Twilight Concert Series, Meshell Ndegeocello, The Record Company: July XX, 2013

JULY 18, 2013

FREE, THURSDAY NIGHTS, 7-10PM

Meshell Ndegeocello The Record Company

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Twilight Concert Series Schedule

Aug. 15

July 18

with Maxwell Smart & troup

Meshell Ndegeocello

Aug. 22

Nick Waterhouse

July 25

with Boogaloo Assassins

No Age

Aug. 29

with Tijuana Panthers

Trombone Shorty

Aug. 1

with The Dustbowl Revival

Xavier Rudd

Sept. 5

Aug. 8

Hanni El Khatib and Bombino

Gardens & Villa and Mr. Little Jeans Sept. 12

Meshell Ndegeocello

Jimmy Cliff with The Delirians

Twilight Concert Series Partners Myspace Cirque du Soleil KCRW OneWest Bank 98.7 FM G'day USA Quantas Airways Shore Hotel Chili Beans Eyewear Michelob Ultra

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The English Beat

with The Record Company

with Aus Rocks Us

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Table of contents

page 6

page 4

Where’s the bathroom, dude?

Has bass, will rock

pages 10-14

Meshell Ndegeocello headlines week two

page 5

Ditch the ride Bike it, walk it or bus it to Twilight Concerts

pages 8-9

Map Future shows Learn about the line-up for the summer

page 15

For more information, visit

Twilight Concerts insider’s guide

www.SantaMonicaPier.org

The 411 on this year’s shows

Last week’s show in pictures

Photo play

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Meshell Ndegeocello

Has bass, will rock Meshell Ndegeocello headlines week two W

hile she isn’t a huge fan of Los Angeles traffic, or of crowded airports and airplanes, musician, vocalist and New York native Meshell Ndegeocello is a fan of Santa Monica, a place she’s visited many times to escape the stresses of the music industry.

“Sometimes I feel like people only think L.A. is Hollywood or sometimes Burbank, for the record labels,” Ndegeocello said. “But Santa Monica for me is just a safe-haven, somewhere to go and experience the beach culture.”

Ndegeocello — who has been making music in many forms since the early 1990s and has performed or recorded with the likes of John Mellencamp, Sting, The Rolling Stones and famed composer John Cage — will rock week two of the Santa Monica Pier’s Twilight Concert Series on Thursday, July 18.

The artist’s latest work, “Pour Une Âme Souveraine,” features Sinead O’Connor, Lizz Wright, Valerie June, Tracy Wannomae, Toshi Reagon and Cody ChesnuTT. The 14-track album is an homage to music icon and civil rights activist Nina Simone and took just 10 days to record.

Of her creative process, Ndegeocello said it’s not very romantic. She doesn’t have a specific method for writing her music; it just comes to her.

“Sometimes it’s on an airplane or taking a walk or just finding time to be alone and sit with myself,” Ndegeocello said. “It comes and it goes. I just wait for the transmission.”

Much like Simone in her day, Ndegeocello refuses to conform to or be defined by a single style of music.

“I feel like I experiment with all styles, but at

the end of the day, in Western music there’s only 12 notes, so it’s just music to me,” Ndegeocello said. “The genres, I guess, aid people in selling the music, but I stay away from that. I just try to play interesting music and I try to play interesting music well.”

Labeling yourself puts you into a box that’s hard to get out of and one that stifles creativity, the Berlin-born musician added.

Though Ndegeocello was born outside of the country — her father was stationed on a U.S. Army base in Germany — Los Angeles is no strange and far off land to this bass-playing diva, who lived here for several years early in her career.

Ndegeocello used to drive to the Westside early mornings and “spend a lot of time at the beach, walking, strolling, watching the world,” she said. “People-watching has always fasci-

nated me.”

It was during this period in her life that Ndegeocello embraced environmentalism. She credits the formation of this ethos to the people she hung out with at the time.

“I’m only one tiny person on this planet, but I try to do what I can,” Ndegeocello said.

“The world doesn’t make it easy.”

It’s hard for touring musicians to sustain an eco-friendly lifestyle, Ndegeocello said, which is why she prefers recording music to being on the road.

“The downside of a tour bus is just your carbon footprint,” Ndegeocello said, adding she also doesn’t like airports.

After performing at the pier, Ndegeocello is off to the Les Cinq Continents Festival in Marseilles, France where she will perform with George Benson.

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WATCHING THE SHOW from the beach tonight?

