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PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS •NITELIFE• TRAX BY BLISS JOSE JAMES, Lean On Me (Blue Note): HHH The R&B/jazz chameleon again contextualizes his music with respectful homage to an artistic mentor — here, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bill Withers. James doesn’t rearrange songs (as he did for 2015’s sterling Billie Holiday tribute “Yesterday I Had the Blues”) so much as refine them for his more intimate delivery, which lacks Withers’ baritone earthiness. “Use Me” showcases tasteful solos by saxophonist Marcus Strickland and trumpeter Takuya Kuroda but could use Withers’ electric thrill; lesser-known tracks like the funk-bubbling “Kissing My Love” and “Lovely Day” (with Lalah Hathaway) work best. Opportunities feel missed, but Withers, who famously retired from performing after contributing “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me” to the American Songbook, deserves celebration. josejamesmusic.com HEATHER MORGAN, Borrowed Heart (Eleven Feathers): HHH½ The Nashville tunesmith, who’s composed songs for Brett Eldredge and Keith Urban, makes an auspicious solo debut with a dozen songs begun during an unexpected Joshua Tree retreat that cathartically grieve a relationship’s heat and dissolution. Morgan’s aching soprano conveys heartbroken resilience with a tensile strength that recalls Lee Ann Womack. Her singing’s lovely but her songs are the draw, although “Highway Robbery” sounds like fury drained of real feeling. Cue up the melodies and metaphors of the title track and “Arms of a Lion” (both co-written with Lori McKenna), the vulnerable “Paper,” and “Morning Light.” heathermorganmusic.com –CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 icehousecomedy.com Thursday—Stand-Up All Stars w/Ty Barnett Friday—Hollywood Comes to Pasadena 58th Anniversary w/Arsenio Hall; Piano Bar w/Avery Pearson; Craig Robinson; Comedians You Should Know Saturday—Jerry Garcia and Friends; Cool Beans Comedy Improv Class; Colin Kane Sunday—58th Anniversary Show w/Paul Rodriguez; Dave McNary’s All-Star Variety Show; Wednesday—Ice House Open Mic; Smokin’ Comedy Wednesday w/Zach and Viggo Kings Row Gastropub 20 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 793-3010 kingsrowpub.com Live music most nights of the week MEOWMEOWZ! Retro ‘80s Thrift Shop 2423 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 798-6969 facebook.com/meowmeowz Fridays and Saturdays—Live music every Friday and Saturday; all ages welcome Old Towne Pub 66 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena (626) 577-6583 theoldtownepub.com Live music most nignts of the week Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association 73 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena (626) 799-5689 pasadenaballroomdance.com Saturday—Saturday Swing Dance features Aileen Quinn & Her Leapin’ Lizards Plate 38 2361 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 793-7100 plate38.com Fridays & Saturdays—Live music on select Fridays & Saturdays The Rose Paseo Colorado 245 E. Green St., Pasadena (888) 645-5006 roseconcerts.com Thursday—Tierra & the Delfonics Friday—Oingo Boingo Dance Party Saturday—Sinbad Sunday— Soulful Sunday Brunch; Al Jardine T. Boyle’s Tavern 37 N. Catalina Ave., Pasadena (626) 578-0957 tboylestavern.com Sunday—Geeks Who Drink Trivia Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink Trivia SAN GABRIEL VALLEY Arcadia Blues Club 16 E. Huntington Drive, Arcadia (626) 447-9349 arcadiabluesclub.com Friday and Saturday—Closed The Buccaneer 70 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre (626) 355-9045 https://www.facebook.com/Buccaneer-847437898642883/ Wednesday—Wednesday Night Platter Party: Bring your fave vinyl to be spun on turntable First Cabin 46 E. Huntington Drive, Arcadia (626) 446-2575 Fridays-Saturdays—Pat O’Brien & the Priests of Love exalt the blues and classic rock The Granada 17 S. First St., Alhambra (626) 227-2572 thegranadala.com Thursday—Deejay Vince; Deejay Aragon Friday—Live music w/Daniel Castillo Y La Salsa Buena; Deejay Vince; Deejay Marco; Deejay Pachanga; Deejay Miro Saturday—Live music w/LA Salsa Orchestra; Deejay Martin; Deejay Miro; Deejay Marco Tuesday—Deejay Goodtimes J.C. Hyke Songwriter Serenade Matt Denny’s Ale House 145 E. Huntington Drive, Arcadia (626) 462-0250 mattdennys.com, jchyke.com Tuesday—Emiko; Judy Nazemetz; Sal & Isela; Mike Stocksdale Villa Catrina 251 N. Santa Anita Ave., Arcadia (626) 294-1973 villacatrina.com Thursdays—Comedy open mic every first and third Thursday of the month Wednesdays—Karaoke w/Deejay Zary WEST OF PASADENA Colombo’s Restaurant 1833 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock (323) 254-9138 colombosrestaurant.com Thursday—Trifecta Friday—Steve Thompson; Blue Bird Harmony Saturday—Ernie Draffen; Electric Folklore