Recent and upcoming Orchestra Nova San Diego performances include a set with Nintendo gaming character Zelda (?!), as well as Celtic Woman and Billy McLaughlin In October, the experimental/innovative ensemble were chosen by Nintendo to perform The Legend of Zelda …

If you dig experimental, wide ranging and exploratory jazz, UCSD's The Loft is where you need to be on Dec. 1. Headlining the show is Marco Benevento a recent fixture on the NYC experimental and contemporary scene. Perhaps best known …

On November 29, the 10th anniversary of George Harrison’s death, Bonham’s in London announced the chance discovery of a rare Vox UL730 once owned by the former Beatle. Said to have been used in the Revolver and the Sgt. Pepper …

Three and a half years ago, singer/songwriter Tori Roze played her first show with her current backing band The Hot Mess at the now defunct Portugalia in Ocean Beach. “The owner loved the turnout, so we made it a weekly …

The first performance of The Messiah was on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, Ireland. It almost wasn't performed because Handel's music was considered to be "profane and subversive". Jonathan Swift, of Gulliver's Travels and Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, didn't …

Travis Barker took to Twitter this week, accusing a Los Angeles officer of crossing the line during a traffic stop this past weekend. Barker says he was pulled over on Sunday, November 27, after an officer noticed the blink 182 …

Having just returned from a week-long tour of Japan, with vocalist Dianne Reeves, guitarist Peter Sprague is set to perform the world-premier of "Dr. Einstein's Spin," a piece commissioned by Chamber Music America as a part of their New Jazz …

Every November, Jeff Moore and the Witchdoctors hosts a tribute called A Musical Celebration of Jimi Hendrix at the Kraken in Cardiff. He says he’s been staging the invitational gig for at least nine years now, to the best of …

A concert at a car dealership in P.B.? Yes. Mossy on Mission Bay Drive hosted a pre-Thanksgiving canned-food drive with radio station 91X and two local rock bands, which got the people dancing in the chilly parking lot among new …

Fifth Avenue sat quiet just prior to midnight, as the haunting wail of Kera & the Lesbians owned the little rectangle of a venue that is Tin Can Ale House. Hailing from Escondido, the band has built a solid local …

Of the three sections of The Messiah I think my favorite is the beginning of the second. This section is based on the passion or sacrifice of Jesus but once again, only a small section of text is taken from …

Lenny Morris will be hosting a new local singer/songwriter showcase every other Wednesday at Jolt 'N' Joe's downtown on 4th and J Street, beginning December 7 and December 21. He'll continue hosting the Acoustic & Live monthly local showcase on …

It's time for Handel's Messiah to appear. Why? I'm not sure. The Messiah has become a Christmas tradition but of the three sections, only the first is related to Christmas. The text for the ever famous Hallelujah Chorus is about …

Athenaeum Jazz at the Neurosciences Institute created a hugely successful finale to the fall concert series last night with a performance by the Mike Wofford / Holly Hofmann Quintet. The gig was in celebration of their soon-to-be-released CD, Turn Signal …

“I write full songs on my acoustic bass guitar in weird tunings,” writes Sasha Syeed aka Nothingful. “Some people have described it as experimental pop. For the majority of 3 years they have been solo performances, sometimes totally acoustic, but …

The astonishing multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia was in town last week for the Jeff Kaiser concert, and afterwards, he laid a few brand-new CDs on me. Golia has been the focal point of the West Coast free improvisation community for more …

The shop sits at the end of a long row of industrial mini-warehouses off Mission Gorge in Grantville, a good thing when you consider their line of business: drums. Jon Oren, the general manager, hands a visitor a pair of …

Jon Kanis once asked me, "Are you a Plimsouls fan?" Like any right-thinking music writer, I said, "Of course." Which is how I found out Kanis was Peter Case's newsletter publisher and road manager in the early '90s. This impresses …

Bert Turetzky, the legendary bassist, improviser and mentor to dozens of top flight instrumentalists, and Dizzy's owner Chuck Perrin have been quietly conspiring to bring intimate chamber music to the downtown area in periodic doses for much of 2011. You'd …

In their first international adventure as a band, A Scribe Amidst Lions are leaving next Wednesday for a Mexico City gig and a several day stay with their friends, Sour Soul. The Mexican capital natives and the San Diego epic-art-rockers …

San Diego beach-wavers Heavy Hawaii will be playing their first south of the border gig this Friday with SD/TJ lo-fi rockers The Electric Healing Sound, San Pedro el Cortez, and Celofan at La Casa Hedonista. “It’s this nice house with …

