GROOVES

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Highlights

   Music

   Tijuana No! at the House of Blues 2/1. Louis Guereña used to come up from TJ to catch the punk shows in San Diego at the Lion’s Club and the Skeleton Club in the late 70’s/early 80’s. In those days, there wasn’t a scene in TJ, so he had to come to SD, or go even further up here to LA to hear anything other than radio "pap." Eventually, infused with punk angst about Mexican & Border Politics, he and some friends formed Tijuana No! Combining the fury of ’77 with ska, world music and trad mex roots, Tijuana No! was there first, blazing the Roc En Español trail. This is the real deal. While most new generation US punk bands on MTV have nothing to complain about or say, this is the band that would do the Clash proud.
Brad Meldau, Double Naught Spy Car at The Knitting Factory 2/2. I’ve written much about my favorite LA band, Double Naught Spy Car, but I think I said it best the first time I wrote about them, "take a ride in a souped up GTO to a place where surf guitar rides shotgun with old smoky westerns and spy movie a go-go meanders through ethereal innuendo in a post-punk glamour world. Don't miss the magic." To see them live, and with Brad Meldau to boot, at the club with the best sound system in LA, is a treat indeed.
Dave Van Ronk at McCabe’s 2/2. McCabe’s brings you a Greenwich Village ragtime guitar and blues extraordinaire, who weaves storytelling via his whiskey soaked folk growl & shuffle. Called an "American Icon," by McCabe’s, he’s sure to rile the crowd and cause at least a few to stomp their feet or tap their toes.
They Might Be Giants at The House of Blues 2/2. Quirky and perky punksters, they might be giants have a lot more under their belt than so called major label "indie" sound bands, Their innovative animation video is just the tip of the iceberg of what they’ve got up their sleeve.

Readings/Performances

Zoot, Wanda Coleman, Travis Pike, Suzanne Lummis, Ruben Martinez, Richard Weekley, Richard Beban, Phyllis Chang, Penny Post, Paulette Levy, Pam Ward, Pam Larson, Next Magazine, Nancy Shiffrin, Mimi Bruner, Michael D. McCarty, Merilene Murphy, Lynn Worrilow, Luis Campos, Leonard Ellis, Katy Rydell, Kathleen Zundell, James Maverick, Jahkey Lucien, Fernando Castro, Faith Vroman, Diane MacInnes, Christa Polkinhorn and Carmen Vega will all read in celebration of the life of the late poet Manazar Gamboa on Tuesday, February 6th from 6 P.M. to 10 P.M. at Homeland Cultural Center, 1321 E. Anaheim Street in Long Beach. (562) 570-1655
Steve Abee on Wednesdays in February at Beyond Baroque. Free poetry workshop. His manner is somewhat of another time, as if he walked with James Dean or Kerouac, but he’s pure LA. He’s young, but his tales of our mean streets seem old, like the dusty pages of a downtown library’s copy of old Bukowski. Hey, for free, you can’t beat it, and the words don’t hurt, they just sting. (See below for more).
Killer Poetry at Mysteries, Movies & Mayhem 2/8. Like a Phoenix, Exile Books rises from the ashes in its latest incarnation of Mysteries, Movies & Mayhem. Back are the notorious, salacious nights of debauchery and word mongering. Mathew Niblock & Eric von Mizener. (818) 905-9191

Jazz, Classical

Eddie Daniels & Roger Kellaway at Jazz Bakery 2/1. Two jazz greats that bring the whispering wind of hep closer to Beat Street West. Just a hop and a skip from Venice, the ‘Bake, hosts some heavies and tonight is no exception. Daniels, a clarinet virtuoso, and Kellaway, a pianist who walked his keys with Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins and even worked as a composer for Balanchine. Through 1/4.

