Local singer-songwriter Courtney Nicole started playing open mics in San Francisco almost a decade ago. Just before moving to Santa Cruz four years ago, she changed her name to Pieces, a nickname friends called her after she wrote a song called “Pieces,” and that’s when her music started to evolve.
Since relocating, Pieces went from being a solo project to a five-piece band, and then a trio. At the upcoming Crepe Place show on Jan. 13 she’ll have a new drummer, Andrew Guterman, who she says gives the music a more jazzy, bluesy feel. Her bass player Devon Brockopp-Hammer has played with her for years.
At the end of 2017, she was playing solo shows and preparing new material for her lineup change. There will be old songs in the mix, but also some new stuff.
“I had a chance to craft on my own again and take a step back, just really focus on writing, and actually have something to bring to the next project that’s new,” Nicole says. “Not try and recreate what we’ve done before. Just get to start fresh again to the music.”
She sees the connective thread of her music as the lyrics and the vocal melodies, which is partially why she scaled the group down to a trio in the first place—to bring the songs back to their basic elements. So far, Nicole has one EP released under the Pieces moniker, and she’s hoping to do a new recording that shows off this current version of the band soon.
“The most fun part for me is to continually try to craft and create and make new music and explore different songs so we don’t get tired of doing the same thing,” Nicole says. “At the end of the day, the heart of the songs are still intact. They all stem from my experiences and my songwriting.”
The professional name White Buffalo suits singer-songwriter Jake Smith perfectly. A big guy with a big voice and a lumberjack-like appearance, Smith emanates a feeling of Old West authenticity and a working person perspective. Born in Oregon and raised in California, Smith balances underground folk traditions with a punk rock vibe and rock ’n’ roll delivery. On his latest album, 2017’s Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights, he blends alternative rock, blues, country and folk in his most electrified release yet. Also on the bill: the Roadkill Ghost Choir.
INFO: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $18/adv, $20/door. 423-1338. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.
Our picks for the best live music for the week of January 10, 2018.
WEDNESDAY 1/10
POST-PUNK
SO STRESSED
For years, So Stressed was the kind of super DIY band that would avoid clubs with actual sound systems. Then somewhere along the way, they became a buzz band, getting coverage from Noisey and NPR, among other national outlets. As they’ve blossomed into a touring band that produces records on more than just burrito money, they’ve fine-tuned their highly cathartic post-punk sound. Their latest, Please Let Me Know, is an unflinching document of the breakup of a relationship. The album is aggressive, but always feels aimed inward and full of anxiety. AC
Muriel Anderson is one of the finest guitarists you’ll ever see. A technical master, she was the first woman to win the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and she plays with a flair and feel that leaves you shaking your head in amazement. In addition to playing six-string guitars, Anderson also plays a wild-looking harp-guitar that has an unexpected elegance. If you’re new to Anderson’s music, do a YouTube search for her lovely version of Don McLean’s “Vincent” and keep a handkerchief handy—you may need it. CJ
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Michaels on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $17/adv, $20/door. 479-9777.
FRIDAY 1/12
JAZZ
SPEAKEASY 3
It’s not hard to understand why people these days are obsessed with speakeasies. There’s no fun like the uninhibited type that comes from pure defiance of social norms. Prohibition may be over, but the upbeat jazz that populated these underground clubs lives on. In Santa Cruz, Speakeasy 3 brings the lively, snappy prohibition-era sound, which is, on one hand, the mindless pop tunes of its era, perfect for dancing your cares away. But it’s not hard to miss the rebellion immersed in the music. Don’t drink, don’t dance, don’t hang out in filthy nightclubs. Speakeasy 3’s music suggests otherwise. AC
Whether you know him as one half of the Atlanta duo Outkast, as Sir Lucious Left Foot, or by his primary stage name, Big Boi’s music has dominated the hip-hop scene for more than two decades. This week the ATLien returns to the Catalyst with his Daddy Fat Saxxx Tour that is guaranteed to be the most talked-about hip-hop tour in town. The “Renaissance Man of Rap” is touring off his wildly anticipated third solo LP, Boomiverse, released last June. MW
Johnny Cash called John McCutcheon “the most impressive instrumentalist I’ve ever heard.” And that guy had been everywhere! He’d been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo—oh, never mind, you know the song. The point is, you’ve never really heard the hammer dulcimer until you’ve heard McCutcheon play it. After more than 30 records, several Grammy nods, and a lifetime devoted to America’s folk traditions, this guy is quickly heading for national treasure status. Part of the proceeds will go to benefit the Resource Center for Nonviolence. SP
INFO: 9 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $29/door. 479-9421; snazzyproductions.com.
SUNDAY 1/14
INTERNATIONAL
OZOMATLI
In 1998, Ozomatli dropped its self-titled debut album. The band broke new musical ground, blending reggae, hip-hop, Latin and rock, and the pop world liked it immediately. The band became a festival favorite and a model of what social activism around farm workers’ rights and immigration reform can look like when melded with dance-inducing grooves and a global perspective. That debut remains a classic ‘90s-era album. The band’s latest release, 2017’s Nonstop Mexico to Jamaica, is a reggae-infused collection of cover tunes of celebrated Latin artists, including Selena, Cafe Tacuba and Mana. CJ
Lew Tabackin, 77, is a jazz master who thrives on contrasts. On tenor saxophone, he’s a freight train, a fierce full-throttle improviser whose thick, muscular sound sometimes calls to mind tenor patriarch Coleman Hawkins. On flute, he’s a sinuous sketch artist who can render a curvaceous melody with a delicate, sinewy line. On either instrument, he’s a riveting performer who never wastes a note, distilling more than five decades of experience in jazz’s top ranks. ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 427-2227.