Here's a playlist for Thanksgiving. Not all the composers are American. Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 3: Pastoral Vaughan Williams is always a good choice, except for opera. His Third Symphony was written in grateful remembrance of those killed in …

As a massive shot in the vein of San Diego’s tradition of experimental and exploratory music, the Kava Lounge is featuring an extra eclectic showcase of local and out-of-town sonic deviants tonight. You’ll recognize Drainolith (Alex Moskos) from the Canada …

One of the pieces The New City Sinfonia played was Schubert's Symphony No. 8: Unfinished I recently used Schubert's Eighth as a justification for a Camus quote. The quote was, "Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre." -- Albert Camus …

"We were hit by a drunk driver Friday night, on I-95 in Connecticut," say the Drowning Men. "The van and trailer have been totaled. We are all okay...we're under a watchful eye. If it weren't for [tour mates] the Airborne …

The small, enthusiastic crowd of mostly twentysomethings was treated to a night of indie-rock music at Soma by San Francisco–based duo the Limousines, L.A.-based Funeral Party, and headliners the Sounds, featuring Swedish front woman Maja Ivarsson on vocals. Between sets …

As I Lay Dying's new EP Decas, released last week, features three new songs, three covers (Slayer, Judas Priest, Descendents), and several remixes. They’ll headline the Decade of Destruction tour through their December 16 San Diego finale, alongside Of Mice …

What does one write when a group is doing a good thing but they're not very good--at all? That was my experience of The New City Sinfonia this last weekend. I loved the group and their attitude. They were an …

The legendary contrabassist Bertram Turetzky is continuing the chamber-music series of classical works, Music Forgotten & Remembered tomorrow night at Dizzy's, with his ensemble, the California Consort. The main work scheduled is Beethoven's Septet in Eb Major, Opus 20. The …

“The Mashtis are doing SXSW this year. I just booked a date,” Itai Faierman says of the annual music industry showcase in Austin. “I’m hoping to book five more dates if I can.” With a new song collection in the …

The multifaceted Jeff Kaiser celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday night by gathering more than 20 top-drawer musicians at UCSD for a special performance, but it was the audience that received the gift. If free jazz was always this joyous, …

Blues songstress Candye Kane is imploring her legion of devotional fans "Please write to this jerk, Jay Horton at the Williamette Weekly in Portland, and tell him that I am so much more than an 'aging fetish model exploiting the …

Yes, that's Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland in his new video for "Winter Wonderland," from his long-delayed Christmas full-length (originally due in 2010) The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. The release (from former bootleg label Rhino Records) features …

In a city not so subtly partial to its indie rock, Jamie Minotti is striving for balance. “A year ago, there was no way [Toronto based progressive/electro/house DJ] Deadmau5 would be in local alt weeklies,” Minotti says. “It would always …

“SUBversive is a musical collective of bass music DJs and producers, whose goal is to throw epic, sweaty, dance-music parties,” writes electronic musician and promoter Saif Bari. “Originally, SUBversive started out in 2009 as an impromptu, renegade dance party thrown …

Jamuel Saxon's new video for "Planetarium," directed by Mike Brown and Anthony Levas, is a celestial sway-and-shake anthem about losing yourself in the stars, even if they're just projected on the planetarium ceiling. The song is the first single off …

“Outsiders,” says David Moye, “have the wrong idea about San Diego. They think of us as these laid-back fish taco eating surfers.” Wait -- we’re not? “No.” Moye says this in response to an inquiry about a song he composed …

Warning: You could put what I know about classical music, especially pre-20th Century classical music in a very small box, and have enough room left over to fit what I know about gangsta-rap, or Balinese Gamelan music--although I'm quite fond …

On Tuesday, November 15, locals Liquid Blue opened for Styx and Sammy Hagar at the MGM Grand Arena. "Ironically," says bandleader Scott Stephens, "more than thirty years ago, I had interviewed both acts for Raw Power Magazine. We interviewed James …

“This month we are rinsing out Kava Lounge with some more future bass,” writes Liquid Geometry promoter Theo Adams. “Clicks and Whistles brings forward a dizzying array of UK Garage, jittery House, along with the trunk-rattling bass and syrupy rhythms …

The news from the Euphoria Brass Band is this: they recently completed a full length recording, their first, and have sent it off to New Orleans for mixing and mastering. Co-founder Drew Miller says he hopes to have the album …

Mrs. Magician have inked a deal with Swami Records to release a new full-length CD early next year. Swami, in South Park, is owned by John Reis of Rocket From The Crypt fame. Meanwhile, Grizzly Records released Mrs. Magician’s latest …

