewarding the crowd with a rare encore performance.

In an artist’s statement about “Beyond Tango,” Zielger wrote: ”The music is a kind of emotional portrait of me.” And after witnessing a live Pablo Ziegler performance, one can certainly see what he means.

Lots of Humor With Sarah Silverman at Mondavi

2011-04-13T19:00:09Z

Sarah Silverman played to a full house Sunday in Jackson Hall at the
Mondavi Center, and was greeted enthusiastically. The audience
responded with much laughter and applause to each of her jokes or
riffs on things.

Silverman is well known for her body function humor. After all, her
recent book is titled, “The Bedwetter,” now out in paperback. It’s not
just body function humor, it is nearly all body functions humor. Part
of the humor is the outrageous being delivered by such a sweet,
innocent looking and sounding person. As my dear departed mother used
to like to say, “I would hate to have in my hand what you just had in
your mouth.” She would have been saying this a lot to Sarah Silverman.

With no desire to push the publishing standards of SacPress, you won’t
see any specific jokes here. Besides, without Silverman’s delivery,
the jokes would just fall flat.

Don’t let the body function humor fool you. Silverman is very
intelligent and has great insight into her fellow humans. She
described how a very nasty word for certain women had lost its impact
on her. She then demonstrated how saying it a different way could give
the word power again.

One of the things she talked about that did not involve dirty words
was going up to young girls and whispering in their ear that it was a
secret that she was a princess. She then described their reactions.
Another was to do the same, telling them, “I’m your mother.” She would
let them protest a while and then say, “I’m your real mother.”

At one point in the concert, Silverman pulled out a notebook and read
off short selections of partially done jokes. Even the partial jokes
were very funny.

When taking questions from the audience, Sarah Silverman made it clear
how little patience she has for stupidity, and has no problem
informing the questioner of this. Ask her an intelligent question and
she will engage you.

The question and answer period was an impromptu demonstration of the
quality of the acoustics in Jackson Hall. The microphone was not
really needed.

When she picked up her guitar and sang, the song was mostly repeating
the very nasty word for certain women.

Looking around the audience, it was heavily made up of college
students. This was not surprising since it was on a college campus.
What was surprising was the large number of adults older than college
age, sometimes much older.

Silverman ended with a song she sings for her Nana and her Nana’s
friends at the nursing home. The refrain went something like, “You’re
going to die, you’re going to die, you’re going to die, die, die!”

Hopefully, the geriatrics in the audience enjoyed it.

Rachael McLaren Talks About Dancing With Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

2011-03-30T02:29:58Z

The excitement of dancing with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
just pours out of Rachael McLaren. SacPress reached McLaren by phone
recently while she waited for another flight on the current Alvin
Ailey North American tour. She will be dancing with Alvin Ailey in
Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center April 5th and 6th.

McLaren began by talking about dance. “Dance comes from the people.”
“(It is) human connections-celebrating together.”

Rachael McLaren started dancing when she was five years old. She was
always all about movement, bouncing around the house. She grew up
watching her hometown, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, where she would
eventually go on to study. At first, it was all about ballet and
classical piano. She eventually discovered high school musical theater
and contemporary dance as well.

Upon graduating from high school, she was off to the big city of
Toronto where she was cast in the long running production of the
Broadway musical “Mamma Mia!”

Jackie Davidson, McLaren’s Creative Movement & Ballet teacher at the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet, sent her to New York to check out the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater program. McLaren was in the school for
one year before she was selected, not auditioned, to join the Ailey II
Company of 12 members, under the direction of Sylvia Waters. The
Alvin Ailey website describes the company’s makeup:

“Ailey II combines the best young modern dancers with outstanding
emerging choreographers.”

While she was being recruited, McLaren was also in discussion with
Ron Cunningham of The Sacramento Ballet. Although she feels she could
have enjoyed working and living in Sacramento, McLaren had already
talked about living and working in New York. The cultural experiences
available there had been her lifetime dream.

Rachael McLaren has now been dancing with the Alvin Ailey first
company for three years, and is rightly proud to be dancing with Alvin
Ailey. The company is well known for its technical skills and for
being an ambassador to the world for the United States. Ailey founded
the company in New York in 1958, when he was just 27 years old. The
company has been under the leadership of artistic director Judith
Jamison since Ailey’s death in 1968. When Jamison retires on June 1st,
Robert Battle will take over as artistic director.

