Warming Music as December Rolls In
Area Acts Lucinda Lane, Uncle Uncle, and Eamon Fogarty, Plus Visiting Visionaries
LUCINDA LANE IS IN MY EAR: Lucinda Lane, the uniquely jazzy Santa Barbara musical duo of Joe Woodard and Nicole Lvoff, kick off December on Saturday, December 1, at the Mercury Lounge (5871 Hollister Ave., Goleta), welcoming the wintry month with a style they call IndieBossaJazzTwang. Expect an independently minded pair who sashay across the musical thresholds between sweet and seductive with a lightly bossa-nova swoon. Woodard, many may know, continues to hold it down as the leader behind S.B.’s jazz/folk/art-rock label Household Ink and its neo-jazz-band nucleus, Headless Household, and a sterling music critic of note. (He is also a film critic for this paper.) Lvoff, raised in a family of classically trained musicians, takes the lead vocally, with a technique influenced by greats like Cole Porter and Billie Holiday. It’ll be a nice, relaxing start to the month of December, beginning at 8 p.m. (Note: The Old Town Holiday Parade is happening 5-9 p.m., so parking will be more limited than usual.)
SAY UNCLE (TWICE): Also at the Mercury Lounge, you can round out your November with a fresh dose of indie folk with S.B.’s Uncle Uncle, who play on Thursday, November 29, 9 p.m. Formed this year, the band is slowly but surely gaining a following for its lovely acoustical ponderings on modern-day life. Opening for the band will be an as-yet unnamed trio formed in Isla Vista from the ashes of now-defunct acts the Real Savage Henry and Mellow Grass. Show your support for these up-and-coming, exciting new acts.
AT HOME WITH EAMON: Eamon Fogarty, a promising artist originally hailing from New Hampshire, plays on Friday, November 30, at Warbler Records (131 E. De la Guerra St.) with Zachary Paul. With inventive indie rock spun from the comfort of his bedroom, the by-turns sparse, by-turns spacey sprawls of Fogarty’s music will be a welcome soundtrack to your Friday night. The show is at 7 p.m.
THE PASSION OF PATO: SOhO Restaurant & Music Club (1221 State St.) consistently hosts some of the best reggae shows in town, and Pato Banton’s arrival on Saturday, December 1, will be no exception. Since the 1980s, Banton has been a pioneering roots reggae artist and emcee. He’s worked with producers such as Mad Professor and Gregory Isaacs, expanding the dub world’s soundscapes and eventually earning a Grammy nomination. Nowadays, Banton carries a very spiritual message in his music, and you can catch him on his 50-state tour for his new album, Destination Paradise. The show is at 9 p.m.
LISTENING IN, WITH KRONOS AND WINE: The Kronos Quartet’s David Harrington will host a listening party at the Santa Barbara Wine Collective (131 Anacapa St., Ste. C) on Monday, December 3, at 7 p.m. Known worldwide as one of the greatest sets of neo-classical composers, interpreters, and performers of our day and age, the Kronos Quartet has more than 950 works and arrangements commissioned to its name, as well as more than 60 recordings and more than 40 awards. With a résumé like that, there is no doubt that Harrington’s musical collections will cover an exceptionally intriguing breadth and depth of music, as well as an insightful glimpse into the quartet’s masterful minds. The listening party comes a day before Kronos Quartet’s Campbell Hall performance on Tuesday, and similarly comes to our town courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.
