THURSDAY 1/22
FUNK
SOUL BRASS BAND Soul Brass Band riffs with hip hop grit and jazz stylings, which transports audiences to a New Orleans block party. Bringing the NOLA spirit of second line to the stage, their vivacious stage presence is complete with an all-star brass band delivering street soul sounds and deep funk. Forged together by drummer and culture force, Derrick “Smoker” Freeman, the band came to fruition through a chance meeting on a music video set. After playing together for ten years, the band has a natural camaraderie when it comes to improvisational licks and a deep uplifting groove. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 8pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door, 479-1854.
JAZZ
ELEW PLAYS STING Earning the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition and three Grammy-nominations, ELEW’s skill and innovation as a pianist set him above the rest. With classical training and inspiration from European masters of Baroque Counterpoint, ELEW excels in awakening compositions of Chopin and Duke Ellington. ELEW shines in jazz performance, but he dazzles in his ability to transform rock anthems into experimental masterpieces. By fusing piano techniques with rock guitar ideas, he delivers unique executions of songs by Nirvana, Michael Jackson, and of course, Sting, whose songs he is eager to bring to the stage after opening for the artist’s “My Songs 3.0” Tour. SN
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz. $37-42. 395-0767.
FRIDAY 1/23
SINGER SONGWRITER
SAM BLASUCCI Los Angeles singer-songwriter Sam Blasucci came to prominence via his work in Mapache, the rootsy rock outfit he founded in 2016 with Clay Finch. That group released four albums and an EP. Turning from guitar to piano, Blasucci launched a concurrent solo career with 2023’s Off My Stars. His prolific solo project has since yielded 2024’s Real Life Thing, and a double album in 2025 called Physical Dream; the latter comprises All Blue and Orchids. Through it all, Blasucci combines his folk stylings with singer-songwriter values, a pop sensibility, and finely textured arrangements and an admirable depth of lyrical exploration. BILL KOPP
INFO: 7:30pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $18/adv, $22/door. 429-6994.
PUNK
CAPTURED! BY ROBOTS Despite his name, JBOT is a human, the only human in the punk band Captured! By Robots. Tired of working with musicians who cared more about partying than about playing music, JBOT decided to build his own robot band, but when he spilled coffee on their CPUs, things went horribly wrong and he was captured by his own creations, enslaved via an implanted microchip and made to suffer their abuse while touring as a band whose shows are like an escape room with no escape. Be warned, this is what your Alexa, Siri, Chatbot are dreaming of. Doors open at 7, if Hal allows it. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
Info: 8pm, Catalyst, 1101 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. $32. 713-5492.
BLUEGRASS
AJ LEE & BLUE SUMMIT The Folkyeah Presents series continues, bringing to town all the best in folk, country, bluegrass, and Americana. This time around the featured artists are festival favorites AJ Lee & Blue Summit, a group of dazzlingly proficient players including AJ Lee on mandolin and lead vocals, fiddler Jan Purat, and guitarists Scott Gates and Sullivan Tuttle. The Californian band is currently on the road promoting their third album, 2024’s City of Glass. Santa Cruz-based Kentucky Mule will open on Friday, with Joe Kaplow warming things up on Saturday. KLJ
Info: 9pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.
SATURDAY 1/24
AVANT FOLK
FRED FRITH AND PHIPPS PT British guitarist Fred Frith has always operated outside the mainstream. His work with a succession of avant-garde groups—Henry Cow, Art Bears, Massacre, Skeleton Crew—brought him (if not fame and fortune) a highly regarded reputation in the world of innovative musical forces. A fascinating improvisational master, Frith is as prolific as he is adventurous, with credits on more than 400 albums to date. For this show at Indexical, Frith joins forces with Phipps Pt., the electronica folk duo of Canadian guitarist Lovage Sharrock and Bay Area musician Jon Leidecker. The music they make is unpredictable, electronic and organic, often all at once. BK
INFO: 8:30pm, Indexical, 1050 River St. #119, Santa Cruz. $20. 509-627-9491.
PUNK
C.R.A.P. January isn’t even over but most of us are already feeling the bloat. Sometimes in life, we just need to go and get the crap out of our system. Thankfully, the Blue Lagoon understands and this Saturday they’ve got enough punk for a gust buster of a night. Featuring openers Fire Drill, The Cyber Bullies and F.U.X., the night culminates in a bunch of CRAP as they celebrate the release of their second EP, the seven-song “Number Two,” which plopped out on January 17th. These guys have only been growing bigger and tighter, so be prepared for some fun and don’t forget to light a match after. MAT WEIR
INFO: 9pm, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.
THEATER
24-HOUR THEATER On January 24, the student-run theater arts production company, Barnstorm Theater Company, will present a complete production that was put together in just 24 hours! After receiving a random prompt, the creativity of the students will be unleashed. Actors and the production team will work with co-directors Mim Nickel and Stephanie Kemple to write, produce, block, and present a complete work to an audience. This truly unique work of art will challenge students to coordinate and cooperate with each other as they push themselves to finish the piece. Even with the 24-hour restriction, it gives students a space to experiment and gain theater experience. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 7:30pm, UCSC Theater Arts Center Studio B100, 453 Kerr Rd, Santa Cruz. Free-$20. 459-0111.
WEDNESDAY 1/28
ROCK
MATTEO MANCUSO We don’t hear about prodigies that much anymore, but guitar player Matteo Mancuso was most certainly a prodigy when he was younger. Born in Palermo in the Italian region of Sicily, Mancuso was playing guitar at the age of 10 with his father, a professional. By the age of 12, Mancuso was performing at Jazz festivals, and in 2017, he won a scholarship to the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston. He uses his classical training to play a quasi-flamenco right-hand technique combining jazz, classical, and rock for a style that can easily be picked out in a blind test. One of the many reasons why guitar virtuoso Steve Vai has called Mancuso the “future” of rock guitar. MW
