Unplugged View Flor Is Lava
by Aaron Rowan
After twelve years as Modesto’s most eclectic concert curator and a devout supporter of numerous branches of its music scene, the time has come for a change of pace, scenery, and station. I am taking up dual citizenship between Modesto and the fine South Bay city of Palo Alto: a city of the future, according to Radiohead. I’ve grown quite fond of its local art and food scenes over the past year. It’s going to be a whole lotta fun finding just the right venue and establishing a similar listening-room series here. And, I’ll keep the embers of Modesto Unplugged glowing, with a few ‘Friday Night Folk Flights’ at the Dragonfly, plus some Saturday/Sunday matinees as opportunities arise. Speaking of Sunday matinees, April is abloom with them. Here are three that will draw me back to my hometown for quick visits.
We begin with the most crowd-pleasing musician I ever worked with: Rebecca Roudman of Dirty Cello fame. Rebecca plays with multiple other groups, including the San Francisco Yiddish Combo, who make their latest Modesto appearance at the L’Chaim concert series at Congregation Beth Shalom on April 7 at 3pm. Their live set features Klezmer mixed with years of experience in jazz, blues, folk, and even hip-hop. If you’ve ever seen Rebecca shred on her cello, there’s no room for debate whether you ought to be there. Find more info at www.cbsmodesto.org/concerts.
April 14 at 5 pm, enjoy a Gallo Center concert I’ve been awaiting for months: an evening with Flor De Toloache, a Latin Grammy-winning female ensemble putting a modern and spicy spin on mariachi music. Tradition and innovation combine with soaring vocals and elegance in motion during their live show. The band takes its name from an ancient sacred flower thought to have magical properties. Like I said earlier, April is abloom. Latin Grammy nominee Gina Chavez opens what promises to a blazing hot evening of song. Tickets start at $39: www.galloarts.org.
Opera Modesto ends its current season at the end of this month with one of the great classics. Giacomo Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ is an opera about an opera singer caught up in romantic and political intrigue in Rome during the Napoleonic era. In a rare occurrence, there is only a single staging this time around, Sunday, 4/28, at 2pm at the Gallo Center. Even if you don’t know Puccini from Fettucine, I promise you that one afternoon at an Opera Modesto event will make a new opera lover out of you. As long as Opera Modesto exists – as long as it enjoys Roy and Annalisa’s creative leadership, at any rate – I intend to be back in Modesto on any weekend when they offer another of their superb presentations. I look forward to co-hosting more collaboration concerts with them as well. And, I look forward to sharing more fresh sounds with Modesto audiences. See you at a show this spring.