TUESDAY 1/16
POP
SASHA DOBSON
Renowned vocalist Norah Jones caught the music world’s attention in 2002 with her stunning debut, Come Away with Me. Jones has since revealed herself to be a multi-faceted artist with a wide musical range and a handful of diverse music projects. One of those projects, an all-female trio called Puss n Boots, is a collaboration with Santa Cruz native Sasha Dobson. The daughter of local jazz legends Smith and Gail Dobson, the Brooklyn-based Sasha returns to town on Tuesday with a collection of new original tunes and an emerging sound that layers electronic pop and her remarkable voice. CJ
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Michaels on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $12/adv, $15/door. 479-9777.
IN THE QUEUE
JUNE CORE
Renowned Bay Area drummer. Friday at Kuumbwa
MUSTACHE HARBOR
Soft-rock tribute band. Friday at Catalyst
BEGGAR KINGS
Tribute to the Rolling Stones and the Allman Brothers. Saturday at Don Quixote’s
KEITH GREENINGER & DAYAN KAI
Standout singer-songwriters with Santa Cruz roots. Sunday at Michael’s on Main
XAVIER WULF
Underground rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. Tuesday at Catalyst
The rain has begun, and that means it’s time for rain chains. These decorative water features carry rainwater from the gutter downward to a drain or a storage container. They are a great alternative to traditional, closed gutter downspouts, and a serene treat to listen to. But rain chains can be expensive, and making your own is not only more gratifying, but won’t break the bank. Plus, they make fantastic DIY gifts for anyone. The workshop is lead by Dream Maker Creative’s Sara Smith and all materials will be provided to make an eight-foot chain.
INFO: 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11. Dream Maker Creative. 1001 Center St. Suite 2, Santa Cruz. dreammakercreative.com. $40.
The MAH’s new Tom Killion exhibit features woodblock prints of images across the California coast, including familiar areas like Natural Bridges and Wilder Ranch. UCSC grad and former Santa Cruz local, Killion specializes in landscape prints. He draws inspiration from Japanese printmaking, and incorporates delicate, crisp lines and colors into his work. The show also features poems selected by Gary Snyder, pages of Tom’s nature journals, and information about events that dig deeper into nature —like biking tours and hikes that inspire journaling. Image: Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz Pogonip, Tom Killion, 2002.
INFO: Opens Friday, Jan. 12 and runs through Sunday, April 22. Museum of Art and History. 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. 429-1964. santacruzmah.org. $10 General Admission, $8 Students, free on First Fridays.
Friday 1/5-Tuesday 1/30
‘Beach Industry’
How do you incorporate Santa Cruz’s natural beauty into art? Literally, of course. After crushing local sandstone and Monterey Bay sea salt and mixing the two together, Tim Ward blended oil paint, salt and stone, and painted a stunning image of West Cliff beach. His work, along with that of 16 other local surfer/artists, is on display at the R. Blitzer Gallery. The new “Beach Industry” exhibition centers around surfing and the ocean, and is a stunningly unique exhibit featuring Vince Broglio’s resin paintings and r.r. jones photographs, as well as work from Connor O’Neill, grandson of Jack O’Neill. Fittingly, 10 percent of sales during January go to O’Neill Sea Odyssey, and donations are gladly accepted. Photo by Stan Walsh.
INFO: Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. R. Blitzer Gallery, 2801 Mission St., Santa Cruz. 458-1217. rblitzergallery.com. Free.
Monday 1/15- Sunday 1/21
Free Yoga Week
Time to get down, dog. Most drop-in yoga classes are around $15, which is pretty much the same as two burritos. Burritos … yoga … burritos … decisions, decisions. This week, you don’t have to pick—have your yoga and eat burritos, too. All DiviniTree classes are free, everyday. Now is your chance to try out the different types of yoga—maybe you are a Kundalini person or a sweaty Power Vinyasa junkie. Once your mind is nice and relaxed, may we recommend you hop nextdoor for a Tacos Moreno burrito or two? Sign up in advance if you can, classes can get packed.
INFO: DiviniTree Yoga and Art Studio. 1043 Water St., Santa Cruz. 421-0518. sc.divinitree.com. Free.
With all of this rain we have been getting, there are sure to be some fantastic fungi friends sprouting. You know what they say: when it rains, it spores. The annual Santa Cruz Fungus Fair boasts speakers and specialists, cooking workshops and of course hundreds of prime fungus specimens for your viewing pleasure. Don’t go eating any old side-of-the-road mushroom, the fair’s taxonomy panel will help you classify different types of fungi and pick the prime specimens. The festival is perfect for the whole family, and has plenty of kids activities like fungus exploration tables, clay mushroom building, and face painting.
INFO: 1-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Louden Nelson Community Center. 301 Center St, Santa Cruz. ffsc.us/fair. Friday admission $5, Saturday/Sunday admission $10. Students & Seniors $5. Kids 12 and under free.
[Editor’s note: Though the terms ‘Black’ and ‘African American’ are sometimes considered interchangeable as racial identifiers, we are using Black, as it is more inclusive. While some people identify as African American, many don’t identify as American, or do not identify with where their ancestors came from. Black is capitalized to bring it in line with AP style that capitalizes nationalities, peoples, races, tribes, and most racial and ethnic identification terms.]
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]renda Griffin was seated at the back of a restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz when there were plenty of open tables near the front. Morgan Pedford often has her bag checked at a local movie theater, despite the fact that she is a regular whom the staff know by name. Laura Turner-Essel notices others looking at her son differently when he joins the other kids running around the playground.
For Black people in Santa Cruz, these microaggressions are part of everyday life. Nuances like seating and security can be irritating to anyone, but the difference is that many don’t inherently think their race has anything to do with it. They don’t have to. There is a name for this: white privilege.
NAACP President Brenda Griffin (left) and project creator Allison Garcia at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, where Gospel Night and Youth Day will be held. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER
“No matter what color you are,” says Santa Cruz resident Laura Turner-Essel, “white supremacy leads you to being afraid when you see a Black man walking, being irritated when you hear a Black woman’s voice, confused when you see a Black family doing well, or nervous when you see a Black child running wild in ways that society tells you only white children are allowed to do.”
It’s not the small acts themselves that are heinously unjust, it’s the disconcerting fact that if you are a person of color, racial bias extends into every aspect of your life. This is what it is like to be Black in Santa Cruz.
