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Live Five: Jonathan Karrant, MohaviSoul, Vokab Kompany, Irving Flores, Celebration of The Black
Pop crooning, bluegrass Americana, hip-hop, Latin jazz, and head shop goodbyes in University Heights, El Cajon, OB
Fade to...
Jonathan Karrant at Lou Lou’s Jungle Room
March 5
Pop-jazz crooner Jonathan Karrant grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, but now lives and works in San Diego. He works straight out of the American songbook, citing among his inspirations Little Jimmy Scott, a jazz singer known for his high contralto voice. His full-length On and On hit number four on the Billboard Jazz charts, and his concert album Jonathan Karrant Live reached the number two slot on the iTunes Jazz Charts. He’s won awards, from the New York City Jazz Cabaret Honors to “Best Singer” at the Bravo California Awards, and he was named one of the top 12 rising jazz vocalists by Downbeat Magazine. Karrant and pianist Joe Alterman collaborated on an album released in summer 2025, Live in Concert Jonathan Karrant with The Joe Alterman Trio, which includes a swinging take on “I Just Found Out About Love,” an exuberant version of “The Great City,” and soulful, and genre-blending arrangements of “Your Song” and “How Glad I Am.” The performance takes place at Lou Lou’s, a venue inside the Lafayette Hotel in University Heights.
MohaviSoul at Grand Ole BBQ Flinn Springs
March 6
Based in Ocean Beach and founded in 2012, MohaviSoul is an original, soulful contemporary bluegrass band rooted in folk and Americana. Their grassicana/newgrass music blends West Virginia roots with California heritage, featuring original songs with acoustic instrumentation (guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, bass), heartfelt storytelling, and tight harmonies. Their debut full-length Every Second established their sound, and they expanded the boundaries of contemporary bluegrass with albums such as Blue Diesel, Home Town Blues, Live at the 42nd Annual Huck Finn Jubilee, and Stories & Memories, which collects 13 original songs, from barn burners to ballads. Often referred to as "The Seldom Scene of the West" for their sophisticated approach to string music, they specialize in stories of love, loss, life on the road, and the American Southwest, delivered with a mix of upbeat tempos and melodic ballads. They’ve won multiple San Diego Music Awards, including Best Country/Americana Song in 2024 for "Hurry Up and Wait."
Vokab Kompany at the Holding Company
March 7
Based in Pacific Beach, Vokab Kompany is a hip-hop, soul, and electronic act that performs with a live backing band, usually with around five to seven musicians. Founder and co-producer Rob Hurt (aka Robbie Gallo) spent his teen years near Lake Tahoe, where he first teamed up with Matt “Burkey” Burke, singer/MC of Native Root. Blending funk, soul, and bass-heavy sounds with witty and positive lyrics, they are best known for their energetic live shows and festival appearances at Coachella (Do Lab Stage), Electric Forest, Shambhala, and Lightning in a Bottle. Their songs have been featured in national commercials for KIA (“So Bright”) and Southern Comfort (“Back to the Past”), as well as multiple South Lake Tahoe tourism commercials. In 2009, the group was nominated Best Hip-Hop at the San Diego Music Awards, and they appeared on the Best of Daygo local hip-hop compilation album. After releasing the album New Kong, they were a featured act on the international networking site perfspot.com. They have collaborated with artists like The Polish Ambassador, The Grouch, and Zion I, and were featured as lead MCs on tour with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. In 2011, they were the first hip-hop band nominated for Album of the Year by the San Diego Music Awards, and the group took home Best Hip-Hop trophies at the 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2017 SDMAs.