The company’s best known and signature work is “Revelations” (1960)
which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. According to
McLaren, the work is so important that it is performed at every
company performance. “Revelations” will be performed in the second
half of the program following a film short, “Celebrating ‘Revelations’
at 50.”

Tango Inferno a Hot Night at Mondavi

2011-03-19T23:52:51Z

Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aries Tango presented “Tango Inferno” in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis Thursday night.

The show was a World Stage: Dance Series Event and brought out fans of visually dazzling dance and enthralling music performance. They were well-rewarded.

The stage of Jackson Hall had been recreated as a milonga, a dancing hall, where tango is danced.

The band was on a simple stage slightly raised above the dance floor and. A half-dozen standard industrial light shades in red hung over the dance floor and few tables ran down the sides of the floor. A large square scrim behind the band changed from one vidid color pattern to another. The overall effect was simple but dramatic.

The five dancing couples that make up Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aries are lead by Yanina Fajar, director of choreography, and German Cornejo, assistant director of choreography.

Fajar has been studying numerous forms of dance, including tango, since the age of 6. She graduated from Francassi Conservatory as a teacher of several dance forms and worked her way up through the tango world, coming to Tango Inferno in 2005, becoming choreographer in 2008. She has been dancing with Mariano Balois since 2009.

Cornejo, now 25, has been dancing since he was 10. He also moved up the ranks of tango, becoming the World Champion of Tango in 2005. Even at his young age, he is considered one of the best teachers of show tango in Buenos Aries. He has been dancing with Carolina Giannini since 2006.

Juan Milzia and Florencia Roldan have danced together for four years, joining Tango Fire in 2006.

Jose Fernandez and Melody Celatti first danced together in 2005, becoming World Champions of Stage Tango in 2008. They joined Tango Fire in 2010.

Sebastian Alverez and Victoria Saudelli started touring the world after becoming a dance couple in 2000. They joined Tango Fire in 2008.

The performance opened with all five couples performing “Don Juan,” a tango by Ponzio. Immediately, the audience was transported to a Buenos Aries milonga.

Balois and Fajar danced the second dance, “Milonga de Mis Amores,” followed by all five couples dancing “Corralera.” Both dances were milongas, not tangos.

While similar, milonga and tango are unique dances, and milonga is sometimes referred to as the “mother of tango.”

Jesus Hidalgo, the singer for Tango Fire, performed a solo of the tango “El Dia Que Me Quieras.” The singers are an important part of tango and can become very famous on their own. Hidalgo, relatively new to Tango Fire (2010), started singing lessons at 13 and has toured throughout the world.

After a tango duet, “Mala Junta,” danced by Juan and Florencia, the male dancers danced two milongas, “El firulete” and “La Trampera.” Their performance harkens back to the very early days of milonga and tango.

For many years, milonga and tango were only danced by men, as it was considered immoral for women to dance these dance forms, especially with men. It took decades for the tango to find social acceptance. It is not hard to see why the dance forms were considered immoral. To the untrained eye, the milonga and tango are indistinguishable. Both are sexual, sensual and erotic.

Following another solo by Hidalgo, there were several tangos danced by single couples and the whole company. All the dances performed by single couples are choreographed by the couple. All the dances by the company are choreographed by Fajar, except the last dance of the first half of the performance, “Canaro en Paris” and “Oblivion” in the second half. Both of those are choreographed by Cornejo.

The second half of the show included several tangos by single couples and the company. There was another solo by Hidalgo. Interspersed were three orchestral solos by Quatrotango.

Quatrotango has been touring with Tango Fire since 2005. It was created in 2000 as a bandoneon and piano duo featuring Gabriel Clenar on the piano and Hugo Satorre on Bandoneon.

The bandoneon was developed by Heinrich Band in the 1840s. Although developed in Germany, it quickly made its way to Argentina and became synonymous with the Argentine tango. For more information on the bandoneon, visit music.vt.edu.

Violinist Marcelo Rebuffi joined in 2002, and in 2005, Geraldo Scaglione joined in on the the double bass. Clenar does the arrangements and adaptations for Quatrotango, which has performed throughout the world.

