BY DIANE MARLIN-DIRKX
If you can’t find something to do to get you out of the house, to release you from the clutches of the remote and away from the boob tube, to inspire you to shove aside all the toys your hands are constantly fiddling with all hours of the day and night, ad nauseam, if you can’t find something to use up all that cheap fuel you’ve been pumping into your jalopy, we want a pulse count! There’s music to hear and dance to from ukulele to you-name-it, Gershwin jazz to Franz Liszt, award-winning foreign films with mysteries to unravel and mid-century modern homes to prowl through on tour and then there is always a party somewhere. And you’re invited! Read on.
Thursday, January 29, 7 PM. Be still my strumming heart when The McCallum Theatre presents The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Yahooey! Yes, we kid you not. It’s an evening you won’t forget offering a funny, virtuosic, twanging, awesome, foot-stomping giggle-to- guffaw time, jumping from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Redding and spaghetti western soundtracks; the Orchestra takes the audience on an eclectic music adventure. Formed—even more likely, “yanked” into being in 1985 as a bit of fun, their first gig was an instant sell-out and they’ve been performing ever since. Their mission was simple: To have fun and “not to lose money.” Public opinion was that an orchestra consisting entirely of ukuleles in different sizes was a strange concept; something that attracted the performing members. They determined to make something fresh and entertaining, modern and old-fashioned, in a different style which deviated from current performance fashion. In 2015, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will celebrate 16 million minutes of “ukuleleation,” having been on the road and around the world for thirty years and counting. Tickets are priced at $70, $50, $35 and $25 and are available at the Theatre’s web site at www.mccallumtheatre.com, or by calling the McCallum Theatre box office at (760) 340-ARTS. The McCallum Theatre, located at 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert CA 92260, accepts payment by cash, personal check, and most major credit cards. Search the group on YouTube or go to their site, www.theukuleorchestraofGreatBritain. You won’t regret it.
Thursday, February 5, 7:30 – 9:00 PM. Serial Musical Evenings: Pete Carlson’s Jazz for Jazz Lovers features The Banda Bros. Sextet and all we can say is, “hot, hot, hot!” Led by Drummer Ramon Banda and Bassist Tony Banda, brothers who’ve been playing together and playing well with others, such as Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band (a 32 year-in-tune collaboration!) since before they were teens, starting with backyard jam sessions and wedding bands. Today the Banda Bros. are trumpeted as one of LA’s hottest Latin jazz bands performing a blend of Latin, Afro-Caribbean, and straight ahead jazz and original compositions. Hear and cheer them at Pete Carlson’s Golf and Tennis , 73741 HWY 111, Palm Desert. Admission ticket: $25 per person. Call for more information 760-568-3263, or toll-free: 1(800) 600-3263. Visit website: www.petecarlsonsgolf.com Seating is limited. Non-profit concert proceeds support jazz education and scholarships for young musicians in the Coachella Valley.
Saturday, February 7, 9:00 AM. The Desert Film Society presents “ 24 Days” (“24 Jours”). “Lia Award winner, Jerusalem Film Festival, Israel. Directed by Alexandre Arcady, in French with English sub titles, and based on true events that occurred in 2006 in France and on a memoir written by the victim’s mother. The narrative: A woman walked in to a wireless store on Boulevard Voltaire, pretended to be interested in the new phones, asked for the sales attendant’s number and left. Later, she called asking to see him. Ilan wasn’t suspicious, he was 23 years old, with his whole life before him. How could he have known that by meeting a beautiful girl in a café near Porte Orléans he was flirting with death? Starring: Zabou Breitman, Pascal Elbé, Jacques Gamblin, Éric Caravaca, Sylvie Testud. Festival showings: Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada; Jerusalem Film Festival, Israel; Jewish Film Festival, Australia; UK Jewish Film Festival, UK; Boston Jewish Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival (NC), Palm Springs International Film Festival, USA .The “buzz” quoted from Screen Daily: “French director Alexandre Arcady delivers one of the most wrenching and politically astute films to come out of France.” Palm Springs Camelot Theatres,
9:30 AM showing. Doors open at 9:00 AM w/film introduction at 9:20 AM. Discussion follows the film. Complimentary refreshments. Free to Desert Film Society Members, $15 at the door.
Additional information: 760-770-0507 or visit www.desertfilmsociety.com . Desert Film Society is a non-profit 501 (C)(3) Organization.
Sunday, February 8, 3 PM . It’s tune-up time for the 8 th Annual Doctors’ Concert Fundraiser for The Steinway Society of Riverside County. Ruth Moir, founder/president, doesn’t play around for this fundraiser, she encourages those in medical practices to put down one instrument for another in the interest of programs to “engage, educate, and inspire children, changing their lives forever,” Florence Henderson, TV’s favorite Mom on “The Brady Bunch,” is Honorary Chair of the concert. And we’d bet the doctors- Rainer Bergmann, Scott Aaronson, Murthy Andavolu, Lisa Lindley, Judith Zacher, Justin Thomas, Eric Fox, and Vincent D’Auria. — enjoy performing, as well. The many benefits gained are amazing. The non-profit Steinway Society produces classic concerts in schools for K through 12, including performances by internationally known professionals, Piano and ukulele labs for elementary group lessons in daytime/after school programs, financial need awards including lessons, pianos (!), Annual Festival Competition and Winners Concert, workshops, summer music camp and student mentoring, Music is Wellness performances monthly for the Memory Care Center at Eisenhower Medical Center. Reception and concert at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences, 39000 Bob Hope Dr., Rancho Mirage. For tickets, call 760-341-4130, $65 per person/open seating. No practice necessary.
Friday, February 12 – Sunday, February 22. Modernism Week celebrates 10 Years! So Cool! So Party-Hearty Ready! Make it a Throwback Thursday night celebrating 10 years of Modernism Week at the best party of the decade! Fasten your seat-belts as DJ Jason Bentley, KCRW’s Music Director and host of ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ and ‘Metropolis’ will take everyone on a wild ride! Opening night guests will be the very first to experience CAMP, our new 30,000 square foot MW Headquarters. So, bring on your midcentury style and dance the night away! 7 PM – 10 PM at MW CAMP (Community and Meeting Place), 555 N. Palm Canyon Drive at W. Chino, Palm Springs, CA 92262 .Cost: $125 per person. Admission includes wristband for 5-day return admission to MW CAMP. Valet parking included. Adults 21 and over, please. Tickets are available at www.modernismweek.com/event/details/248452/ Added Attraction on Saturday, February 21, 7 – 10 PM. Celebrate Modernism Week After Dark at the Vintage Travel Trailer Show! This fun and funky outdoor soiree will showcase 40+ beautifully restored vintage trailers, buses and Airstreams – many never-before-seen at Modernism Week. Don’t miss this special opportunity to step inside an enchanting vintage trailer community aglow with a myriad of faerie lights. You’ll have the chance to place your vote for a “secret” trailer award and see this, along with other awards – including “Best in Modernism,” presented to the proud trailer owners who have travelled from all over the West to be at Modernism Week. Tickets: $25 per person; $15 for students (ID required); Free for children 12 & under. Party with the stylish and festive trailer owners as you enjoy retro Rockabilly music and fun for the whole family. Your ticket includes admission to the Vintage Travel Trailer Show party, entertainment and access inside the vintage trailers. Food, beverages, cash bar, and sweet treats will be available for purchase. No pets, please. At the Hilton Palm Springs Parking Lot, 400 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262
“Don’t Be Clueless” wants to remind you that press releases for inclusion should be in to the Coachella Valley Weekly at least two weeks ahead of the scheduled event! Thanks.