“I meet people who express that they don’t see racism in Santa Cruz,” says National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Santa Cruz County President Brenda Griffin. “But if you think about it, why would they see it? It’s not directed at them. What they need to do is to consciously think about what they are being told and not look at it as ‘there’s gotta be more to the story’ or ‘it’s an isolated incident.’ Racism exists everywhere, and Santa Cruz is no exception.”
It wasn’t until recently that greeting cards with Black figures started showing up in stores, and hair products for Black hair appeared on the shelves, Griffin says. It’s the little things, likely not considered by most, that accumulate and contribute to a lack of Black visibility in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz is liberal, but that doesn’t mean it’s diverse—1.4 percent of Santa Cruz County identifies as Black, compared to 59 percent white and 32 percent Latino. Photographs and stories about Black people rarely appear in media and newspapers, so Black visibility is limited. Picture this: you are the single Black person in a 100-person pool. How loudly would you have to shout for your voice to be heard?
“As African Americans, we have to do this just about every day of our lives—educate people. We have to teach people to be conscious, and it’s exhausting,” Griffin says. “We shouldn’t have to do it. But on the other hand, if an opportunity presents itself, then take that opportunity to teach others. But it’s a double-edged sword.”
“It’s a strange and mind-boggling experience of being culturally isolated and socially marginal in a beautiful place that pretends to welcome everyone and everything. It’s crazy-making. It’s being highly visible, yet never really seen or heard.”- Laura Turner-Essel, Ph.D., UCSC CASFS Director of Residential & Community Life.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]llison Garcia says she was particularly moved by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement, and wanted to bring more Black visibility and voice to Santa Cruz in the wake of many incidents of violence and mistreatment against Black people. Though Garcia identifies as white, she says that after attendingseveral NAACP meetings and becoming a member over a year ago, she decided to create a photo project on Black lives and what matters to Black people in Santa Cruz.
An avid local photographer, she drew inspiration for this project from Black photographers like Zun Lee’s project on Black fatherhood and UCSC professor Lewis Watts’ work on African-American cultural landscapes. Garcia’s project, titled “Black Lives in Santa Cruz: What Matters,” spotlights the experiences and perspectives of Black people in Santa Cruz.
Local pharmacist Eboni and her daughter Deshaun are participants of ‘Black Lives in Santa Cruz: What Matters.’ PHOTO: ALLISON GARCIA
“I asked some members from the NAACP ‘what do you think of the project? Can I even do this as a white person? Is that okay?’” she recalls. “The NAACP has been very supportive, though I do feel like I am on the outside looking in, and that’s part of why I am doing this.”
Last fall, she began interviewing and photographing Black-identifying Santa Cruz community members. She says that her intent was to be removed from the project, given that she doesn’t share the same experiences and cultural background, and have the participants’ images and stories be the focal point.
“I had some curiosity about the fact that she was white when she first approached me, because I wondered what her intention was since she is not a person of African descent,” says project participant Laura Turner-Essel. “It could have been potentially different if it was done by someone who shares the experience of being a Black person in Santa Cruz, but I found Allison to be open and willing to listen to what I had to say, and I trusted that she would do a good job of reflecting what we shared.”
Photos in Garcia’s project show families embracing their children, a homeless Liberian Civil War refugee resting on a redwood trunk, a high school football coach running drills, and a chef smiling behind the scenes. These are the faces of the Black Santa Cruz community and what they care about most.
The 10 participants in the project vary in age, income, gender and sexual identity. They were asked what it’s like to be Black in Santa Cruz and what the Black Lives Matter movement means to them. But Garcia discovered that a white woman asking ‘what is it like to be Black in Santa Cruz?’ was at times problematic in itself.
“Although I’m sure you are trying to do a positive thing … this is also part of the problem,” one of the participants, Anita Marie, wrote Garcia in an email. “We are Black, yes … but we are people trying to survive this fucked up world like everyone else. We just have to try harder. One, to succeed and two, to educate those who are too lazy to inform themselves about other cultures.”
Marie still participated in the project, though she expressed her frustration with Santa Cruz and its liberal guise.
“It is impossible for us to simply assimilate,” she wrote. “Our skin is too dark and our upbringing is too proud, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“America has simply not lived up to its promises in regards to the rights of Black and brown people. Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us of that fact in 1963 and here we are 54 years later struggling with the same issues of race, class, education, health care and war.” -Gary Cocroft, former lifeguard and firefighter, surfboard shaper
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Santa Cruz branch of the NAACP, born from inequality in the housing market (specifically housing rentals), has been around for nearly 70 years. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on Jan. 15 this year, is one of the largest annual events for the NAACP. This year, the organization partnered with the Santa Cruz Police Department (SCPD) in a co-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. Day March on Monday, Jan 15. While the NAACP has hosted marches before, this co-sponsorship is a first.
“My heart is still heavy from all of these police-involved shootings that have happened. We are all outraged and angry, but those shootings and those types of incidents are exactly why we should be at the table with the SCPD,” NAACP says Griffin. “That’s why we should be trying to develop a community police relationship.”
Just two months ago, SCPD hired Officer Henry Muse, the only Black officer in SCPD since 2013. SCPD Chief Andrew Mills says he hopes to have more diverse recruitment in the future.
“We need to look at what we are doing that eliminates people of color. Our hiring practices are implicitly biased, and eliminating good, capable candidates,” Mills says. “For example, we have a requirement of good credit, and when you are a person who has operated on cash, or grew up in a poor home, that’s not always possible, and may very well be eliminating good candidates.”
Along with the march, the NAACP and the Resource Center for Nonviolence will also host an annual youth day on Jan. 13, featuring live music, food and tabling from local youth activist groups. Also on Jan. 13, Gospel Night will celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, his love of gospel music, and its role in the civil rights movement. Gospel night will feature Tammi Brown, Inner Light Gospel Choir, Monterey Peninsula Community Gospel Choir, Progressive Missionary Baptist Church Men’s Choir and more. Both events will be held at the Resource Center for Nonviolence.