Sunday—Sasaki & Giles Monday—Eric Ekstrand Trio Tuesday—Tom Armbruster Wednesday—Jimmy Spencer, Karen Hernandez and Friends Days Inn Lounge 450 Pioneer Drive, Glendale (323) 259-5900 tommydodson.com Fridays—Tommy Dodson and friends present Cabaret Fridays The Oak and Vine 117 E. Harvard St., Glendale (818) 507-7011 theoakandvine.com Live music most nights of the week Winchester Room 6522 San Fernando Road, Glendale (818) 241-5475 thewinchesterroom.com Friday—Karaoke Saturday—Karaoke n THOMAS DYBDAHL, All These Things (V2): HHH Reteamed with producer Larry Klein, the Norwegian singer-songwriter huddled in an LA studio with an A-team of musicians’ musicians (drummer James Gadson, guitarists David Baerwald and Dean Parks, keyboardist Patrick Warren) whose nuanced playing colors his cinematic brooding with painterly insight. Guest vocalist Lera Lynn’s smoky tones spark heat with Dybdahl’s hushed self-recriminations during “When I Go (Bad Sign),” but standouts like the title track and rueful jam “Look at What We’ve Done” mostly suggest late-night soul searching and solo drives. thomasdybdahl.no ADRIANNE LENKER, abysskiss (Saddle Creek): HHH½ The Big Thief frontwoman’s latest solo outing finds her mostly solo and communing with her acoustic guitar (and, occasionally, piano). Space and quiet give the sense of listening in as someone creates melodic, image-rich poetry in their living room. A circular guitar pattern combines with rhythmic urgency to hypnotic effect during “symbol”; during “from,” silverware clatter punctuates pretty fingerpicking like reality intruding on a dream as Lenker chants, “Be my man” like a wistful mantra after insisting “no one can” in her girlishly pinched voice. The intimacy’s startling. adriannelenker.com Midweek Mandy MANDY KEMP SHOWCASES DYNAMIC STYLE AT EDWIN MILLS For those wishing to put a little weekend in their week, check out a Wednesday show at Edwin Mills by Equator with jazz singer Mandy Kemp. Kemp is known for her vibrant voice and versatile singing style. Based in LA, she works as a live performer and voice actress. She parlayed her classical vocal training into a career, including various theatrical roles, eventually becoming a soughtafter voice of jazz. Her training and experience have led to a variety of performances, including cabaret work around the world. Her “Firecracker Jazz” show has been a hit at legendary Vitello’s in Studio City, as she can belt out a song when the occasion requires it. Her sultry voice combines with a charismatic stage presence to make her performances memorable. Visit mandykemp.com.—John Sollenberger Music starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Edwin Mills by Equator, 22 Mills Place, Pasadena. No cover. Call (626) 564-8656 or visit edwinmills.com. 28 PASADENA WEEKLY | <strong>10.11.18</strong>
PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS •CALENDAR• Never Say Never BESTSELLING AUTHOR ANNE LAMOTT DISCUSSES ‘ALMOST EVERYTHING: NOTES ON HOPE’ TUESDAY AT ALL SAINTS BY BLISS BOWEN “I have known hell, and I have also known love. Love was bigger.” One of the more endearing qualities of Anne Lamott’s books is that she writes like she’s in a thoughtful one-on-one exchange with the reader. So it isn’t a surprise — in fact, it’s somehow reassuring — to discover that the bestselling author talks like she writes: with self-deprecating wit, empathy, and insight. The opportunity to speak with Lamott about her new book, “Almost Everything,” which she’ll be discussing at All Saints Church Tuesday night, is particularly welcome on a day when social media is awash with #IBelieveHer and #WhyIDidntReport posts and vicious political pushback. The recurring theme captured in the book’s subtitle — “Notes On Hope” — gently emerges as Lamott talks from her “funkily delicious home” in Marin County. Her dog barks in the background; her son Sam arrives; Lamott apologizes for being distracted. It is Sam’s son and a niece that she conversationally addresses (“Hello, Dearest”) in the book. Unlike 2013’s “Stitches,” which was specifically triggered by the Sandy Hook shooting, “Almost Everything” arose not from one event but rather from Lamott’s recognition that hope is an endangered entity these days. “It has just been the last couple years, since the [2016] election, that everyone I know has been in such despair and fear, and just feeling that it was all pretty hopeless,” she explains. “And I never feel it’s pretty hopeless; I feel it’s very, very hard. So I made a list for my grandson and niece about everything I knew for sure that was true, and I based the book on that list. “I always knew it was gonna be a book on hope. [In the past] I told my writing students to write what they’d like to come upon, and I would have loved to come upon somebody that I trusted that I thought was marginally funny about why there are so many reasons for hope right