Jazz takes a measured approach to the 2020-2021 South Florida concert season, eschewing the current, COVID-19-ravaged year in favor of optimism starting in early 2021. Which makes for an abbreviated schedule, yet one filled with younger, international distaff performers. Those include Japanese pianist Yoko Miwa, Canadian trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg, and East … [Read more...]
Streaming theater abounds for us shut-ins
Chances are, if you are reading this, you are an avid fan of the arts and are going through withdrawal pains, since all area theaters, concert halls, performing arts centers and movie houses have been closed by the dreaded COVID-19. And although internet-streamed performances are a poor substitute for the live stuff, a lot of writers, actors, singers and assorted … [Read more...]
Guitarist who reshaped Jethro Tull plays Arts Garage this weekend
If there could be a Mount Rushmore of musicians who changed the entire trajectory of the popular rock bands they joined, by sheer force of their inclusion, guitarist Martin Barre of Jethro Tull would be on it. Perhaps with fellow guitarists Steve Howe of Yes and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, plus drummer Neil Peart of Rush. The natural inclination would be to compare … [Read more...]
Jazz guitar innovator Stanley Jordan brings his magic touch to Arts Garage
To borrow a phrase from the Grateful Dead song “Truckin,’” what a long, strange trip it’s been for guitarist Stanley Jordan, who performs solo shows at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach on April 5 and 6. Now 59 years old, the Chicago-born Jordan became a rarity — a jazz superstar — while in his mid-20s as a result of his 1985 album Magic Touch. Released on the Blue Note … [Read more...]
Director Garsson revives Primal Forces company with full season
“If you miss (theater at) Arts Garage, we’re back! We’re back with a vengeance.” So says Keith Garsson, who directed the theater program at the Delray Beach storefront performance complex for a season and a half, until the drama component was abruptly curtailed in December because of huge financial losses. And with the end of his quirky, sexy productions there, Garsson’s … [Read more...]
Percussionist Thomas and band shine in fusion realm
It’s been 35 years since Miami-based percussionist Bobby Thomas Jr. last performed with iconic jazz/fusion band Weather Report, but the influence was still evident when Thomas appeared Saturday night at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach with his group The 7th Realm. The otherwise ageless 62-year-old percussionist showcased tunes by former Weather Report bandmates Wayne … [Read more...]
Bobby Thomas Jr. steps out from the shadow of Weather Report
Weather Report became the preeminent jazz/fusion band in history for a variety of reasons during its 1970-1986 tenure, chiefly its constant members, keyboardist Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, both alumni of trumpeter Miles Davis’ bands. But the additional band members recruited by those two co-founders may have proven as important. Those included … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 30-July 2
Theater: This weekend, the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine fairy tale mash-up, Into the Woods, joins a stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, in repertory at Boca Raton’s Florida Atlantic University for its 2017 Festival Rep, the 20th annual showcase of the drama department’s graduate student pool. Bruce Linser, a local Sondheim maven, directs the sophisticated … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 17-19
Music: Jazz vocalist Zoë Fromer has been making the rounds of South Florida for years along with her studies at the University of Miami, building a reputation as a fine stylist (here she is singing in chanson mode singing Charles Trenet’s “Menilmontant”). A native of Delray Beach, she’s making her last appearance in her hometown on Sunday night at Arts Garage before relocating … [Read more...]
New Arts Garage CEO promises theater will return this year
"I like fixing things. I’m drawn generally to things that need my help. I like the process and I love small nonprofits.” So says Marjorie Waldo, who has found a small nonprofit that needs her help and has jumped head-first into the fray as president and CEO of Delray Beach’s beleaguered storefront performance complex, The Arts Garage. Waldo, on the job since Nov. 1, has … [Read more...]