The orchestral solos were fantastic and received a strong ovation from the audience. While the music was a big deal, it was all about the dance. There just was so much more to the performance with the dance.

With “Tango Inferno,” Tango Fire delivered all the beauty, drama, sensuality, sexiness and eroticism of the Argentine tango. Dancers glided across the floor only to rapidly turn and glide off in another direction. Arms and legs moved so quickly they nearly blurred. Hands and feet popped up everywhere, and then disappeared as quickly. All this movement was syncopated to the music. For the tango enthusiast, there are names and definitions to all the moves. For the rest of the audience, it was simply beautiful to behold.

This is the last World Stage: Dance Series Event of the 10-11 season. For all other Mondavi Center events go here and click on events

Mark Morris Dance Group Thrills at Mondavi

2011-02-10T20:58:13Z

Wedensday evening last week Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center was buzzing with pre-show excitement. The packed house was waiting for the curtain to go up on the Mark Morris Dance Group, part of the Hallmark Inn Davis Dance Series.

The group did not disappoint their avid fans or those new to the ensemble. They opened with “Visitation,” set to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102 No. 1, performed by Wolfram Koessel on cello and Colin Fowler on piano. Maile Okamura was the principal dancer. Watch the video on this page for an excellent explination of Morris' relationship to music and his choreography.

This was a light, fun, playful dance overall. It featured several combinations of dancers, from duets to all 10 dancers simultaneously. This included male dancers in a duet, one of Mark Morris’ signatures. Two men dancing together create a strong physical presence. Single dancers are poised to join with a group of dancers but hesitate. One of the more interesting patterns is an intertwining chain where a lead dancer breaks from a circle dances under raised arms of two dancers in the circle forming a second circle creating infinity for a moment. Costume designer Elizabeth Kurtzman dressed the dancers in simple tops and pants — what I would describe as “dance pajamas.”

“Empire Garden” was set to Charles Ives’ Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano, S. 86. Koessel and Fowler were joined by Jesse Mills on violin. First written in 1904, the song could be described as a mishmash of American music: hymns, college fraternity songs, Stephen Foster and Dixie all thrown together. The “TSIAJ” in the second movement is an acronym for "This scherzo is a joke."

The bright colors and specific patterns of Kurtzman’s costume design kept the audience wondering: Are they toy soldiers? Theater ushers? Or a half-time performance?

Nicole Pearce’s lighting design at times dancers were in shadow, and at other points the stage would dramatically transition from extremely bright to completely dark.

There was action all over the stage, sometimes to the point where it was almost too much to take in at once. Dancers were carried horizontally like planks. They tilted, then fell on the floor. The emotions changed rapidly. We learned in the post-performance Q&A that the name “Empire Garden” comes from a Chinese restaurant in New York. It seems to be apropos.

After intermission the troupe performed “Grand Duo,” one of Morris’ most popular and critically acclaimed dances. The name comes from avant garde composer Lou Harrison’s “Grand Duo for Violin & Piano,” one of eight Harrison compositions Morris has set dances to. The duo consisted of Colin Fowler on piano and Jesse Mills on violin. It was quite a workout for them.

The “Grand Duo” dance included almost the whole troupe. The piece’s costume design by Susan Ruddie added a great deal of interest. The women wear anything from brightly colored long dresses that flow beautifully as they move to a smock worn over a singlet. Many of the male dancers are bare chested.

For all the variation in costumes, lighting and intense music, the dance was dramatically unified. Through much of the piece, the dancers were synced together. It was very dramatic seeing 14 dancers performing exactly the same movement. In the post-performance Q&A the dancers stated that "Grand Duo" and "Empire Garden" are two of their favorite pieces to perform because they involve the whole Dance Group.

The ending “Polka” sent the audience to their feet with cheering and resounding applause. Morris had again delivered a great evening of entertainment. His insistence of live music accompanying the dancers was like having a classical music performance alone.

Morris’ close collaboration with the costume and lighting designers enhances his choreography. This, combined with very talented dancers, produces an incredible visual and emotional experience.