now.” Lamott’s wisecracks are more than “marginally funny.” She calls laughter “carbonated holiness,” and that effervescence balances darker passages when she extracts thorny lessons from family feuds, a friend’s stubbornness, natural wonders, and the challenges of aging. In the book she wryly acknowledges the challenge she set before herself (“‘Why?’ is rarely a useful question in the hope business”), and matter-of-factly gives voice to widespread political frustrations: “In general, it doesn’t feel like the light is making a lot of progress. It feels like death by annoyance.” That relatability grounds the kinship that often snaps into place between Lamott’s readers. After earning critical praise for several novels in the 1980s (including “Hard Laughter,” inspired by her writer father Ken Lamott’s death from brain cancer), the 1985 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient staked out her personal literary nook with 1993’s nonfiction “Operating Instructions,” about Sam’s first year of life, and especially 1994’s bestselling memoir “Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,” which has since become an inspirational bible among artists. Oscar-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock borrowed the title for her 1999 documentary on Lamott, “Bird By Bird With Annie.” In 2010, Lamott was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. Dysfunctional families, addiction, alcoholism, sobriety, sex, single motherhood, crises of belief, environmental and civil rights activism, the challenges of nappy hair: Lamott’s humor has burned as fiercely as her candor in her books as well as her Salon.com columns. With 1999’s “Traveling Mercies,” another bestselling turning point, the ex-atheist began digging deeper into questions of how to justify her decidedly non-fundamentalist Christian faith in the modern world, ruminations that have centered her books since. She isn’t religious so much as spiritual, but she frequently talks about teaching Sunday school classes and references celebrated theologians like Frederick Buechner, Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen as comfortably as she cites Carl Jung, the Dalai Lama, Anaïs Nin, Barack Obama, and Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” “Almost Everything” is studded with droll asides (“Chocolate with 81% cacao is not actually a food. Its best use is as bait in snake traps”) and pithy comments. “Joy is always a surprise, and always a decision” glides up from the page like an easy aphorism; but asked if it means to live joy as a verb, Lamott places it in more nuanced context. “So much of life can be confusing and hard. But to some degree you can decide to wait for more information or to just not give up on your faith, or on your belief in people’s goodness and whatnot. So it’s a decision. I heard this story once about an older woman who was checking into a convalescent home. At the front desk the nurse said, ‘You have a room by yourself and it’s gonna be a beautiful room for you,’ and the woman said, ‘Oh, I know it is,’ and the nurse said, ‘But you haven’t seen it yet.’ And the woman said, ‘I know, but I decided it will be.’ That really impressed me. I think to some degree we can decide that we’re going to stay as centered and as watchful and curious as possible. If you’re watching and curious and centered, it’s very hard to be defeated.” The 64-year-old Lamott doesn’t recount that episode in “Almost Everything,” but it’s characteristic of the more personal revelations she gives readers to chew over — relatable albeit unconventional stories that fill “the God-shaped holes” many strive to fill without yoking themselves to repressive dogma. She says she does not possess the “gift” of preaching, but believes she has “a little minister” in her. “I believe that there’s a divine intelligence and a loving energy underfoot and around and above and beside us. … People are spirit, with clothes on, and skin.” More than she has ever observed before, she says, they are unsettled and “just starving” for “connection to the ‘we’ and to the bigger identity, rather than just these small little packages of anxiety and stuff our parents or culture told us about ourselves. “I feel like sort of a street minister. I’m often looking myself for spiritual uplift, so I’m glad if I find a story provides that to share with a reader.” n Vroman’s presents Anne Lamott in conversation with Father Edward Beck about “Almost Everything: Notes on Hope” at All Saints Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena, 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16; $24. Admission includes one entry and one book copy, and tickets are available at eventbrite. com/e/an-evening-with-anne-lamott-tickets-48387378953. Info: (626) 449-5320. <strong>10.11.18</strong> | PASADENA WEEKLY 29
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