Wednesday 31 July 2013

Quentin Dennard Snr @ Hal's Bar and Grill on Abbott Kinney Blvd Venice Beach


Last night in LA, decide to go somewhere nice to eat, first place we tried had a long wait. Walked a few more yards, nice restaurant and got seated immediatly.
Next to a small band who were setting up, bass, keyboard, sax and drums. Band ask for any songs from audience, I threw in one which they thought had too many changes (probably difficult for audience....Birdland by Weather Report) so said do a Beatles medly.
Anyway, they were very good indeed...too good infact for the location.
They did about six or seven numbers and stopped for a break. The drummer who I had been having the conversation with over songs came over to our table and a very friendly chat ensued, really nice genuine guy. We mentioned we were from Oxford which he replied he had played back in the 70s as drummer for The Supremes!
No wonder they were good. So now back home good old internet hrows up this piece of information.
Top Bloke!

Quentin Dennard Sr. is a virtual musical chameleon, making his moves with ease from straight-ahead jazz to R&B; from low-down blues to fusion; from polka to pop. I've seen Quentin play with such Motown-greats as legendary saxophonist, Teddy Edwards, jazz & blues recording artist, Barbara Morrison, bassist and former Detroiter, Thomas Gargano, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and Freda Payne. Without blinking, he put tasty R&B licks behind the silky, smooth vocals of Eddie Kendricks and was the percussionist who pumped up the band for The Temptations and The Supremes. Quentin Sr. also toured with Edwin Starr and later became a driving force at Invictus Records. When Holland, Dozier and Holland were just giving their fledgling record company wings, it was Quentin's flying drum sticks that backed up the hit group Honeycomb, as well as Chairman of the Board.

Full Dee Dee Mac interview 

Monday 29 July 2013

Eilen Jewell Band @ Pershing Square Los Angeles.



A great 45minute vignette from Eilen Jewell and her band, keeping it reasonably up tempo so no Codeine Arms. Managed to get a request for High Shelf Booze which she duly obliged. Still do not understand why she is not bigger. Spoke to Lucinda Williams who was there with her husband/manager Tom Overby and who manages EJ too, anyway Lucinda sat to the left of the stage and was getting well into the set. Had a nice chat with EJ after, it is so great that your favourites are so readily available.
But what made the gig exceptional was the setting, starting off with a clear blue sky before darkening quickly showing off the towering office buildings that surrounded the square.
Thank you LA for a very memorable, if some what short gig.
10/10

Saturday 27 July 2013

The Getty Centre, Los Angeles


There are few 'free rides' in the museum/art gallery/famous building on the world scene as they have now become reliant on pay on the door customers, The Ashmoleum in Oxford is another refreshing example, but the Getty, with its large collection including significant works and a building whose design is a masterclass of pure control, is a free ride par example.
True it costs $15 to park the car, but you do get a ride on the tram up the hill.
The massing in places reminded me of both the Alhambra in Granada and Castle Drogo (by Lutyens) on the edge of Dartmoor but it is the sheer control of the detail design that is quite awe inspiring. There are a couple of areas where the grid pattern clashes with grids attached to a circular devise like the entrance rotunda, and there are places of liitle idioscracies where instead of the regular square grid of the stone façade is sub divided instead by an angle cut...spot it if you can!
All in all a short visit but well worth the drive over from Venice Beach.

!0/10

Thursday 25 July 2013

Savages @ El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles



 

Great little venue matched equally by a great band with Balls. Raw energy, post punk feel, with Jehnny Beth posing like Johnny Rotten occasionally snarling at the audience but at the same time flirting with the men at the front below her 3" heels. Strangely just a one hour set but given its intensity, probably a good job.
Gemma Thompson an excellent guitarist making the most of the array of pedals at her command, standing right next to her feet on the edge of the stage, she was pretty nimble with her feet controlling the output.
So a great evening adventure out from our holiday house on Venice Beach. Sat Nav guided us swiftly to and back from the El Rey which with valet parking organised right outside for $10 was a little luxury worth taking. Can London take it up please. Drinks were shockingly expensive though.

9/10

Thursday 4 July 2013

A Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable. by Punchdrunk


Seen in someways appropriately on the 4th of July, this is very much an independent theatrical experience where exploration of a story across four floors and 200,000 sq ft of a redundant postal sorting office has you, the usually seated public, scampering around.
Through the back lots, bars and trailer parks of Hollywood to the desert of Death Valley this production is one incredible feat of theatre production where you the voyeuristic and masked cinema goer have to explore to root out the story that unfolds. A small flyer handed out before you are masked, reveals the black and white, two sides to a story, tale of a couple whose relationship is breaking up, and it is them that you follow, or try to follow over three hours from the cool and barren basement to a high kicking finale.
I though next day that we had seen between a third and a half of the actual story and have since learnt that stringed together the actual production would last ten hours which temps the question, do you back for more? Quite possibly as you know where to look, who to follow and what to avoid.
We fortunately witnessed the start of the tale which was acted out to just three of us, and again saw a conclusion at the end before rushing after the fleeing actor to the finale a couple of floors below. But only just considering that most of the audience were already there. This bathing scene we missed and only heard about it outside afterwards.
So, this is not for everyone, story a bit thin and you physically have to work at it to keep up, but as an experience, this is second to none and will linger in the head for a long time.
8.5 / 10