“It’s easy to be liberal. They never really have to define a side. They can just play in the middle and take the drugs [but with] stuff that’s going on right now, they need to take a hard stance because it’s getting bad.” -Morgan Pedford, professional chef
“My challenge to you is to educate yourself. Be mindful and interact with more people of color.” -Anita Marie, professional hair stylist and Morgan Pedford’s sister
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Black community in Santa Cruz is not invisible, says Griffin, but it can sometimes feel that way. Visibility is difficult when there is a lack of representation and inclusion everywhere from the media to data studies, she says.
For example, the recent Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project’s (CAP) final comprehensive report outlines the Education, Health and Health Care and Economic Stability of Santa Cruz County in 2017. Though the study does list white and Latino representation, there is little to no mention of Black or African-American people in Santa Cruz anywhere, except under demographic breakdowns, incarceration and crime, and violence.
“Do we not have health needs, too?” Griffin says. “Why are we not represented anywhere but crime and violence areas?”
Susan Brutschy, president and co-founder of Applied Survey Research programs, which conducts the CAP report, says that though the report aims to cover and represent data from various backgrounds, overrepresentation from certain backgrounds leads to a lack of representation of already underrepresented groups.
Longtime local resident and avid surfer Gary Cocroft discusses war and the Black Lives Matter movement: ‘But what of America’s next war of convenience? How many Black bodies will the next one consume?’ PHOTO: ALLISON GARCIA
“That should not be the story of African Americans, it shouldn’t be a story of incarceration,” Brutschy says. “We absolutely would consider bumping it up and oversampling certain population groups, and we have done so in the past. For example, we have looked at the South County before and looked at under- and over-representation of the Latino community. We were able to over-sample certain population groups so that we could talk to and represent them.”
Griffin says the lack of representation in these types of studies is likely what leads to a lack of resources and conversation around Black people, and it likewise perpetuates stereotypes of Black communities.
“As African Americans we cannot be racist, to be racist you have to have power over someone else, and we don’t have that power. What everyone does have is racial biases, and the first step to dismantling those biases is inner reflection,” Griffin says. “Beyond that, there are several ways that people can educate themselves about this very complex issue.”
Showing up for Racial Justice and Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism are two organizations that aim to create more dialogue around racial justice issues, dismantle racial biases and address white privilege.
Maybe the flatline in the Black population in Santa Cruz is due to disinterest in relocating to a place without any ties to Black culture. Or maybe, it’s because the cost of living is twice as high as the national average.
“Racism exists here, whether you believe it or not,” says Griffin. “But now that we have this knowledge, what are we going to do? What are we going to do together to resist these unjust laws and policies coming out of Washington, and how are we going to do this together?”
The NAACP meets on the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Progressive Missionary Baptist Church Hall, 517 Center St., Santa Cruz. For more information on the Santa Cruz branch of the NAACP, visit naacpsantacruz.com.
‘Black Lives in Santa Cruz: What Matters’ runs Jan. 13-Feb. 26 with a First Friday reception Feb. 2 from 5-9 p.m. Resource Center for Nonviolence.612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz. allisongarciaphotography.com. Free.
Last fall’s Nuns Fire hit hard at Bennett Ridge, southeast of Santa Rosa, at the edge of Annadel State Park.
The National Weather Service estimates the winds were likely between 75 and 90 miles per hour. Given the speed, force and intensity of the fire, even an early-warning notification system—if there had been one—may not have saved many houses. It’s hard to fight a fire that’s raining down from above and moving swiftly from treetop to treetop.
But the absence of a regional early warning for Napa and Sonoma has not gone unnoticed in those counties, or around the state, where fires have continued to burn into the new year. New legislation may address that, and it isn’t hard to understand the cause for concern.
It’s no exaggeration to say that I nearly died in the Nuns Fire. At around three in the morning on Oct. 9—and without any official warning from anyone that a deadly catastrophe was unfolding—I left my home, only to be blinded by heavy smoke and swirling ash as I tried to navigate my car down Bennett Ridge.
Flames surrounded the car. There was no time for caution, only escape. Smoke blocked out pretty much everything in sight and made breathing difficult. Neighboring houses were already either fully engulfed or within moments of going up.
As the smoke cleared, the news was horrible. More than three quarters of the homes on Bennett Ridge, including mine, were lost, and one of my neighbors had died.
For hours leading up to this perilous escape, there hadn’t been a single warning from emergency officials, or from anyone. There were no blaring alarms, no police or fire sirens, no phone calls of warning. Around midnight, a car heading down the hill honked its horn, but that could have been someone tooting a farewell, after a Sunday night visit. It certainly didn’t have the ring of an urgent message announcing a dire emergency or a need to evacuate.
An early-warning system may have at least given people enough time to salvage some personal belongings. I would have liked to save the American flag given to my mother when my father, a Marine Corps war hero, was laid to rest. But there was no chance to grab family heirlooms—or even a spare pair of shoes.
The online journal Wildfire Today reported that the day before the series of fires forever changed Sonoma and Napa counties, “all cell phones in Rincon Valley east of Santa Rosa loudly blared with a message about a child abduction in San Francisco about 48 air miles to the south, but the AMBER Alert system was not used as the wildfires bore down on the densely packed communities in Sonoma County.”
Instead, local officials leaned on the Nixle and SoCo alert systems, which were inadequate to the task and wound up sending messages to fewer than 35,000 cell phone users, Wildfire Today reported, in a county of more than 500,000 people.
There may be other lessons to take from the fire, too.
Stephen J. Pyne, a fire historian and expert from Arizona State University, says the source of the fires looks to be power lines, and that global warming likely contributed to the blazes, but that we can’t lay the entire catastrophe solely at the feet of those two factors. California, he says, never learned all of its zoning and regulatory lessons from the Oakland Hills fire in 1991, although he admits there’s only so much that any new rules could do, given how many existing homes have already been built, as well as the steep cost of construction retrofits.