Los Lobos: still on top after three decades

2010-10-15T00:17:11Z

Playing a combination of their own songs and classic covers, Latin rockers Los Lobos had the baby boomers out of their seats and dancing at the Mondavi Center’s gorgeous 1800-seat Jackson Hall in Davis on Wednesday night.

Many genres are used to describe the music of “The Wolves” – roots rock, folk, Norteño, blues – and what Los Lobos does so well is blend the different styles to create a hybrid euphony that has given them a unique identity.

Essentially they started out 30 years ago in East Los Angeles with classic Mexican songs that were deceptively simple, added various styles of music and elevated the sound into music that has garnered the band three Grammy Awards.

The talented group dove into its set with the flamenco-styled guitar picking of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist David Hidalgo on “La Pistola y El Corazón” from the 1988 album of the same name. Each member's instrument was layered successively until the different sounds came together in head-nodding harmony, anchored by the walking bass lines of bassist/vocalist Conrad Lozano. Evident was a cohesiveness and intuitiveness that is only found when the same people in a band have been playing together for many years.

In between songs like “On Main Street,” “Tin Can Trust” and “Cumbia Raza,” the band took the opportunity to hawk its new album and mention that the musicians would be in the lobby after the show to sign it. Not something you see every day from artists or bands of this stature.

After a short intermission, Los Lobos went straight back to work, breaking out their version of Ritchie Valens’ “Come On, Let’s Go.” It was just what the house needed, and the newly engaged crowd started calling out names of songs they wanted to hear with one fan urging the band to "Rock out!"

The energetic second half of the set continued as Hidalgo brought out the accordion during the next song, “Kiko and The Lavender Moon,” and a couple of brave ladies in the audience felt the spirit, stood up and starting dancing. Another followed, then a couple more, and soon a domino effect had the entire house out of their seats and dancing awkwardly in place together.

A medley of The Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and Santana’s “Oye Cómo Va” gave songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Louie Pérez a chance to put the guitar down and sit in on drums as the band segued into “Volver, Volver,” first made famous by “El Rey” of ranchera Vicente Fernandez.

The familiar opening guitar riff of “La Bamba” soon filled the air, and when Hidalgo turned the microphone to the audience, the true fans had no problem singing the entire Spanish-language chorus. A twist to the classic was added as The Rascals’ “Good Lovin” was woven in for good measure.

The band ended the lively show by pulling up several women (and a few men) from the audience to dance on stage with the musicians as they played their last song, and with an "Adios Amigo!" from Hidalgo, Los Lobos left the stage.

But as promised, the band soon reappeared in the lobby to pose for photos and sign autographs with the long line of fans who had gathered. When you consider that graciousness with the great music they put out, it’s easy to see why this band has such a strong following after all these years.

Rollins jazzes up Mondavi Center

2010-05-21T04:19:59Z

How to be a saxophone legend, step one: When you walk onto the stage with a five-inch afro, beard and dark sunglasses, don't even introduce yourself. Just start playing and let that do the talking.

At age 79, Sonny Rollins is perhaps the greatest saxophone player around, and he proved it Thursday at the Mondavi Center in Davis. He treated the nearly full 1,800-seat Jackson Hall to an almost three-hour performance of jazz flecked with Caribbean and Latin vibes.

After finishing his opener, a 10-minute cover of Noël Coward's "Someday I'll Find You," Rollins introduced his four backing musicians: guitarist Russell Malone, percussionist Victor See-Yuen, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Kobie Watkins.

The next song, a new one for his upcoming album next year, built a calypso-like groove on top of which Rollins soloed for the entire song. Then during the bebop-influenced "Nishi," off his latest studio album "Sonny Please," Rollins and Watkins "traded fours" (a call-and-response where each person plays for four bars) for several minutes before Watkins exploded into a Max Roach-inspired solo. This left the crowd awed and cheering loudly before the group took a 10-minute intermission.

Rollins traded his white shirt for a bright red one before the second half of the show to play his song "Why Was I Born?" which won a 2006 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. That tune also had traded fours between Rollins and See-Yuen, who played chimes, shakers, tambourines, triangle, wood blocks, bongos and congas throughout the night.

At this point in the show, Rollins stopped announcing song titles altogether, and the band played the last few songs with little pause. These included another song with an island-influenced groove, which the audience expected to segue into "St. Thomas," perhaps Rollins' best-known song.