What can concertgoers expect when arriving at the Liberty Hall Theatre at Paradise Village on Nov. 20, for the first performance of the blues series, featuring The Bayou Brothers? "Cajun zydeco! Foot-stompin', hand-clapping, rockin' fun!" says Jeffery Smith, the Managing …

There are some community concerts this weekend that might be worth checking out. On Friday at 7:30 pm, The New City Sinfonia is playing Schubert's Symphony No. 8 Unfinished along with music by Mozart and Faure. The concert is free …

San Diego trumpet master Gilbert Castellanos is assembling a special quartet to perform a Tribute To Herbie Hancock, at Dizzy's, on Nov. 19. Appearing with Castellanos will be piano phenomenon Joshua White, and, two musicians from Los Angeles : drummer …

One of my favorite musical movies is Kismet. There isn't much of a plot but I enjoy the music, Howard Keel, and Vic Damone. Imagine my surprise, nay--outrage--when I discovered that most of the melodies were sampled from Russian composer …

Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford are always just getting back from somewhere. “We were on the East Coast,” says Hofmann. “We played in New York.” They live in San Diego but they find almost all of their work outside of …

Hailing from the Fairless Hills suburb of Philadelphia, Mike Pinto's music blends reggae, ska, dub, and Latin rhythms, while keeping true to his roots with the acoustic guitar. After a well-received acoustic LP, Pinto completed his first full-length album Little …

Scott Wilson's new video for his song "Slow Movin' Driver" debuted online this week. "It's really a documentary music video," he tells the *Reader. * "We went into Studio West in Rancho Bernardo on September 30 and recorded a song …

Galactic Reign, a Liquid Geometry monthly that has been on hiatus for several months, returned to the Kava Lounge last night for a one-off showcase of local and imported experimental live beats. In the past, Galactic Reign has hosted notable …

As the orchestra stood on Saturday night and Jahja Ling walked to the podium, some of the players projected a sense of anticipation. It was as if they couldn't wait to get the concert started. Their anticipation was justified, as …

Tonight, Galactic Reign returns to the Kava Lounge after several months of dormancy with a wiggle-worthy line up of local beat scientists Misk, Guise, ABJO, and L. Ron Butterfly and headliner Monolithium from Victoria, B.C. “With 11-11-11 behind us, and …

The Bangles may have been around 30 years, but there was a buoyant energy about them when they performed at the House of Blues. On tour to promote Sweetheart of the Sun, the three-female band, with help from a bassist …

It hardly seems like ten years have already passed since Capricorn Recording Studios first opened in San Diego. The studio at 927 E Street downtown has put together a CD sampler of locals who've recorded there, set to debut on …

Add Nate Jarrell to the list of top-flight San Diego jazz guitarists. His CD-release party at Architecture last night for The Next Chapter placed him in the direct lineage of guys like Mundell Lowe, Peter Sprague, Bob Boss and Jaime …

"There has been some confusion regarding the current state of Augustana," says founding frontman Dan Layus. "While some members have parted ways, Augustana will continue to tour and perform. We'll be playing songs from all three albums and new material. …

Turning 50 is a milestone in anyone's life, few of us have the wherewithal, though, to celebrate the occasion like free jazz trumpet master Jeff Kaiser will on Nov. 19, when he assembles a large cast of the world's most …

Joseph Waters is excited about his new percussionist, a drummer-virtuoso named Justin DeHart. “He’s been to India three times on Fulbright scholarships to study tabla.” A tabla maestro would be useful in Waters' line of work, which is the creation …

“Don’t call it mellow.” Adam Rosen says his Sight and Sound multimedia and music happening will move into a new space this month, which he says is not unusual, and this time without hard alcohol. “Sight and Sound has been …

Free jazz trumpeter/composer/independent label impresario Jeff Kaiser's pfMENTUM has a new release by alto saxophonist Dick Wood out this week called, Not Far From Here. After five or six listens, here's my assessment : crazy good ! Featuring a cast …

Just talking to Jeffrey Stein is an education in rock and roll. A San Diego attorney by way of New York, Stein is a diehard fan who can trace his own concert history all the way back to Bill Graham’s …

If you have any interest, at all, in living a fulfilling life, go to Mahler's Ninth Symphony this weekend at The San Diego Symphony. If you want to continue pushing your rock up the same mountain every day in the …

For the second time in four months, the band previously known as Jarabe De Palo showered their faithful SoCal/TJ followers with Spain-pop love on Sunday night. Opener "Yep" was played by an exhausted band who managed to make an energetic …

