Josef Woodard

Santa Barbara

Music Writer at Freelance

music, writing, in that order.

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Articles

Interwoven Sights and Spirits

3 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

Currently, Solvang’s Elverhøj Museum is hosting the exhibition Cloth as Canvas, for which a reasonably expanded subtitle might be “cloth as canvas, creative host, and artistic content itself.”This fascinating show, featuring the work of 11 local textile-based artists involved in the Fibervision collaborative, illustrates the rich creative potential of sewn, woven, quilted, and otherwise reimagined ideas on fabric.
ON the Beat | Ojai Beckons, Choral Closing, Blocked Party

3 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

Ojai Music Festival Music Director and Flutist Claire Chase | Photo: Walter WlodarczykWhen it comes to the big news in pre-summer musical culture in the 805, all roads lead to Ojai the first weekend of June. The 79th Ojai Music Festival — internationally famous in its own contemporary and adventurous musical niche — lands in the leafy embrace of the Libbey Bowl starting tonight (June 5) and navigates a dense course of concerts and other programming through Sunday evening.
Korean Composers Kick Off LA Phil’s Seoul Festival

3 weeks ago | sfcv.org | Josef Woodard

The idea of showcasing Korean arts and culture in Los Angeles is hardly a far-flung or exotic concept. The city’s thriving Koreatown area, just a few miles from downtown and Walt Disney Concert Hall, boasts the largest enclave of ethnic Koreans abroad. So the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Seoul Festival is a celebration of both a globally engaged culture and a close neighbor.
Art About the Tri-Counties, in Annual, Juried Fashion

4 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

To get a taste of a rare survey and overview of our region’s varied artistic riches, one can head up Sycamore Canyon Road, turn right or left at Lotusland, and proceed to the small but mighty treasury that is the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Here, just after the academic year ends, the curatorial focus turns sharply to and eagerly awaited Tri-County Juried Exhibition, a valuable — and necessarily subjective — survey and overview of artists hailing from our general midst.
Sheepish Eats, the Norway Way

4 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

Music pairing for this story: Nils Petter Molvaer, Khmer (ECM Records). Listen here. This spring, when I informed people that I was headed back for my annual pilgrimage to the Vossa Jazz Festival in Western Norway, those who have known my habits responded with, “Oh, is this the sheep’s head dinner festival?”Well, yes, it is, but so much more.
ON the Beat | Blues Beach Town

4 weeks ago | independent.com | Josef Woodard

It may come as a surprise to outsiders that an affluent and tourist-flocked beach town like Santa Barbara — basking in its “American Riviera” clout — can also boast having produced important blues artists and culture. But this is the burg which produced Kim Wilson, a k a “Goleta Slim,” who went on to form the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and two of its other claims to bluesworld fame — former local Pontiax leader Mitch Kashmar and country-blues duo Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan hail from these parts.
Exit Through the Chopin Door

1 month 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.
Grooves, Lights, Action, French-Connected

1 month 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.
Surfing on the Musical Cutting Edge in Ojai

1 month 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.
ON the Beat | A Happy Traffic Jam of Serious Concertizing

1 month 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.