Irving Flores at Lou Lou’s Jungle Room
March 8
Pianist, composer, and arranger Irving Flores is a Latin-music giant who was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where he began studying the organ at age six. His father, Irving Flores Sr., was with the famed Orchestra Tampico, and it was from him, that young Flores began to learn saxophone and arranging. While a teenager, he moved to Mexico City, switching to piano and developing as a composer and arranger. At the University of Tampico and the National Music Conservatory of Mexico City, Flores continued his studies, learning to play, compose and arrange for orchestras and small ensembles. He later continued studies in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion, contemporary harmony, and jazz theory and improvisation, among other genres. During the 1990s, he served as pianist and musical director for Latin American musicians like Armando Manzanero, Luis Demetrio, Vincente Garrido, Willie Colon, Tania Libertad, Eugenia Leon, and Paullina Rubio. He received a sponsorship with Yamaha to give clinics and workshops throughout Mexico, later earning an Emmy Award for his work on the music video “All Together,” featuring several other Mexican jazz artists. His album Recuerdos, featuring his own original compositions, was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 2010 San Diego Music Awards.
Celebration of The Black at The Harp
March 10
Opened in 1968, Ocean Beach's long-lived head shop The Black has been a cornerstone of the local counter-culture scene. For nearly 60 years, the Newport Avenue icon sold smoking pipes, water pipes (bongs), incense, decorations, jewelry, posters, candles, housewares, and unique memorabilia, from underground comic books to a full line of Grateful Dead inspired clothing. The owner has decided to retire and will soon be closing the doors, and this event is intended to celebrate the Black's long rich history in San Diego. Performers include Jeff Berkley & the Banned, fronted by one-half of local folk duo Berkley Hart, whose full-length Twelve received a San Diego Music Award for Best Americana Album. Also a noted record producer with his own studio, he got his first co-producer credit for a Joel Raphael record and has since worked with a roster of local talent including Gregory Page, Lisa Sanders, Stevie and the Hi-Stax, and Tim Flannery. The bill includes local surf rocker the Hang Zero’s, as ewll as Jefferson Jay, Shakedown String Band, Atlantis Rizing, and Israel Maldonado. MCd by Jefferson Jay.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Live Five: Jonathan Karrant, MohaviSoul, Vokab Kompany, Irving Flores, Celebration of The Black
Pop crooning, bluegrass Americana, hip-hop, Latin jazz, and head shop goodbyes in University Heights, El Cajon, OB
Live Five: Jonathan Karrant, MohaviSoul, Vokab Kompany, Irving Flores, Celebration of The Black
Pop crooning, bluegrass Americana, hip-hop, Latin jazz, and head shop goodbyes in University Heights, El Cajon, OB
Fade to...
Jonathan Karrant at Lou Lou’s Jungle Room
March 5
Pop-jazz crooner Jonathan Karrant grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, but now lives and works in San Diego. He works straight out of the American songbook, citing among his inspirations Little Jimmy Scott, a jazz singer known for his high contralto voice. His full-length On and On hit number four on the Billboard Jazz charts, and his concert album Jonathan Karrant Live reached the number two slot on the iTunes Jazz Charts. He’s won awards, from the New York City Jazz Cabaret Honors to “Best Singer” at the Bravo California Awards, and he was named one of the top 12 rising jazz vocalists by Downbeat Magazine. Karrant and pianist Joe Alterman collaborated on an album released in summer 2025, Live in Concert Jonathan Karrant with The Joe Alterman Trio, which includes a swinging take on “I Just Found Out About Love,” an exuberant version of “The Great City,” and soulful, and genre-blending arrangements of “Your Song” and “How Glad I Am.” The performance takes place at Lou Lou’s, a venue inside the Lafayette Hotel in University Heights.
MohaviSoul at Grand Ole BBQ Flinn Springs
March 6
Based in Ocean Beach and founded in 2012, MohaviSoul is an original, soulful contemporary bluegrass band rooted in folk and Americana. Their grassicana/newgrass music blends West Virginia roots with California heritage, featuring original songs with acoustic instrumentation (guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, bass), heartfelt storytelling, and tight harmonies. Their debut full-length Every Second established their sound, and they expanded the boundaries of contemporary bluegrass with albums such as Blue Diesel, Home Town Blues, Live at the 42nd Annual Huck Finn Jubilee, and Stories & Memories, which collects 13 original songs, from barn burners to ballads. Often referred to as "The Seldom Scene of the West" for their sophisticated approach to string music, they specialize in stories of love, loss, life on the road, and the American Southwest, delivered with a mix of upbeat tempos and melodic ballads. They’ve won multiple San Diego Music Awards, including Best Country/Americana Song in 2024 for "Hurry Up and Wait."