Don't forget to recycle your glass bottles and aluminum cans.

2411 Delaware Avenue in Santa Monica

(310) 453-9677

Twilight Concerts insider’s guide Tickets

Smoking

No tickets necessary, this is pure free summer fun (remember that?) all thanks to our partners and sponsors who have brought us another season of awesome free concerts at the beach. Make sure to show them some love.

Don’t even think about it, it’s a 100-year-old wooden Pier, and we really like it.

Pets Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.

Time 7 p.m. — 10 p.m., but those in the know stake out a good spot early.

Parking Parking is available in the 1550 Pacific Coast Highway Lot next to the Santa Monica Pier on a first-come, first-served basis. Those wanting to avoid long waits should try one of the municipal lots around Second Street and Colorado Avenue or grab the ParkMe app for live data of parking availability and prices.

Go technology!

Weather & attire It never gets too cold, but sometimes it gets a little chilly once the sun goes down. So bring something or head up to the Pier Tent on the deck to grab this year’s limited-edition sweatshirt or T-shirt!

Seating Seating is not provided, so feel free to bring your own chairs, blankets, etc ...

Food & drinks Bike & skateboard valet Park your wheels at the free bike and skateboard valet located next to the beach bike path just south of the Pier.

There are plenty of great food and beverage options on the deck and at the various restaurants on the Pier. Most even have to-go options perfect for munching during the show. As a reminder, alcohol consumption is not permitted in public spaces, but there are several full-service bars in the area.

Friends & family

The Concert Garden

Bring them, the more the merrier. You will not regret it. This is one epic summer tradition.

There is a 21-and-over Concert Garden featuring Barefoot Wines, an assortment of cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages.

Do not miss this view.

First aid/lost & found If you need first aid or assistance, please visit the Pier Tent or flag down a security officer. If it is an emergency, please call 911.

E-mail list & special offers Sign up at TwilightSeries.org for special announcements, offers and invites.

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Santa Monica Recycling Center

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Aluminum Plastic Glass Bi-Metal Newspaper CardboardWhite/Color/Computer Paper Copper & Brass X DELAWARE AVE. 10 WEST

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Ditch the ride for a stress-free time Bike it, walk it or bus it to Twilight Concerts E

veryone knows that parking blows in Santa Monica, but you don’t have to give up on the city by the sea. Just leave the car at home and walk, bike or bus it down to the Santa Monica Pier for this summer’s edition of the famous landmark’s 29th annual Twilight Concert Series.

The most convenient way to play is by hopping on your beach cruiser, using pedal power. It’s a great way to lose weight, stay in shape and avoid traffic jams Downtown. The

city by the sea has an extensive network of bike lanes; a Downtown Bike Center complete with showers, lockers and a repair shop; as well as a free bike valet just south of the pier for those attending the concerts. It’s right off the beach bike path for easy access.

If you are riding from the northern side of town, Montana Avenue to Ocean Avenue is a great route with plenty of scenery. You may want to use one of the walk bridges that connect Palisades Park to the beach bike path or take it all the way to the pier’s entrance at Colorado Avenue and walk it down to the valet.

If you are coming from the south, try Main Street, Neilson Way (which turns into Ocean Avenue at Pico Boulevard) or for a great view of the ocean hit Barnard Way. Make sure to turn west on Bicknell Avenue to get to the beach bike path for the last mile or so.

Those coming from the east side of town by bike should take bike lanes on Arizona Avenue or Broadway for a stress-free ride. Both streets hit Ocean Avenue, which will lead you straight to the pier entrance.

Always remember that a white head light and red back light are required when riding at night and that it is illegal to ride on sidewalks or fail to stop at all traffic signals and stop signs. Helmets are not required for adults, but

they are recommended. You just might need that brain of yours.

And don’t forget to bring a trusty, strong Ulock to secure your cycle if you decide to stop off for some snacks before the shows.

For more information on biking in Santa Monica, visit www.bikesantamonica.org

Big Blue for you If biking isn’t your bag, check out the award-winning Big Blue Bus, Santa Monica’s public transit system that has hubs at UCLA and Culver City. Most routes end in Downtown, so no matter which one you take you’ll be able to get to the pier by walking only a short distance. And the cost is cheap; only $1 per ride for most passengers.

Big Blue has added extra service on Line 3 in anticipation of concert crowds. Line 3 runs along Lincoln Boulevard and Montana Avenue.