The Week Ahead

Thursday, Feb 1

Brad Meldau, Double Naught Spy Car at The Knitting Factory. (see above)
Tiajauna No! at HOB (See above)_
Jenni Alpert, Von Zippers at Rusty’s Surf Ranch
Acetone at the Fold (Silverlake Lounge)

Friday, Feb 2

Dave Van Ronk at Mccabe’s (See Above)
Duke Robillard, Johnny Childs, Randy Saks at The Mint
Tom Nolan at Rusty’s Surf Ranch
They Might Be Giants at the House of Blues

Saturday, Feb 3

Negro Problem, Gandma Sugar, James Marsters at 14 Below
The New Deal, DJ Run at Fais Do Do. 
Jenni Alpert, Von Zippers at Rusty’s Surf Ranch

Sunday, Feb 4

The Rembrandts, Jery Toback at The Mint

Upcoming

B.B. King at The Wiltern 3/1
The Everly Brothers, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot at The Sun Theatre 3/15

Clubs

14 Below – 2/3: Negro Problem, Gandma Sugar, James Marsters. 1348 14th St., Santa Monica 310.451.5040
Cinema Bar - No cover country and rockabilly bar. Wednesdays: The Tip Jar with Dan Janisch plus Bruce White and friends. 3967 Sepulveda (between Venice Blvd and Washington Place), Culver City, (310) 390-1328.
Harvelle's Blues Club –Downhome westside spot since 1931 Slackjaw Blues. Mondays: Open mic night with The New Breed. Tuesdays: Bad Boy Jones. 1432 Fourth St., Santa Monica 310.395.1676
La Vecchia Cucina – Thursdays: Live Jazz from the Thom Rotella Band. Call 310.399.7979 for reservations. 2654 Main St., Santa Monica. 
Liquid Lounge - Gotham Hall presents: Thursdays: Mr. Parrish (House & Hip Hop), Fridays & Saturdays: 2 DJs, 3. Wednesdays International Techno, Tuesdays 70's & 80's Retro DJ 420. Sundays DJ William. (800) 384-8865 ext. 0 or go to www.gothamhall.com or www.salsasundays.com
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel - For more info call 310.285.24381700 Ocean Ave. 310.458.6700 or Loew's jazz hotline: 310.576.3115
Lush - Tuesdays: College Night with 80's dance music. Fri and Sat: Live Disco, no cover. 2020 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. 310.829.1933
McCabes – 2/2: Dave Van Ronk. Sunday of every month at 7pm: Free Talent Night, "Best in Santa Monica (at least)," featuring our talented and dedicated signups plus featured McStaff performers. 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 310 828.4403 www.mccabes.com.
Rusty’s Surf Ranch- 2/1: Jenni Alpert, Von Zippers. 2/2: Tom Nolan. 2/7: Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps. 2/8: Nine Letter Fields, Maria Butterfly. 2/9: Westside Crew. 2/10: "Anti-Valentine’s Day" party with 50¢ Haircut, Everyman, Betty Dylan. Every other Thursday: Women Who Cook. 256 Santa Monica Pier 310.393.PIER
Scruffy O’Shea’s – Mondays: Karaoke. Tuesdays: The Fab Four. Wednesdays: Chancers (Irish Rock). 822 Washington Blvd., Marina Del Rey 310.821.2653
St. Mark's - Live Reggae every Wednesday. 23 Windward Ave., Venice Beach. 310.289.3256 Sundays: "a weekly ritual of Hi-Octane Percussion & Global Funk." For more info, go to: www.fiendish.org or call 323.660.6663.
Temple Bar – 1026 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica 310.393.6611. Mailing list, email whatbands@aol.com. 
The Brig- Mondays: Trip-hop & acid jazz with Star Lounge. 1515 Abbott Kinney.
The Friendship - 112 W. Channel, Santa Monica.
The Gig W.L.A. - 11637 Pico Blvd. 310.444.9870
The Joint – 8771 W. Pico Blvd. 310.275.2619
The West End - Thursdays: Live World music with Dodo Munoko, La Rumba Band, and DJ Ron Miller, Fridays: The Funky Hippeez, Flashback Saturdays with The M-80's. Tuesdays: Band showcase night. The West End. 5th & Arizona in Santa Monica. 310.313.3292 www.westendclubs.com