“It’s a social problem,” he says, “but at some point, you may just have to crack the whip.”
Since fire broke out in the North Bay this past fall, other enormous blazes have spread through California. Ventura County’s Thomas Fire, which may have also been sparked by power lines during high winds, became the largest wildfire in state history last month after less than four weeks of burning.
The Tubbs Fire, which had burned through Sonoma County months earlier and taken out more than 5,000 structures, has gone down in history as California’s most destructive.
Sending a Message
The Nixle and SoCo emergency notification systems currently in place in the North Bay require people to opt-in or sign up in advance, which many residents didn’t know to do. Most learned of the fires from first responders banging on their doors, or through fleeing neighbors, or because their house was already on fire.
Regional elected officials announced plans this month to get the whole state on the same page when it comes to an emergency alert system. Yet-unwritten legislation would require a robust wireless alert system in all 58 counties.
The program would utilize the existing wireless-emergency alert system administered by the FCC to provide early warnings from local officials. Warnings were never issued in the North Bay fires through the so-called wireless-emergency alert (WEA) system set up by the feds. The new rules would presumably standardize and update the WEA technology and protocols to promote wider use.
One of the would-be bill’s sponsors is State Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-San Rafael). Levine’s spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty explains that WEAs are short, geographically targeted messages sent to mobile devices during emergencies. Marin County officials have been paying close attention to developments on the early-warning front, given the daunting challenge of evacuating fire-sensitive areas along the coast, where the roads are few and the fire fuel is ample.
A North Bay delegation of Levine and others aims to offer legislation requiring that every county in California adopt the most up-to-date WEA system, with trained operators who can implement an evacuation order using the system. It’s the same system already in place for other warnings, like AMBER Alerts.
The benefit of the WEA is that residents don’t have to opt-in or opt-out of it to get the geographically tailored warning. All you need is a cell phone or tablet that can receive the text-like message warning of imminent danger.
“For example,” Flaherty says, “let’s say an individual is a Los Angeles County resident, but was visiting Sonoma County during the fires. If that individual had a WEA-capable mobile device, they should have received the mobile alert regardless.”
Heated Discussion
University of Colorado professor Gregory Simon remembers the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, and lived to write a book about it.
Simon, who visited Santa Rosa last month to talk about his 2016 release Flame and Fortune in the American West, says there are big questions for what’s next in Santa Rosa’s fire-decimated Fountaingrove neighborhood, the upscale neighborhood that lost all but 60 of its homes to an October inferno.
As Santa Rosa leaders grapple with how to rebuild, the chain of accountability heads straight to the planning and development officials who approve “putting homes in places where it’s a bad idea,” Simon said.
One of the biggest dirty words in town right now is “moratorium,” says Teri Shore, regional director of the Greenbelt Alliance, who notes that Santa Rosa officials recently signed off on a new multi-unit housing project in the Fountaingrove area, two months after the fires. City and county officials are now grappling with the intersecting complexities of property owner rights and the rights of the rest of the community, not wishing to incentivize high-risk luxury developments that have a tendency to burn.
Santa Rosa could create a tax-assessment scheme so onerous that nobody would want to develop there, said Simon, who ultimately does expect the city to rebuild, just as the Oakland Hills did. But the city and county could also draw on the Australian model, which says that homeowners can build in fire-prone areas, but are responsible for putting out any fires that break out—and don’t come to the government for relief when it burns down.
For its part, Santa Rosa officials say new local and state building and fire codes will make new housing better withstand future fires in areas like Fountaingrove.
Pyne, the fire historian from Arizona State, says regions need to start creating “fire-adapted communities.” He also says local and state leaders need to create more fire-resilient landscapes and build up the workforce and equipment needed to take on bigger burns.
“This is a chance to rethink what fire means in those communities, and to accept that urban conflagrations are now back,” he says. “It’s like measles or polio coming back. We thought we’d fixed that. But they’re back, and we’ve got to start to do the things that took the plague out of these places in the past. We need to harden our cities and redesign them.”
Additional reporting by Tom Gogola and Stett Holbrook.
There’s a certain zeitgeist-y quality to Actors’ Theatre’s long-running 10-minute play festival 8 Tens @ 8. What makes the format appealing for both writers and audiences is that it delivers a quick sketch of the human condition rather than a full-length work’s detailed portrait, and because of that these plays are often like flypaper for the mood of the moment.
Mercifully, Donald Trump’s name is not uttered even once over the course of 16 plays and two nights in the newest edition of the festival, which runs through Feb. 4 at the Center Stage Theater. That would be too on-the-nose even for this format, though I trust the curators had to reject many such entries among the dozens of submissions they pored over. But the hopes and fears of 2018 can still be found in the subtext of nearly all of this year’s plays; it is no surprise that a vast majority of them involve their characters’ struggle to find empathy against all odds.
How successful they are in finding it can sometimes determine the success of the play—and unfortunately for those who like happy endings, some of the least effective plays are the ones that attempt to hurtle their characters head-on into understanding. Ten minutes is way too short a time for the characters to come around to a radical attitude shift the way they do in Jeffrey Strausser’s “Homecoming”—about a woman (Kye Solomon) who comes to a stranger’s doorstep seeking shelter in the middle of the night with her baby, and finds a racist curmudgeon (Tom Arns)—or Steve “Spike” Wong’s “Driving Lesson,” in which a son (Conall MacFhionn Laoich) gets into some heavy family issues while his dad (Kip Allert) teaches him to drive. The same is true for Joe Starzyk’s otherwise intriguing “After the Darkness,” about a serial killer (Donald Grube) who gets a visit from a victim’s mother (Andrea Konrad). The temptation to wrap things up nicely or deliver an emotional stinger is fraught with peril for any writer, but it can fall especially flat in a 10-minute play, when the audience is asked to quickly learn a character’s lifetime of personality and beliefs, and then expected to accept that they can flip in a couple of minutes at the end. We all know that’s not how real life works.
