Concert Review: Cesar Rosas and the Chi-Town Playboys at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I adored Los Lobos thirty-five years ago. Los Lobos was arguably the world’s best rock band as it toured in support of spectacular albums ranging from How Will the Wolf Survive? (1984) to Kiko (1992).

Things went south in the mid-’90s. After spending years on the same circuit as other Los Angeles bands like X and the Blasters, Los Lobos inexplicably declared allegiance with jam bands. I gave up after a couple dismal experiences attending hippie festivals at which Los Lobos did Grateful Dead-inspired versions of their repertoire.

Adding insult to injury, Los Lobos’ music wasn’t available on streaming services for several crucial years. Even though I owned all their albums on vinyl and CD, not having instant access to their music was annoying. 

The obscurity caused by the boycott probably contributed to dismal advance sales for a concert by Los Lobos’ Cesar Rosas at the Folly Theater on Saturday, February 1. I bought a seat in the front row originally priced at $75 for $15. About 150 people were in the 1,050-seat hall.

Rosas was backed by six musicians billed as the Chi-Town Playboys. The first set was anchored by garage-rock staples associated with Jimmy Reed (“Baby What You Want Me to Do”), Don & Dewey (“Farmer John”) and Tito Puente/Santana (“Oye Como Va”).

Each selection included four guitar solos, two by Rosas and one apiece by two additional guitarists. Although it was performed at a very high level, the guitar-centric bar band routine doesn’t do much for me these days. With a few of my misgivings confirmed, I left at the break.

Concert Review: Jeremy Denk at the Folly Theater

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The author of a recent guest essay in The New York Times ponders the “divine presence” in mathematics. The transcendent math logic embedded in the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach has long been studied by scholars.

Jeremy Denk emphasized the spirituality conveyed in the calculations made by Bach four centuries ago in rapturous interpretations of all six Bach partitas on Tuesday, February 13, at the Folly Theater.

Once again, I purchased bargain-priced front row tickets. More than 300 patrons were obligated to look at the back of my head as the pianist made frequent eye contact with me for more than two hours. My date suggested Denk’s animated flirtations possessed a “look ma, I’m playing Bach!” sensibility. His mugging reminded me of Fats Waller. 

Although he emphasizes Bach’s earthly uplift rather than the ghostly solemnity András Schiff imparted at Muriel Kauffman Theatre in November, Denk isn’t shallow. Intimations of divine inspiration pierced the veil throughout the recital presented by The Friends of Chamber Music.

Concert Review: Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater

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The ticket I purchased for Juan Diego Flórez’s recital at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 26, cost about as much as a bottle of generic cough syrup. The discounted front row seat I grabbed in the Harriman Jewell-Series’ Black Friday sale compels me to prepare for the worst.

Flórez, one of the most popular opera stars of the past 25 years, suffered from a cold. The tenor sniffed, snuffled and cleared his throat throughout his appearance. After sitting just ten feet from Flórez, I’m at risk of contracting the bug.

Given the magnificence of the recital, I won’t be resentful should I fall ill. His range may have been reduced, but Flórez didn’t seem to have trouble projecting his unamplified instrument. I considered popping in earplugs at intermission.

Flórez thrilled dozens of his fellow Peruvians in the audience of about 700 in an encore without pianist Vincenzo Scalera. He accompanied himself on guitar as he belted out two or three of his country’s folk songs. Bring on the breakdown.

Concert Review: Kelly Hall-Tompkins at the Folly Theater

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“Fiddler on the Roof” is my favorite musical. “Do You Love Me?” is my favorite “Fiddler on the Roof” song. The winsome ballad was performed in the style of French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli at the Folly Theater on Friday, November 10. The rendering rewarded my decision to dedicate the evening to Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ free recital presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series. The violinist known for her role as the titular instrumentalist in the most recent Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” was accompanied by an accordionist, guitarist and bassist. All but three or four selections were instrumental arrangements of selections from the musical. An audience of approximately 500 took in charming  interpretations of the familiar melodies.

Concert Review: Hilary Hahn at the Folly Theater

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Hilary Hahn’s solo recital at the Folly Theater on Friday, October 13, administered spiritual balm in a fraught moment. The violinist offered 90 minutes of ethereal restoration for members of the near-capacity audience of about 950 rattled by current events. The room’s excellent acoustics allowed Hahn’s elevated reading of four timeless works by Johann Sebastian Bach to sanctify the back row seat I purchased for $20. The event was less a concert than a consecrated prayer.

Concert Review: Mahani Teave at the Folly Theater

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The front row seat I claimed for Mahani Teave’s appearance at the Folly Theater on Saturday, September 9, allowed me to closely observe the pianist’s dramatic facial expressions and involuntary body contortions. She often seemed overcome by the staggering beauty she rendered in her North American recital debut.