Rollins soloed for what seemed like 10 minutes straight while employing some insanely difficult saxophone techniques like playing harmonic overtones, which are basically chords, as opposed to one solid note.

He borrowed licks from bebop standards written by his contemporaries and played trickling ostinatos - all the while building suspense by alluding to the melody of "St. Thomas" without actually playing it (click here to hear St. Thomas). The guitarist and bass player also took solos during which Rollins accompanied them.

The island groove gave way to a saxophone ballad that expressed a soulful sadness, before going back to the up-tempo calypso beat. Rollins commanded the audience: "Don't stop the carnival" near the end of the set, which brought the whole house to its feet. During the ensuing groove, Rollins twirled in a circle while playing a solo, drawing huge cheers.

The sax legend had even the seniors in the audience bobbing their heads, stomping their feet and getting their groove on all the way out the door, without even playing his best known songs: "St. Thomas," "Doxy" and "Oleo."

Photograph credit Michael Jackson.

Saxophone legend Sonny Rollins to play Mondavi

2010-05-17T04:11:33Z

It's been said that saxophone legend Sonny Rollins is just as good as jazz greats John Coltrane and Charlie Parker were. It's a reputation he pretty much holds alone because at age 79, Rollins has outlived nearly all the jazz musicians of his era.

The "saxophone colossus" will return Wednesday to the Mondavi Center in Davis, which he said has "very good acoustics we (musicians) salivate at." He'll bring to Jackson Hall some of his classics as well as new material from an album expected to debut next year.

Born in New York City, Rollins picked up a saxophone as a teenager. By the time he was 20, he had played with jazz legends Thelonious Monk, J.J. Johnson and Bud Powell.

In the decade that followed, he composed some of his best-known songs, including jazz standards "Doxy," "Oleo" and "St. Thomas." His bebop bandmates in those days included Miles Davis, Max Roach, Coltrane, Parker and Clifford Brown.

Like many jazz musicians, Rollins is self-critical.

"There's never absolute perfection, but I have something in focus and I want to get as close to it as I can get," he said. "My own performance has been progressing as the years have gone by and I'm very optimistic about the future at this point."

He was part of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet when Brown died in an auto accident. His good friend's death had a profound effect on Rollins and he began the practice of channeling fallen musicians.

"I used to channel (Brown) sometimes, and I got his spirit, (but) after a while I let his spirit go on because I didn't want to be greedy and keep him back here on Earth," he said. "So I let him go on. Same with the other guys."

As much as he respects his contemporaries, these days Rollins doesn't want to be known only for his associations with them.

"I don't feel any responsibility anymore for standing up for them or upholding their legacy," he said. "Now it's all me and I have to stand on my own, and I'm perfectly willing to do that. I've had years and years of associations. And I'll rise and fall now on my own accomplishments."

Rollins credits his diet and regular exercise, as well as staying away from smoking, for his longevity. He's also known as a private and solitary man who enjoys meditation and solo practice.

Rollins has been called reclusive and is famous for taking sabbaticals. For several years, he would practice alone on the Williamsburg Bridge. "I love playing outdoors because you can communicate with the sky," he said.

He's not content doing the same thing and likes to explore new musical ideas every day, Rollins said.

"I'm trying to make my own music as relevant and contemporary as hip-hop is," he said. "I can say it has a certain validity and, for its time, it's sort of what bebop was for our time."

Though he agreed that hip-hop is a genre that falls under the umbrella of jazz, Rollins said he isn't quite ready to perform a hip-hop song.

"You really have thrown me into a conundrum on that one," he said with a laugh. "(Other musicians) can use hip-hop in a way I can't and I don't know if I could make the transition."

A free pre-performance lecture will be given at 7 p.m. by Jeremy Ganter, associate director for programming at the Mondavi Center. The Alumni Center, AGR Room 8. The concert begins at 8 p.m. at Mondavi Center's Jackson Hall, 9399 Old Davis Road. Tickets are $17.50 to $55 and are available at the University of California at Davis ticket office and online here .

Photographs:
1. Credit: Jamie-James Medina.

2. Credit: Michael Jackson.