Far more effective are the plays that show us the moment a character’s personality and beliefs are challenged in a way they’ve never been before, and then give us only the slightest hint of how this bombshell will affect them in the future. Eileen Valentino Flaxman’s “Esther Williams Explained” is so understated that at times it’s almost still, and yet its story of a little girl (Olivia Gillanders) who shares a brief exchange with an African-American railroad man (JJ Porter) in the 1950s is powerful and loaded with implications that resonate upon later reflection. Paul Donnelly’s “The New Client,” meanwhile, is 10 minutes of furious conflict between partners Margaret (Alie Mac) and Lee-Ann (Jennifer Galvin) over whether its okay for a lesbian lawyer to defend the owners of a homophobic cake business. I won’t give away the powerful ending, but its subtlety shows how hard a 10-minute play can hit.
The same is true for Lindsey Esplin’s “Pink Roses and Apple Pie,” which measures—but doesn’t overplay—the fallout between two lovelorn sisters (Tara McMilin and Shannon Marie Kerr), and “M & The Water Man,” the only sci-fi entry among this year’s plays. In the latter, a simple water delivery by the Water Man (Michael LaMere) to M (Joyce Michaelson), whose home in the desert is set to be scorched by spiking temperatures in the future’s climate change, turns into something touching and interesting, but there’s never a false or overly “big” moment. Just a conversation, and one decision that we are on the edge of our seats waiting to get.
Sometimes the effectiveness of a piece has a lot to do with how the actors are matched to their characters. The ensemble in “Homecoming” doesn’t quite come together, but all of the actors are fantastic in other plays. Tom Arns, for instance, has an oddball delivery that doesn’t quite work for “angry racist,” but makes him perfect as the hilariously strange distributor of fortune in Mark Nutter’s “The Anonymous Donor.” Steven Capasso, as the homeless recipient of Arns’ largesse, plays off him with exactly the right level of bewilderment.
Similarly, Marcus Cato and Lillian Bogovich are the perfect match in Irene Ziegler’s “High Grass,” as Bruce and Marsha, two volunteers picking up trash together on a rural road. From a plot standpoint, almost nothing happens, but the way these two—both the characters and the actors—bring out unexpected things in each other is a joy to watch.
The highlight of the first night is Dennis Porter’s “Lost & Found,” in which Kye Solomon and Caber Russell wander into (maybe?) the wrong room in a museum, and have to decide if a mop and bucket might be a piece of art—their exploration confounded by a strange art lover (Sarah Kauffman) and a custodian (Hannah Eckstein). It’s a very funny meditation on the nature of art that doesn’t stop surprising.
Eckstein is also in the festival’s absolute surefire crowd-pleaser from night two, Karen Schamberg and Wilma Marcus Chandler’s “Phone Sets.” She and Joyce Michaelson had the audience rollicking with laughter as Sister Mary Ecstasia and Sister Mary Agnostia, two retired nuns who discover a side hustle for which they could not be more poorly prepared. Also can’t-miss from night two is Steve “Spike” Wong’s “Dragon Skin,” a brilliantly staged one-man show which will challenge your conception of what a 10-minute play can be.
Overall, artistic director Wilma Marcus Chandler and producer Bonnie Ronzio, with the help of 16 talented directors and a remarkably fast stage crew, have put together another fine collection of 10-minute plays, with the second night the slightly stronger of the two.
8Tens @ 8 runs through Feb. 4 at Center Stage Theater, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz; scat.org for details and tickets.
Years ago, Grammy-winning bass player Victor Wooten performed at the Rio Theatre as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. During his solo, Wooten was playing little bass runs, including snippets of “Ave Maria.” He then started plucking out “Amazing Grace” using harmonics. It was a lovely version that stilled the audience into a collective hush. Then the transformative happened: with four rhythmic thumb strikes on the same note, Wooten elevated the song to an otherworldly realm.
In the span of about three seconds, Wooten took the song from lovely to soul-stirring. My heart soared at the magnificence of the transition and tears welled up in my eyes. The moment moved me—and I’m not alone. Online videos of Wooten’s “Amazing Grace” have millions of views. In each version, he drops into the groove with those same four notes. The improvised intro changes each time, however, which is testament to Wooten’s proficiency and trust in his abilities.
“‘Amazing Grace’ has always been a beautiful song for me,” Wooten says. “I’ve heard it my whole life. I worked out the song’s arrangement, but every time I play it, it will be a little bit different.”
Wooten talks about improvisation as freedom, saying the details are not as important as the overall message.
“I won’t say I’m as free improvising as I am talking,” he says, “but that’s my approach. The goal is ‘Amazing Grace,’ but how I express it today might be slightly different than yesterday.”
The youngest of five musical boys, Wooten picked up the bass at the age of 2, and was encouraged by his brother Regi to develop his own sound. Though the boys’ parents weren’t musicians, they saw their sons’ passion for music and supported it. Their primary concern, however, wasn’t raising successful musicians, but raising good people.
“They knew if they could raise five boys that were good people, with good heads on our shoulders, who knew who we were, then whatever we chose to do would be fine,” he says. “We just happened to choose music.”
Being a good person is still Wooten’s main focus, as is “helping people find themselves” through what he does. He says the worst compliment he gets is when people say that watching him play makes them want to quit.
“It makes me happier when you tell me that what I’m doing makes you want to go and do what you want to do, and do it better,” he says. “You never hear someone who’s such a great speaker that it makes you want to quit talking.”
This perspective on music and language is a common theme for Wooten, one that’s found in his music as well as his teaching style.
“In music, we’re often taught someone else’s voice so long that we have to fight our way back into finding our own voice,” he says. “It’s not that music is difficult, it’s that traditional music curriculum pulls us into someone else’s message and we have to work ourselves back to find our own way.”
When asked where he starts with someone new to playing music, he says he doesn’t treat anyone as a beginner.
“By the time someone comes to you, they’ve been hearing music for many years,” he says. “They may be a beginner to the instrument, but not music. If you like rock music, that’s where we start. If you want to hold the instrument and pluck it with your thumb, that’s where we start. You don’t correct a baby because they’re not speaking proper English, because English is not the point yet. Communicating is the point. As long as they’re communicating, they’re right.”
