Summer is over, and the orchestral forces in town are gearing up to leap into their new seasons. That list of active, ongoing orchestral entities, for the past eight years, has included a bold newcomer from the idiomatic margins, in the ear-warming form of the Santa Barbara Folk Orchestra (SBFO). Founded and intrepidly led by multi-instrumentalist, singer, arranger and general-purpose situation-maker Adam Phillips, the SBFO has quickly grown into a strong ensemble of instrumentalists from the area, with an avid fan base to follow.
Points of geo-cultural focus change from carefully curated concert to concert, from Celtic music and beyond. Last May, the season closed out with a cross-cultural program from the expanding Phillips-arranged library, a request-honoring setlist dubbed Favorites! This weekend, SBFO pays a visit to the popular musical zone called Sounds of the Sixties! We are promised material by the likes of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Doors, the Box Tops, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, re-thought, folk-orchestra style.
One point of distinction with the opening concert of the new season is a major venue addition. The group will perform in acoustically friendly sanctuaries, as has been its wont over the years, heading to Los Olivos’ embracing St. Mark’s in-the-Valley chapel on Friday night (Sept. 20) and in the old (in more ways than one) standby, the Presidio Chapel, on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 22).
But Saturday’s ’60s blowout takes place in a current hot spot in town, the vintage but only recently renovated and reopened Plaza del Mar Bandshell on Cabrillo Boulevard. The historic bandshell was built in 1919, across the boulevard from the WPA-era Los Baños swimming pool. Ticketed patrons will be more directly privy to the 5 p.m. concert, but the free-floating nature of the al fresco venue means that SBFO will be wafting into earshot of public space.
For more information on all three Sounds of the Sixties! shows, see folkorchestrasb.com.
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