Zen Sushi, located at the corner of 15th and I streets, has re-opened after weeks of construction and renovations. Days following it's grand re-launch, I ventured in and sat down to talk with my favorite sushi chefs: Michael Kwong and Lou Valente, and to meet the owner and Master Chef, Jason Von Hom. Gone was everything. All the orange and brown lacquered wood and Formica had vanished. Short, white leather chairs standing neatly at attention alongside uber-thick marble counters replaced the old, rickety, high-seated counter stools. Large flatscreens behind the new glass sushi cases made the room look bigger and drew more attention to the ceiling. Now affixed to the ceiling of each room

Sometimes, amazing things are happening right under your nose and all it takes is for one small moment to grab you and change your course of direction, sucking you into something you would normally have walked right past and never given a second thought. Saturday, March 11th.  The night was clear and I had just finished a long interview at Zen Sushi with restauranteur Jason Hon.  I stood at the corner of 15th and I Street, waiting for the light to change. It was quiet and I was admiring the way the spotlights showcased the brickface of the Memorial Auditorium when the silver door to the Torch Club swung open.  The blues that poured out of that door was the kind I hadn't heard in a long,

It's Thursday, just past midnight, and I've been at the Torch Club to see Trampled Under Foot. I'm out back behind my house sitting in the car, listening to the rain fall on the roof. Since last Saturday night, I've been so busy that the days have become a blur. The more I need things to slow down, the faster I am being pulled through an undertow of phone calls, discussions and fires that need putting out — all the while sitting on this review.  I can't even come up with a title. The Daniel Castro Band packed the Torch Club last Saturday, February 19th.  It was, by all accounts, one of those nights where everything flowed perfectly — as if by stepping through the front door, you entered i

The economy is finally showing signs of dragging itself out of the quicksand.  This slow but steady comeback has sparked some pleasant surprises throughout downtown over the last few months. Like a chain reaction, specialty businesses are popping up in some rather unexpected places, encouraging more to follow suit, as rents are becoming more affordable and creative spaces more available. Sugar and Spice Specialty Desserts, 1201 F St., is a valuable oxygen source to the span of 12th from D through H streets. For the last six months, that area had stretches of blocks with no tenants as “for lease” signs littered the windows. Now, change has come. I pass by that location every night on my wa

After a brief snafu with our appointed interview date, I finally reached Kim Wilson, co-founder of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and one of the most accomplished harmonica players in the United States, as he was dragging his bags down the hall to his hotel room. While the Tbirds are in their 'off-season', Wilson doesn't stop, and is off again, on another club tour with his Blues All Stars: Guitarists Billy Flynn and Little Frank, bassist Randy Bermudes and drummer Richard Innes, plus piano player Barrelhouse Chuck.  They also did a string of performances in Sweden and have recently arrived back from the Stockholm Blues Festival. One of the things I have liked about Wilson is his open way of

The warmth of the Antiquité Maison Privée (formerly the Lovell’s Antiques building) on P and 21st streets, was a welcome refuge from the downpour that raged outside. Host Derek Keller greeted guests at the door, and he was warm and full of energy about the opening performance of “GEMS (Guitar Expressions Music Series).” Ross Hammond was on the bill for the night with a special guest, critically acclaimed saxophonist Phillip Greenlief. Greenlief has played with practically every recognizable name in jazz and has a penchant for music as cultural expression. Greenlief opened the show with an abstract extreme saxophone piece that I can only define as “a safari of sound” peppered with vocal ou

“Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty is so big, it done gone & shook The Torch Club.” As I crossed 15th Street, I could hear a hard-driven bass drum beat beckoning to me like I was part of a tribal homecoming. The front door was vibrating and as I pulled it open, the powerful explosion of saxophone, trombone, bass, keys and a rippin’ lead break wrapped itself around me, sucking me in. Oh yes, yes, yes – this was the real deal. Funk was bumpin’ da Torch Club. Anything can happen in the Torch Club on a Wednesday night. In fact, if you looked at their weekly music schedule like a poker hand, Friday and Saturday is always a pair of Kings. Thursday night is a possible three of a kind, and Wednesdays are

As I shifted in my chair at the Curtis Park 24th Street Theatre, I thought about when I was 13, back in New York. I’d just put my first order in with Columbia House Records: The Doors, Roadhouse Blues. Now, some 30 years later, I was waiting for the last few stragglers to be seated for an evening performance with slide virtuoso Roy Rogers and Ray Manzarek, known most widely for co-founding and being the keyboardist/bassist for the Doors. I was curious beyond words to hear what Doors stories Manzarek has. After so many books, movies and years have passed, I couldn’t imagine what there was left to tell. Even more so, I was excited to finally hear the new material he and Rogers are now produ

'I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.'                                                                                                                                                                                                         Muhammad Ali ______________ This country was built on handshakes and agreements between people. One person promises another that they are dependable and a venture is initiated. “I give you my word,” and the river of credibility flows. News journalists, those who carry the responsibility of accurately and honestly documenting momentous occasions in our country’s history, ar

  Prior to this, I had never heard of Lukas Nelson or Promise of the Real. Expectedly, in preparation for the interview, all of my research came from the internet. Before we embark on this story, it is important to clarify a detail, otherwise inaccurately reported on the internet. Promise of the Real is NOT a cross-over band. They are not claiming to belong to one genre and then altering their style to accommodate another genre. Promise of the Real are here to write and perform their music their way, on their terms. No gimmicks, no hanky-panky, no cheap car salesmen. (actually, there might be just a little hanky-panky…) _______ When I started the interview by telling him the truth, that

Winters, CA. Gyrating, twisting and moaning, the pale blue Telecaster stretched itself to its limits, finally humming, as if with some sense of gratification, in the hands of its loving Master. Award-winning Hall of Famer, Bill Kirchen, spun a wild web of samplings from his new ‘twang-centric’ offspring Word To The Wise, in a three hour show last night at the Palms Playhouse (now located in the historic Main Street Oprah House). As if the show itself wasn’t enough, he encored with his rendition of Frizzell’s Long Black Veil before launching into a humorous version of his classic hit: Hot Rod Lincoln. Opening set was brimming with new material, eagerly sopped up, and featured special gu