A masterful musical communicator, Wooten released his 10th album, TRYPNOTYX, in September. As usual, it’s a masterpiece of technical virtuosity which, Wooten acknowledges, does take practice.
“With different types of music, like when you’re trying to get that Bach cello suite down, you’re learning someone else’s method … so more practice may have to come in,” he says. “But putting practice above playing, to me, will always be out of balance. That’s just my method. I don’t claim to be right. But when I compare it to talking, the language we’re best at, the musical process doesn’t make sense.”
Victor Wooten will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11 at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $30/gen, $45/gold. 423-8209.
The last time I dined at the only-in-Santa Cruz landmark Malabar, it was in the company of university colleagues hosting the world’s leading vegetarian and animal rights activist, Peter Singer. Every dish served and prepared by Malabar founder Raj Weerasekare was a knockout. Singer proclaimed it his best vegan dinner ever.
Last week, we arrived early in order to grab a table at the small, minimally decorated dining room—still a landmark of extraordinary Asian fusion and South Indian dining after decades in several Santa Cruz locations. Bloodless dining is the rule here, where all of the menu is vegetarian, and much of it vegan. No alcohol, no meat.
Spice-intensive and custom-prepared, the food offers tastebuds a Disneyland of sensations, attractively presented and loaded with unexpected detours into spice combos rarely encountered anywhere else. But up front, let me say that diners must be prepared to be patient. This is intricate food. It takes time to make, and the owner seems reluctant to delegate. Service last weekend was leisurely to indifferent on our recent visit, with a single entree brought to our table twice.
The noise level throbbed, but amid the din we enjoyed a duo creating a moodscape of world music in the background. The dim visual environment doesn’t begin to do justice to the cuisine. Partnered with sparkling water—the menu’s creative fruit and coconut drinks are sweet enough to overwhelm savory entrees—we began with a shared pear salad ($7.50). Arranged on a long platter were bouquets of frisée and baby arugula, tiny cherry tomatoes plus pear sliced paper-thin across the circumference of the fruit. The effect was quite beautiful, pale green “rings” of pear cushioned by boisterous greens. The salad was dotted with toasted sunflower seeds and tossed in a delicious mango powder and citrus vinaigrette. The place was fully packed by the time we finished our salad, and it was obvious on a Saturday night that the kitchen and lone server (other than Raj) were stretched to the max.
One entree finally emerged, an exceptional Kofta India ($11.50) and a copper bowl of tasty brown rice. This dish of classic kofta dumplings was the finest I’ve ever tasted. Fat dumplings of green pea and cashew arrived in a rich tomato coconut curry dotted with thin bits of carrot and roasted fennel, topped with a sprig of fresh cilantro and loaded with complex spices. A thrilling dish, it shows off why Malabar has held its place in local hearts all these years. A second entree followed, again ablaze with complex spicing. Vegetable Korma ($13) is a deluxe presentation of just how sensational vegetables can really be. Topped with golden slices of fried potatoes, the dish’s cashews, squash, carrots, green beans, pistachios, and raisins were enfolded in a curry glowing with the spice heat of cloves and cardamom. The word “wow” comes to mind. The house signature dessert ($7), brought to table by Raj himself, is a cocktail goblet of brilliant vegan ice cream (made by the owner’s wife) dotted with candied black cherries and mandarins, topped by a plume of chocolate. Made of coconut and other nut milks, the ice cream was outstanding and the presentation beautiful.
If you require, or simply desire, meat-free dining options without wine and beer accompaniment (though a liquor license may be on the horizon), Malabar is your spot. And not just in Santa Cruz. Were it not for the noise level, and oft-casual service, this restaurant could hold its own anywhere in the country.
Dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. 514 Front St., Santa Cruz. Reservations for parties of eight or more.
Free Will astrology for the week of January 10, 2018.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I’m happy to inform you that life is giving you permission to be extra demanding in the coming weeks—as long as you’re not petty, brusque, or unreasonable. Here are a few examples that will pass the test: “I demand that you join me in getting drunk on the truth;” “I demand to receive rewards commensurate with my contributions;” “I demand that we collaborate to outsmart and escape the karmic conundrums we’ve gotten ourselves mixed up in.” On the other hand, Aries, ultimatums like these are not admissible: “I demand treasure and tribute, you fools;” “I demand the right to cheat in order to get my way;” “I demand that the river flow backwards.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Are you familiar with the phrase “Open Sesame”? In the old folk tale, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” it’s a magical command that the hero uses to open a blocked cave where treasure is hidden. I invite you to try it out. It just may work to give you entrance to an off-limits or previously inaccessible place where you want and need to go. At the very least, speaking those words will put you in a playful, experimental frame of mind as you contemplate the strategies you could use to gain entrance. And that alone may provide just the leverage you need.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): While thumping around the internet, I came across pointed counsel from an anonymous source. “Don’t enter into a long-term connection with someone until you’ve seen them stuck in traffic,” it declared. “Don’t get too deeply involved with them until you’ve witnessed them drunk, waiting for food in a restaurant for entirely too long, or searching for their phone or car keys in a panic. Before you say yes to a deeper bond, make sure you see them angry, stressed, or scared.” I recommend that you take this advice in the coming weeks. It’ll be a good time to deepen your commitment to people who express their challenging emotions in non-abusive, non-psychotic ways.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): My high school history teacher Marjorie Margolies is now Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in law. She shares two grandchildren with Hillary Clinton. Is that something I should brag about? Does it add to my cachet or my happiness? Will it influence you to love me more? No, nah, and nope. In the big scheme of things, it’s mildly interesting but utterly irrelevant. The coming weeks will be a good time for Cancerians like you and me to renounce any desire we might have to capitalize on fake ego points like this. We Crabs should be honing our identity and self-image so they’re free of superficial measures of worth. What’s authentically valuable about you?