And if the Big Blue Bus doesn’t work for you, there’s always the Metro system of Rapid and regular buses that run regularly on Wilshire, Santa Monica, Pico and Lincoln boulevards.

For a detailed map of BBB routes, visit bigbluebus.com, and for Metro hit www.metro.net.

Park it OK, so we know that taking alternative forms of transit is not that difficult, but if you must hop into your car, there are plenty of places to park in Santa Monica, the best and most affordable being those structures farther from Downtown.

Santa Monica has a new parking app for your iPhone that makes finding spaces easier than ever before. Santa Monica Parking, powered by ParkMe, provides real-time parking information for City Hall’s 28 lots, 12 structures and 5,967 onstreet metered spaces. The app also includes information on privately-owned parking facilities. iPhone users can download the app for free via the Apple App Store by using the search string “Santa Monica Parking.” Sorry Android users, but your app isn’t online just yet but check back soon as city officials promise to have one up shortly.

Parking at the Downtown structures after 6 p.m. only cost $1 for 2.5 hours verses the previous rate of $5. Reduces parking rates at the Civic Center and the Main Library are $1 per hour and a $5 daily maximum, just in case you want to head down early for some shopping on the popular Third Street Promenade.

For a complete list of parking resources and pricing, visit www.parkme.com and search “Santa Monica.”

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2013 Twilight Concert Series July 25

No Age with Tijuana Panthers Forever cascading forward in a positive direction, gleefully instinctive, No Age erupts out of your speakers, blasting away the clouds above the smoggy cityscape to reveal a solar flaring sun. With an ecstatic force bubbling around and beyond their music, they release contagious energy like they’re main-lining a field full of whirring wind turbines, while tuned into an ancient celestial power source.

No Age is the duo of Dean Spunt and Randy Randall, they are on a constant journey to explore the furthest reaches of sound. They set out with one particular rule in mind: To write songs that we would be psyched to listen to. On a first listen, discovering each new dose of their alchemy is exhilarating — they produce perfectly crafted songs, underpinned by infectious melodies and ear-piercing cacophony. This swirling mix of unstoppable momentum is catapulted into the stratosphere by sweeping bursts of symphonic growls. Their power is enunciated through their ability to take their core of catchy song-writing and expand its emotional influence through tone, structure and noise. “Everything in Between,” their third album and follow-up to 2008’s “Nouns” has now arrived.

The pair has now shifted far beyond their L.A. skate-punk origins, accentuating their development in each and every creak and crack on Everything in Between. The record represents a bold step in their creative evolution, it documents their lives and their artistic progression more prominently welded into a permanent union. It is a culmination of reflecting upon life’s ruptures and triumphs; the process of moving through these moments banged and bruised, yet better off for the wear and tear.

Aug. 1

Xavier Rudd with Aus Rocks Us

“Rudd’s status as one of Australia’s most talented artists has been reinforced” 9.5/10 Tone Deaf Xavier Rudd is back with his #2 ARIA debut album, Spirit Bird.

With an identifiable array of guitars, yidakis (didgeridoos), stomp box and percussion, Rudd’s has reintroduced Australians to the sounds and stories of the land’s original owners, while introducing the rest of the world to an entirely new sound altogether.

Over the course of a decade, he has taken this sound to every corner of the globe; producing seven studio albums, two live albums, multiple ARIA nominations and a global fan-base of like-minded souls.

From 2002’s To Let, his first studio album, through to 2007’s White Moth, Rudd gradually refined his globally-influenced collage of world music - a matchless mixture of reggae, funk, blues, folk, and nearly every other sort of song with the ability to stimulate people’s spirits.

With 2008’s Dark Shades of Blue, the world was welcomed into a darker, more somber side of Rudd’s music. The album was indeed musically rich, with an international influence still inherent; however, the overall aura carried a different tinge compared to that of his previous work.

“Dark Shades Of Blue was something that I didn’t realize at the time. It was like I could feel the shudder of an earthquake, but I didn’t know it was coming” explains Rudd. That metaphorical earthquake manifested in the form of the most tumultuous year in Rudd’s personal history, and one he was more than happy to put behind him when starting to pen 2010’s Koonyum Sun. This album was a new awakening for Rudd, perhaps because it was his first with bassist Tio Moloantoa and percussionist Andile Nqubezelo under the unified banner of ‘Xavier Rudd & Inzintaba’. Thanks to the input of Inzintaba, Koonyum Sun presented a staggering amount of vigor to this release that Xavier Rudd fans hadn’t seen to date.