North County drummer Russell Bizzett already has a long and storied career, having rose to prominence the mid 70s, when he toured and recorded with rock music legend Tommy Bolin, (Deep Purple, James Gang). Along the way, he studied with …

Last night's Joni Mitchell tribute concert by vocalist Robin Adler and her talent-rich ensemble, Mutts Of The Planet, performed, as it were, on the eve of Mitchell's birthday, was a triumph in every meaningful sense. Adler and crew worked for …

Having grown up on the uneventful event horizon of little boxes suburbia Rancho San Diego and rural Jamul, I was never accustomed to any semblance of nightlife in my hushed and homogenous hometown. As a late teen, my idea of …

We saw the best of professionalism on Sunday at The San Diego Symphony. Pianist Stephen Hough played both of the piano concertos by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. Liszt is most known for his virtuosic piano music and Mr. Hough happens …

Native San Diegan Happy Ron Hill says his 1500th performance will happen at Lestat's on Wednesday, November 23. Though his local stage debut was back in 1998, he kicked it into high gear around 2004, averaging five performances per week, …

Two musical California Gurls and their dog-surfer friend Ricochet, along with other San Diego Surf Dogs, have made a music video for the song "San Diego Dogs," to spread their message: "Adopt Your Dog from a Rescue or Shelter!" Local …

"I'm looking forward to a night of fun, soulful, rootsy music with loads of female charm, smiles and intertwined arms," says KSDS Jazz 88 radio personality and Jazz Live emcee Vince Outlaw about the next Jazz Live concert on Nov. …

A Mojo Nixon bobblehead doll is now available from Aggronautix, limited to 500 numbered “throbble”-heads and priced at $19.95. Nixon was born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr., on August 2, 1957 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A part of the psychobilly …

On November 11, Jefferson Jay's fifth CD, Gift to Be Alive, will debut at the Griffin, with For the Faint and Charbra also on the bill. "The story behind the album title is I think life is a precious gift, …

I stated that amateurism is more important than professionalism. Having thought about it, I'm not sure that's always the case. However, both are preferable to dilettantism, which I'd like to discuss. Is there anything more annoying than a dilettante? Perhaps …

On Sunday November 13 the Shelltown Horns will host a benefit concert, their third this year, for a place called the Barrio Station in Logan Heights. Barrio Station, it turns out, is out of money. “All their city funding got …

A few years back, a friend of mine asked me to compile a "desert-island" list of 10 or so CDs I found absolutely essential. After thinking on the subject for many hours, I was able to assemble a compendium of …

Since January, local musicians Mike Gao, eLan, DJ Pound, DJ Cleancut, and Nino Seneris have been curating monthly Kava Lounge showcases with some of San Diego’s most exploratory experimental electronic beat music. Last night’s installment included some of my favorite …

“People think that he’s dead.” Quite the contrary, says Jim Daugherty. At 72, Monti Rock is alive and well and living in Las Vegas. But Daugherty allows that it has been a long time since Rock has, well, rocked. “I …

What happens when you take nine of the world's deepest improvisers, (four at UCSD--five at NYU), plus one forward leaning composer/conductor--outfit them with Star Wars level video and audio transmission capabilities--and turn them loose on three adventurous pieces composed specifically …

As of this writing, it is day 23 of Latin pop singer Armando Rome’s Kickstarter campaign. He’s headed to the Living Room coffee shop on El Cajon Blvd. to generate a little action. Otherwise, his Kickstarter project page caption says …

Cult DIY rocker Gary Wilson will play a rare hometown show at the Soda Bar in San Diego on Sunday, November 6. Expect to hear brand new music from his soon-to-be-released album Feel the Beat. "You don't remember who I …

San Diego vocalist Robin Adler and her husband, guitarist Dave Blackburn, together with a large, tight ensemble they call the Mutts of the Planet will bring the music of iconic songwriter Joni Mitchell into Dizzy's on Nov. 6, from 7-10 …

After intermission, Le sacre du printemps was ready to assert itself. When The Rite of Spring was first performed, it nearly caused a riot. Now I understand why. This music must be experienced live. Recordings are useless. The electrical divide …

It's been a while since my last show, which was Kreator in the early 2000s, but I am anxious to see Brujería who have been at their satanic/political grindcore for almost 20 years. Frontmen Juan Brujo and Pinche Peach hit …

11-11-11 is shaping up to be a big day around San Diego. Eve Selis' new full-length Family Tree premieres November 11, with a release party in Sherwood Auditorium at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art on Prospect Street. The …