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If I were your mentor or your guide, I’d declare this the Leo Makeover Season. First I’d hire a masseuse or masseur to knead you firmly and tenderly. I’d send you to the nutritionist, stylist, dream interpreter, trainer, and life coach. I’d brainstorm with the people who know you best to come up with suggestions for how to help free you from your illusions and infuse your daily rhythm with 20 percent more happiness. I’d try to talk you out of continuing your association with anyone or anything that’s no damn good for you. In conclusion, I’d be thorough as I worked to get you unlocked, debugged, and retooled.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “It takes an extraordinary person to carry themselves as if they do not live in hell,” says writer D. Bunyavong. In accordance with the astrological omens, I nominate you Virgos to fit that description in the coming weeks. You are, in my estimation, as far away from hell as you’ve been in a long time. If anyone can seduce, coax, or compel heaven to come all the way down to Earth for a while, it’s you. Here’s a good way to get the party started: Gaze into the mirror until you spy the eternal part of yourself.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In accordance with the astrological omens, I encourage you to move the furniture around. If you feel inspired, you might even want to move some of that old stuff right out the door and haul it to the dump or the thrift store. Hopefully, this will get you in the mood to launch a sweeping purge of anything else that lowers the morale and élan around the house: dusty mementoes, unflattering mirrors, threadbare rugs, chipped dishes, and numbing symbols. The time is ripe, my dear homies, to free your home of deadweight.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): When he was 16 years old and living in New York, Ralph Lifshitz changed his name to Ralph Lauren. That was probably an important factor in his success. Would he have eventually become a famous fashion designer worth $5.8 billion if he had retained a name with “shitz” in it? The rebranding made it easier for clients and customers to take him seriously. With Ralph’s foresight as your inspiration, Scorpio, consider making a change in yourself that will enhance your ability to get what you want.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In 1956, the prolific Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The award committee praised his “high spirit and artistic purity.” The honor was based on his last 13 books, however, and not on his first two. Waterlilies and Souls of Violet were works he wrote while young and still ripening. As he aged, he grew so embarrassed by their sentimentality that he ultimately tried to track down and eradicate every copy. I bring this to your attention, Sagittarius, because I think it’s a favorable time for you to purge or renounce or atone for anything from your past that you no longer want to be defined by.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Three centuries ago, Capricorn genius Isaac Newton formulated principles that have ever since been fundamental to scientists’ understanding of the physical universe. He was also a pioneer in mathematics, optics, and astronomy. And yet he also expended huge amounts of time and energy on the fruitless attempt to employ alchemy to transform base metals into solid gold. Those efforts may have been interesting to him, but they yielded no lasting benefits. You Capricorns face a comparable split. In 2018, you could bless us with extraordinary gifts or else you could get consumed in projects that aren’t the most productive use of your energy. The coming weeks may be crucial in determining which way you’ll go.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A rite of passage lies ahead. It could and should usher you into a more soulful way of living. I’m pleased to report that this transition won’t require you to endure torment, confusion, or passive-aggressive manipulation. In fact, I suspect it could turn out to be among the most graceful ordeals you’ve ever experienced—and a prototype for the type of breakthrough that I hope will become standard in the months and years to come. Imagine being able to learn valuable lessons and make crucial transitions without the prod of woe and gloom. Imagine being able to say, as musician P.J. Harvey said about herself, “When I’m contented, I’m more open to receiving inspiration. I’m most creative when I feel safe and happy.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Kalevala is a 19th-century book of poetry that conveys the important mythology and folklore of the Finnish people. It was a wellspring of inspiration for English writer J. R. R. Tolkien as he composed his epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. To enhance his ability to steal ideas from The Kalevala, Tolkien even studied the Finnish language. He said it was like “entering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavor never tasted before.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, Pisces, in 2018 you will have the potential of discovering a source that’s as rich for you as Finnish and The Kalevala were for Tolkien.
The rain has begun, and that means it’s time for rain chains. These decorative water features carry rainwater from the gutter downward to a drain or a storage container. They are a great alternative to traditional, closed gutter downspouts, and a serene treat to listen to. But rain chains can be expensive, and making your own is not only more gratifying, but won’t break the bank. Plus, they make fantastic DIY gifts for anyone. The workshop is lead by Dream Maker Creative’s Sara Smith and all materials will be provided to make an eight-foot chain. 
The MAH’s new Tom Killion exhibit features woodblock prints of images across the California coast, including familiar areas like Natural Bridges and Wilder Ranch. UCSC grad and former Santa Cruz local, Killion specializes in landscape prints. He draws inspiration from Japanese printmaking, and incorporates delicate, crisp lines and colors into his work. The show also features poems selected by Gary Snyder, pages of Tom’s nature journals, and information about events that dig deeper into nature —like biking tours and hikes that inspire journaling. Image: Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz Pogonip, Tom Killion, 2002. 
How do you incorporate Santa Cruz’s natural beauty into art? Literally, of course. After crushing local sandstone and Monterey Bay sea salt and mixing the two together, Tim Ward blended oil paint, salt and stone, and painted a stunning image of West Cliff beach. His work, along with that of 16 other local surfer/artists, is on display at the R. Blitzer Gallery. The new “Beach Industry” exhibition centers around surfing and the ocean, and is a stunningly unique exhibit featuring Vince Broglio’s resin paintings and r.r. jones photographs, as well as work from Connor O’Neill, grandson of Jack O’Neill. Fittingly, 10 percent of sales during January go to O’Neill Sea Odyssey, and donations are gladly accepted. Photo by Stan Walsh. 
Time to get down, dog. Most drop-in yoga classes are around $15, which is pretty much the same as two burritos. Burritos … yoga … burritos … decisions, decisions. This week, you don’t have to pick—have your yoga and eat burritos, too. All DiviniTree classes are free, everyday. Now is your chance to try out the different types of yoga—maybe you are a Kundalini person or a sweaty Power Vinyasa junkie. Once your mind is nice and relaxed, may we recommend you hop nextdoor for a Tacos Moreno burrito or two? Sign up in advance if you can, classes can get packed. 