Vokab Kompany at the Holding Company
March 7
Based in Pacific Beach, Vokab Kompany is a hip-hop, soul, and electronic act that performs with a live backing band, usually with around five to seven musicians. Founder and co-producer Rob Hurt (aka Robbie Gallo) spent his teen years near Lake Tahoe, where he first teamed up with Matt “Burkey” Burke, singer/MC of Native Root. Blending funk, soul, and bass-heavy sounds with witty and positive lyrics, they are best known for their energetic live shows and festival appearances at Coachella (Do Lab Stage), Electric Forest, Shambhala, and Lightning in a Bottle. Their songs have been featured in national commercials for KIA (“So Bright”) and Southern Comfort (“Back to the Past”), as well as multiple South Lake Tahoe tourism commercials. In 2009, the group was nominated Best Hip-Hop at the San Diego Music Awards, and they appeared on the Best of Daygo local hip-hop compilation album. After releasing the album New Kong, they were a featured act on the international networking site perfspot.com. They have collaborated with artists like The Polish Ambassador, The Grouch, and Zion I, and were featured as lead MCs on tour with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. In 2011, they were the first hip-hop band nominated for Album of the Year by the San Diego Music Awards, and the group took home Best Hip-Hop trophies at the 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2017 SDMAs.
Irving Flores at Lou Lou’s Jungle Room
March 8
Pianist, composer, and arranger Irving Flores is a Latin-music giant who was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where he began studying the organ at age six. His father, Irving Flores Sr., was with the famed Orchestra Tampico, and it was from him, that young Flores began to learn saxophone and arranging. While a teenager, he moved to Mexico City, switching to piano and developing as a composer and arranger. At the University of Tampico and the National Music Conservatory of Mexico City, Flores continued his studies, learning to play, compose and arrange for orchestras and small ensembles. He later continued studies in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion, contemporary harmony, and jazz theory and improvisation, among other genres. During the 1990s, he served as pianist and musical director for Latin American musicians like Armando Manzanero, Luis Demetrio, Vincente Garrido, Willie Colon, Tania Libertad, Eugenia Leon, and Paullina Rubio. He received a sponsorship with Yamaha to give clinics and workshops throughout Mexico, later earning an Emmy Award for his work on the music video “All Together,” featuring several other Mexican jazz artists. His album Recuerdos, featuring his own original compositions, was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 2010 San Diego Music Awards.
Celebration of The Black at The Harp
March 10
Opened in 1968, Ocean Beach's long-lived head shop The Black has been a cornerstone of the local counter-culture scene. For nearly 60 years, the Newport Avenue icon sold smoking pipes, water pipes (bongs), incense, decorations, jewelry, posters, candles, housewares, and unique memorabilia, from underground comic books to a full line of Grateful Dead inspired clothing. The owner has decided to retire and will soon be closing the doors, and this event is intended to celebrate the Black's long rich history in San Diego. Performers include Jeff Berkley & the Banned, fronted by one-half of local folk duo Berkley Hart, whose full-length Twelve received a San Diego Music Award for Best Americana Album. Also a noted record producer with his own studio, he got his first co-producer credit for a Joel Raphael record and has since worked with a roster of local talent including Gregory Page, Lisa Sanders, Stevie and the Hi-Stax, and Tim Flannery. The bill includes local surf rocker the Hang Zero’s, as ewll as Jefferson Jay, Shakedown String Band, Atlantis Rizing, and Israel Maldonado. MCd by Jefferson Jay.