UCSD jazz stars and other locals worth knowing

The Mattson twins say their father introduced the boys to artists such as Art Blakey and Lee Morgan practically as soon as they could walk and talk. While their older brother achieved indie rock stardom with Kut U Up, Jared (guitar) and Jonathan (drums) attended UCSD, where they studied with local jazz stars like bassist Mark Dresser, saxophonist David Borgo, pianist/composer Anthony Davis, percussionist Steven Schick, and pianist/composer Kamau Kenyatta. Those and other local-centric influences remain evident on their albums, as acknowledged in their acceptance speech when they won Best Jazz Album at the San Diego Music Awards: Jonathan thanked his music teacher Duncan Moore, while Jared thanked his own instructor, Bob Boss. After graduating, some of their early gigs featured the duo performing originals and covers during screenings of surf films created by Thomas Campbell, who also produced several of their first records and hired them to play at his film premiers in San Francisco, L.A., Tokyo, Copenhagen Denmark, and elsewhere. They’ve gone on to play showcase sets on the Vans Warped Tour and at Vermont’s Waking Windows, Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival, Colorado’s Telluride Jazz Festival, and the SFJAZZ Festival.

Based in North County, FreeMartin was co-founded by David Rees, formerly with local 1980s/1990s band BigFins. “Since then, I have been doing music and art primarily for games, software and toys,” he says. “I took a job at a company called Knowledge Adventure that did JumpStart and Blaster educational games for kids. I was Art Director there for seven years and began composing music for their games.” After leaving that company in 2002, Rees became a freelancer, specializing in game music, art, and sound, with particular focus on kids’ music. Rees’ song “Mac and Cheese” was a finalist in children’s music category of the International Songwriting Competition, and came with a cartoon video animated in a style reminiscent of vintage movie theater intermission shorts. FreeMartin also includes mandolin, violin, and guitar player Kevin Gary (Off the Wagon) and singer-guitarist Eric Klein, though they regularly perform in configurations ranging from duo to quartet, pending the needs (and, one assumes, the budget) of their host venues. “We combine musicianship, harmony, and good old-fashioned fun to create entertaining and dynamic music,” says Rees, who works out of his home studio in Vista. Aside from folky originals, “We do a lot of classic rock, like Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash, [and] Grateful Dead.”

Jeff Berkley, who turns 50 years old this month, invites you to join him as local stars perform songs from his solo catalogue (which dates back only around three years so far), as well as his extensive Berkley Hart discography, created over the past two decades with musical partner Calman Hart, who’s also slated to appear. (They’ll also play some of their own stuff.) The native San Diegan and multiple San Diego Music Award honoree has also played in bands such as Garbo, Citizen Band, and Berkley Hart Selis Twang, and has backed Cindy Lee Berryhill, Veronica May, and others. He also produces music, having earned his first co-producer credit at age 22 with Joel Raphael, and going on to record leading local lights such as Gregory Page, Lisa Sanders, and Tim Flannery, all three of whom will be on the evening’s bill. The event is hosted by Listen Local honcho Cathryn Beeks, whose band Calamity will perform, as will Jimmie Lunsford, Bart Mendoza, David Beldock & Peggy Watson, Golden Howl, Astra Kelly, Abby Dorsey, Dixie Maxwell, Eve Selis, Shawn Rohlf, Suzanne Harper, and poet Lizzie Wann. As if all that local talent weren’t enough, reportedly, there will be cake. NOTE: This event has been cancelled.

If you’re looking for something a few levels up from entry level cartoon rockers like Kiss and Insane Clown Posse, but you’re scared by the anarchy-flavored patina of made-up metallers like King Diamond and Slipknot, may we recommend rising black metal icons Abbath? Fronted by former Immortal singer-guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta, they offer all the dark intonations and pseudo mystical lyricism of the aforementioned cosplayers, but delivered with absolutely irony-free sincerity that’s so all-in that they almost become cuddly and endearing, like a live action version of an Archie comic book. If Ferris Bueller formed as black metal band, these guys would be it. And, like young Bueller and his felonious posse, they’re just so beautiful at being bad, one can’t help but cheer them on. I mean, their first drummer was named Creature, and the other founder – cheekily calling himself King ov Hell – came from a band called God Seed. Both those guys and a half dozen other members have come and gone, and sole remaining founder Abbath Doom Occulta just got out of rehab, after angrily tossing a guitar into the crowd in Argentina, walking offstage, and cancelling the rest of that tour, which ended in a riotous confrontation between angry fans and police. And they’ve only been around five years! How is it that neither Todd Haynes nor John Cameron Mitchell have optioned a movie bio about these guys yet? NOTE: This event has been cancelled.

At 77 years old, Taj Mahal has become, if mainly be default, one of the last living bridges between blues, rock, jazz, R&B, and contemporary world music, especially reggae. A vet of iconic acts such as the Rising Sons with Ry Cooder, Etta Baker, and Keb Mo (with whom he recorded his most recent studio full-length, 2017’s TajMo), he’s released over three dozen albums since his self-titled debut in 1968, a year that also found him performing on the infamous Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus television taping. He wrote the film score for and appeared in the 1972 TV movie Sounder, as well as its sequel, and he won Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards, followed by a Grammy in 2000 for his concert album Shoutin’ in the Key, as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievement award from the Americana Music Association in 2014. Playing guitar, harmonica, banjo, and sometimes piano, he’s perfectly capable of headlining solo — as he often does — though this particular gig will feature him performing in a quartet format. NOTE: This event has been rescheduled until June 10.

LIVE FIVE will go on hiatus until the local club scene reopens, to be temporarily replaced as of next issue with a new column spotlighting recent releases by area performers, Local Five.