I too was profoundly moved during the free, general admission concert that opened the 2023-24 season of the Harriman-Jewell Series. Like Teave, I’m regularly staggered by the momentous profundities conveyed by sound.

The Easter Island resident with a name so musical it could serve as a yoga mantra (muh-HAN-ee tee-AH-vay) interpreted compositions by Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Franz Schubert with such insightful tenderness that I feared both of us might faint.

Not even the pandemonium instigated by four people in the row behind me resembling an extended game of hopscotch could spoil the experience. Hear for yourself, but before doing so, make sure you’re seated in a safe place should you swoon to the same Chopin piece she played in Kansas City.

Concert Review: Booker T. Jones at the Folly Theater

Original image of Booker T. Jones neglecting his organ by There Stands the Glass.

A conspicuous hole in my concert-going ledger was filled at the Folly Theater on Friday, April 21.  To the best of my recollection, I’d never previously attended a performance featuring Booker T. Jones.

The recordings of very few living legends have given me more pleasure than the impeccably funky discography of Jones.  Watching him revive several of his essential contributions to soul, blues, rock and pop was thrilling.

The concert could have been better.  I didn’t care for the guitarist’s solos.  And two days earlier the peerless tandem of Matt Clohesy and Jimmy Macbride may have permanently spoiled my capacity to appreciate all other bassists and drummers.

Joining a few hundred baby boomers with the purchase of the least expensive ticket ($32.50) was a sound investment even if the only magical moments occurred during Jones’ elegant introduction to “Time Is Tight.”

Set list: Hang ‘Em High, Soul Dressing, Born Under a Bad Sign, Mannish Boy, Hey Joe, Melting Pot, Green Onions, Hip Hug-Her, Ain’t No Sunshine, Bright Lights Big City, Summertime, Soul Limbo, Everything Is Everything, Time is Tight, I’ve Been Loving You Too Long

Concert Review: Pretty Yende at the Folly Theater

Original image of Kamal Khan and Pretty Yende by There Stands the Glass.

I was overcome with gratitude at the Folly Theater on Saturday, September 7.  As soprano Pretty Yende and pianist Kamal Khan performed Gaetano Donizetti’s exquisite “L’amor funesto”, I knew that I might never again experience a moment so sublime.  The discounted tickets I purchased for the Harriman-Jewell Series’ 1,000th concert provided a priceless experience.  Having become a fan of the South African star during my pandemic-inspired opera binge, Yende’s spectacular gown, incredible dramatizations and lustrous voice were almost too much to take in from a distance of just 15 feet.  Stunned by the artistic perfection before us, my date gasped “what is going on!” We’re still stunned two days later.

Concert Review: Damien Sneed at the Folly Theater

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Knowing they’d be amused by my response, two cousins asked me what I’d been listening to when we chatted during a family gathering on Sunday, November 20.  I told them that in addition to watching a new production of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” (gorgeous!), I’d spent the first part of the day taking in new music by GloRilla (wild!) and Run the Jewels (vital!).

The cousins laughed at the idea of their graying relative enjoying hip-hop and opera on a frigid Sunday.  I don’t find it odd.  A concert presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series at the Folly Theater that evening displayed similar stylistic breadth.  An audience of about 200 heard a splendid mix of Black gospel, opera, European art songs and contemporary classical music.

A 78% discount on two seats in the third row convinced me to attend the recital billed as “Our Song, Our Story: The New Generation of Black Voices.”  What a bargain!  I’ll remember the concert overseen by Damien Sneed for years.  The perplexingly unpolished presentation belied the emotional impact of the staggering talent displayed by seven musicians. 

Rather than expounding on Raven McMillon’s heartrending treatment of “Balm in Gilead,” Sneed’s reading of Hale Smith’s startling “Evocation” or the Griot String Quartet’s interpretation of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Calvary” or assessing the success of the concert’s premise, I’ll simply note that sitting twenty feet from the category-defying Raehann Bryce-Davis was a privilege.

Concert Review: Harmony Zhu at the Folly Theater

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Sixteen-year-old Harmony Zhu displayed disarming poise and unlimited potential at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 13.  The same couldn’t be said for dozens of members of the audience of more than 500 at the Harriman-Jewell Series' free Discovery Concert.

Cacophonous clatter occasionally overwhelmed the pianist’s recital.  Babies babbled.  Toddlers yammered.  Children rolled metal drink canisters on the floor, tossed programs and played with the springs in creaky theater seats.  Minors weren’t the only offenders.  A few older people hacked and wheezed as if they were in their death throes.  

Zhu rose above the tumult as she played four Frédéric Chopin compositions as well as selections by Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Nikolai Kapustin.  Her affinity for Chopin’s deliciously morbid laments is unexpected in a bright young talent who has probably never misbehaved in a concert hall.