ON the Beat | A Night with the Wizardly Piano Man in Red Overalls

This edition of ON the Beat was originally emailed to subscribers on October 5, 2023. To receive Josef Woodard’s music newsletter in your inbox each Thursday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

On Sunday night, the festive accouterments — including a savory food truck — were in place and the spirits high at Campbell Hall, where the new UCSB Arts & Lectures season officially busted open the gates to a long and impressive list of upcoming enticements. Serving as the season-opening raconteur, a hyper-talented piano man in red overalls — with extra pockets attached — ran onstage and got down to business. Show business.

Jacob Collier is a British sensation — still shy of 30 — who has amassed an epic following in recent years. His show sold out weeks ago, with a large young audience tuned into his world and ready to sing along with his cleverly-orchestrated crowd choir interludes (a highlight feature of the night). This 900-seat space was miniscule compared to his previous night’s workplace: the 17,000-seat Hollywood Bowl.

Sunday’s show had some bubbly fun factor in tow, but for those of us who find that Collier’s true genius is channeled through his intricate arrangement skills, especially with multiple voices, and artful use of looping and layering technology, his solo singer mode feels thin and wanting. By jazz standards, his lone voice is nothing special and his piano playing facile. And the crowd went wild while a few grinches groused (mostly in thought bubbles). I was tempted to yell out a request for “The Flintstones,” his stunning YouTube sensation, the complexity and joy of which blows your mind (check it out here). But I refrained. It was not that kind of gig.

As he rolled through a set of standards and pop tunes, with a couple of original songs thrown in (including the pleasant new Bruce Hornsby-ish “Little Blue”), it almost felt as if Campbell Hall turned into a jumbo piano lounge, or as if this was a super-special night at the Red Piano. My favorite moment, apart from the remarkable improvised crowd choral arrangements, came when Collier moved over to his synthesizer/sampler for one song. From that perch, he created a lush, sophisticated new admix of electronics and the world’s oldest instrument, his voice, transformed into a much richer instrument via a vocoder effect.

During those thrilling few minutes, the Red Piano was the furthest thing from my mind.

More Concerts to Come

On the subject of things broadly A&L-related, one highlight of this weekend’s musical offerings is a welcome return of the mighty and prolific neo-classic country artist Charley Crockett to the Arlington, on Friday, October 6. It was almost exactly a year ago that Crockett played in that room, as an unusual suspect for an A&L season opener.

Crockett, who looks good in a cowboy hat and holds his guitar and his craft high, commanded the stage that night with his unique retro vibe, twang, and artistic integrity. He subsequently played at the Santa Barbara Bowl in April, opening for Tyler Childers, but the Arlington seems a riper locale for his roadhouse theatricality.

Two nights later, at the Granada Theatre, A&L is hosting an extra-special visit from periodic Santa Barbara Nickel Creek, which created Celebrants, their most progressive and generally finest album to date — while decamped in a house in Montecito during the pandemic hunker-down. (See story here). A&L’s classical programming commences at the Granada on Tuesday, October 10, with the super trio of Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lisa Batiashvili, and Gautier Capuçon, serving up a hearty repertoire plate of Haydn, Ravel, and Mendelssohn.

Next week’s list of musical goods at SOhO includes a return on Monday, October 9, of the Antonio Artese West Coast Trio, led by the fine Italian classical/jazz pianist and featuring bassist Jim Connolly and drummer Matt Perko. Artese’s latest album, Two Worlds, is an impressive statement of Artese’s oscillation between classical and jazz approaches. Next Thursday, October 12, at SOhO, Kimberly Ford brings back her fine Joni Mitchell tribute project Dreamland, a project which wins points for Ford’s ability to move from folk to pop and jazz zones in Mitchell’s universe.

On the near horizon during the October sweep of worthy shows are Wilco at the Arlington (Friday, October 13), Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service at the Bowl (October 14), and the Santa Barbara Symphony’s opening program featuring 2000-plus  musicians doing up Beethoven’s Ninth at the Granada (October 14 and 15).

We can also look forward to the fascinating, left-of-conventional instrumentation of mandolinist Avi Avital and accordionist Hanzhi Wang at the Lobero on Monday, October 16. In this month of season kick-offs, this concert represents stage one of the always-enriching CAMA season of hosting international classical greats in out town.

The time of season-kickers continues, apace.