Josef Woodard

1 week ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

In a case of serendipitous schedule juggling, the masterful American pianist Garrick Ohlsson showed up for a “make-up” date at the Lobero Theatre last week after canceling his January performance due to illness, and the timing was unexpectedly august. With this late-breaking booking, Ohlsson’s profound all-Chopin program supplied a moving finale duty for the CAMA season, one more intimate and personal than the recent L.A. Philharmonic concert that would have closed out the 2024-25 roster.

1 week ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

Truth be told, I’m not a big EDM fan, generally preferring the “real music trinity” of pop music: real musicians playing real instruments in real, non-digitized time. But an occasional good hearty dose of beat-pummeling electronica, when done right, can get my juices going and my senses working overtime (to borrow a phrase from XTC). The French duo known as Justice filled that bill at the Santa Barbara Bowl last Friday, with electro-gusto and hyper-psychedelic choreographed lights to spare.

1 week ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

Music Director and Flutist Claire Chase | Credit: CourtesySeveral factors go into making the Ojai Music Festival (OMF) one of the shiniest crown jewels of the cultural calendar in the 805. For one, the long Ojai weekend — with the 79th annual edition running from June 5-8 this year — attracts attention and talent on an international scale.

2 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

It was a wild weekend, at least in terms of the well-mannered wilds of the jazz/classical concert scene in town. Between the thrilling presence of jazz heavyweights Bill Frisell and Wynton Marsalis and various classical season-closers, even the obsessive concert goers among us might have felt overbooked. And yet, the overall cultural quality and sometimes scenic beauty made the excess accessible and served as a reminder of the overall strength of Santa Barbara’s concert life.

2 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

At the post-performance reception for last week’s appearance by Wynton Marsalis and ensemble, providing a thrilling live accompaniment to the modern silent film LOUIS, an embellished and sometimes racy tale of Louis Armstrong’s formative years, the famed trumpeter was addressing the gathering in the Arlington court and paying props to his collaborators.