Which brings us to 2012’s Spirit Bird.

Already producing Rudd’s highest-selling single and most played radio single to date with Follow The Sun, 2012’s Spirit Bird is Rudd’s deepest and most explorative album. The

Xavier Rudd

No Age album saw the ever socially-conscience Rudd delve into his musical and spiritual ancestry and took him from the threatened landscape of Western Australia’s Kimberley region, to the hills and lakes of Canada.

The Spirit Bird sees Rudd to sell-out shows and festivals across Europe, UK, Australia, US and Canada.

Xavier Rudd is a singer, songwriter, multiinstrumentalist, a surfer, environmental and cultural activist, and one of Australian’s most iconic voices.

Spirit Bird is out now through all good retailers.

Aug. 8

Hanni El Khatib and Bombino When Hanni El Khatib started out, he was just a skater kid playing the world’s worst guitar and singing by himself. Inspired by a long line of determined do-it-for-themselves musicians winding back through punk and psychedelia to rock ‘n’ roll and early R&B and finally the first scratchy years of the blues, he’d record song after bare-bones song — in between day jobs and night life — just because he had things he wanted to sing about. Then in 2010 from a chance meeting, up-and-coming indie label Innovative Leisure recognized that there was something huge hiding in those little songs. And so El Khatib made his official fullpower debut (on vinyl too) in 2010.

Soon his music would overtake him completely. By the time his first album “Will the

Guns Come Out” was released in 2011, he clawed out a space of his own musically and left his job as creative director at streetwear label HUF as well as his hometown of San Francisco to become part-owner of Innovative Leisure in Los Angeles. It had been the kind of year where anything that could happen would happen.

Bombino Omara “Bombino” Moctar, whose given name is Goumar Almoctar, was born on Jan. 1, 1980 in Tidene, Niger, an encampment of nomadic Tuaregs located about 80 kilometers to the northeast of Agadez. He is a member of the Ifoghas tribe, which belongs to the Kel Air Tuareg federation. His father is a car mechanic and his mother takes care of the home, as is the Tuareg tradition. Bombino was raised as a Muslim and taught to consider honor, dignity and generosity as principal tenets of life.

Bombino spent his early childhood between the encampment and the town of Agadez, the largest city in northern Niger (population about 90,000) and long a key part of the ancient Sahara trade routes connecting North Africa and the Mediterranean with West Africa. One of 17 brothers and sisters (including half brothers and half sisters from both his mother and father), Bombino was enrolled in school in Agadez, but he demonstrated his rebellious spirit early on and refused to go. Bombino’s grandmother took him in to keep his father from forcing him to go to school, and, like most Tuareg children, he grew up living with his grandmother.

SEE LINE-UP PAGE 12

Bombino

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SANTAMONICAPIER.ORG and responds, “American music. And I know that’s pretty general, but it is what it is. I have spent so much of my life immersed in this stuff, because I wanted to figure it out, [yet] all I figured out was that there was no plan.”

In other words, whatever musical style Nick may choose to espouse, it’s not done because someone else did it, but done for the same reason someone else did it.

Growing up in the Southern California, Waterhouse eschewed his surroundings and found emotional authenticity in the vintage wax of Ray Charles, Roy Head, Little Willie John and the whole panoply of American music, where feel so often trumps technique.

Andrews wrote or co-wrote all 14 tracks on the new album, including collaborating with the legendary Lamont Dozier on “Encore,” while this time playing as much trumpet as trombone, as well as organ, drums, piano, keys, synth bass and percussion. Indeed, he played every part on the swaying, Latin-tinged “Unc.” He’s also come into his own as a singer, honoring the hallowed legacy of the great soul men of the 1960s and ‘70s. Like its predecessor, the new album turns on a rare combination of virtuosity and high-energy, party-down intensity.

The Dustbowl Revival Boogaloo Assassins

The English Beat

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Aug. 15

The English Beat with Maxwell Smart & Rusty’s EAC Dave Wakeling is a hell of a nice guy!

Dave loves to tell you the stories behind his songs, either from stage or after the show. Ask any one of the thousands of fans who have met him over the years and that’s what you’ll hear. Never mind that Dave is the singer/songwriter from two of the most popular bands of the end of the millennium, The English Beat and General Public, he’s a stand up man from Brum. Whether it’s the personal as political in “How Can You Stand There,” making politics personal in “Stand Down Margaret,” taking a stand against global warming as he did making Greepeace’s Alternative NRG, or helping little kids stand tall with “Smile Train,” Dave has always stood for something.