Coffeehouses and Other Spaces

Anastasia's Asylum – Thu 1/25: Kelli Eagan, Kevin Feely. Live music nightly, no cover. 1028 Wilshire, Santa Monica. 310.394.7113
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center - Critically acclaimed events, and weekly reading groups, including: Tuesdays, 8pm: Beat Writing Class with with Venice West poets Philomene Long & John Thomas. "The San Francisco Renaissance, the New York School, and Venice West have all taken their place in American letters. This ongoing workshop will use techniques they pioneered. "Beat writing," says Philomene, "is a distinctly American literary form inspired by the rhythms of jazz and the controlled accident of Zen. I will start you off in this process. I will not promise I can stop it." For info/registration, call (310) 822-3006. Saturdays, 10-1pm and Sundays at 11am: "Life Stories" with Terrie Silverman. Sat. 1/27: Terrie Silverman’s "Life Stories" workshop performance at 7:30pm. Mondays, 8pm: Trinie Dalton’s Fiction Workshop, focusing on short stories, stories, and novels. Tuesdays, 8pm: Venice: Cindy Bailey, Creative Non-Fiction Workshop, focusing on non-fiction,memoir,and prose. FREE. Wednesday in February, 8pm: Free poetry workshop will be hosted by Steve Abee. 1st, 2nd @ 3rd Mondays: Monday Reading Circles, hosted by Will Slattery & Betzi Richardson. 310.822.3006. 681 Venice Blvd., Venice.
Duttons Books Brentwood – Critically acclaimed readings and events, call for schedule: 310.476.6263 or go to http://www.duttonsbrentwood.com. 11975 San Vicente Blvd. 
Midnight Special Bookstore - Open and featured readings, political discussions & groups, renowned authors and reading circles, computer and technology groups, science fiction book club and much more. Events Calender: Thu 2/1, 7pm: Sisterhood Reading Group. This month's book is: THE BONE PEOPLE by Keri Hulme. Next month's selection is MOON TIGER by Penelope Lively. Fri 2/2, 8pm: Open poetry reading. Sat 2/3, 4pm: Ted Perry to read & discuss MY REEL STORY a journey through the history of 20th century America and "writing about the movies." Sun 2/4, 2pm: 4 Vera John-Steiner reads Creative Collaborations, and demonstrates how many of the greatest thinkers -- Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Georgia O'Keefe, Margaret Mead, Pablo Picasso -- collaborated with other people. Mon 2/, 7pm: FAIR the media watch group, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting presents their monthly program: THE CRISIS AT PACIFICA!! A FULL DISCUSSION. "Dissenting members of the National Board of Pacifica Radio will discuss the present makeup of the National Board, its apparent direction and the various suits against the Board. Also, the situation at New York station WBAI and "Democracy Now" will be updated." Wed 2/7, 7pm: Celebrated scientist Mark Ridley will discuss GENOME:The Authobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. This important book clearly describes what our genome is and answers questions about what the future holds, will disease be wiped out, how soon the average person will feel the effects of genome mapping and genetically modified foods and people. Mailing list: Send a blank e-mail to internet@lists.MSBooks.com with SUBSCRIBE as the subject. 1318 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, or go to www.msbooks.com. 
Mystic Joe - 2311 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica 310.829.6224
Novel Cafe - 212 Pier Ave., Santa Monica, no cover. 310.396.8566
Un-Urban Coffee House - 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica 310 315 0056
Wednesday’s House – 2409 Main Street, Santa Monica 310.452.4486
Writers in Focus - Fridays: Series curated by L.A. poet Laurel Ann Bogen. Free with museum admission 7pm ($7/$5) Gallery 303, Anderson Bldg., L.A. County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire 323.857.6000