And like the mighty Redwoods of his adopted home of California (dude!), it’s easy for Dave to take a stand because of his strong roots.

Hailing from working-class Birmingham, England, Dave and The English Beat entered the music scene in the troubled times of 1979.

When The English Beat rushed on to the music scene it was a time of social, political and musical upheaval. Into this storm they came, trying to calm the waters with their simple message of love and unity set to a great dance beat.

Over the course of three albums, The English Beat achieved great success in their home country, charting several singles into the top 10. In addition to their UK chart success, in America the band found a solid base of young fans eager to dance to the their hypnotic rhythms and absorb their message of peace, love and unity.

Their constant touring with iconic bands such as The Clash and The Police helped to boost their popularity in the States.

Despite his huge success, Dave didn’t stop singing and acting on the problems caused by what he called the “noise in this world.” The band donated all the profits from their highly successful single version of “Stand Down Margaret” to the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament.

Aug. 22

Nick Waterhouse with Boogaloo Assassins Nick Waterhouse is the new breed — an R&B fanatic who combines an uncanny oldschool sensibility with a charged, contemporary style. At just 25, he joins the ranks of a growing cabal of similar acts and producers of recent times — Mark Ronson, Mayer Hawthorne, the Daptone Crew et al — that are all moving forward into the past, yet all quite different. For Waterhouse, his muse is the over-modulated sound of vintage R&B, and his take on such a time-honored tradition evokes the back-alley thrill of New Orleans, Detroit and Memphis in their heyday. He combines an astute attention to detail with an honest desire to match the emotional impact of the music that inspires him.

When asked to pinpoint the sound or style he strives for, Nick Waterhouse simply shrugs

Nick Waterhouse

The Boogaloo Assassins’ name might hint at homicide, but their efforts are strictly life-saving. Dedicated to re-creating and re-interpreting the boogaloo craze that swept East Harlem, the Latin Caribbean and South America from 1965 to 1969, the Los Angeles nine-piece band attempts to do to R&B, doowop, Afro-Caribbean jazz and salsa fusion what the Dap Kings do to classic Stax soul.

Aug. 29

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with The Dustbowl Revival Since the release of their Grammy-nominated 2010 debut album, “Backatown,” Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have grown creatively while winning hordes of new fans performing nonstop on five continents.

Their latest album, “For True,” offers substantive proof of their explosive growth, further refining the signature sound Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews has dubbed “Supafunkrock.”

“There was excitement from everywhere,” said Andrews of the experience on the road and how it fed into the creation of “For True.”

“We did over 200 shows in the last year and a half, and every night we allowed the music to take us over. Musically and creatively, we wanted to shoot for some different things.”

The band — Mike Ballard on bass, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax and Tim McFatter on tenor sax — stirs together old-school jazz, funk and soul, laced with hard-rock power chords and hip-hop beats, and they’ve added some tangy new ingredients on “For True” as they keep pushing the envelope, exploring new musical territory.

“We never sat down and really thought about concepts and what we wanted our music to sound like,” Andrews explained. “It’s just that, over the years, we allowed each one of the band members to bring their influences and taste in music into our music. Anything we hear or are influenced by, it naturally comes out in what we’re trying to do. It’s just our sound, and it happened naturally.”

The Dustbowl Revival is a Venice, Calif.based collective that merges old school bluegrass, gospel, jug-band, swamp blues and the hot swing of the 1930s to form a spicy roots cocktail. Known for their inspired live sets, The Dustbowl Revival boldly brings together many styles of traditional American music. Imagine Old Crow Medicine Show meeting Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven Band in New Orleans or Bob Dylan and Fats Waller jamming with Mumford & Sons on a front porch in 1938.

Growing steadily from a small string band playing up and down the West Coast (hundreds of shows in the last two years), DBR has blossomed into a traveling collective featuring instrumentation that often includes fiddle, mandolin, trombone, clarinet, trumpet, banjo, accordion, tuba, pedal steel, drums, guitars, a bass made from a canoe oar, harmonica and plenty of washboard and kazoo for good luck.

With an enthusiastic and growing national following, DBR released their first LP “You Can’t Go Back To The Garden of Eden” to rave reviews. Their tune “Dan’s Jam,” received Americana Song Of The Year honors by the Independent Music Awards (Tom Waits, Ozzy Osbourne judging). The group has placed songs in several independent films and TV projects including “Made In China” (IFC) which won SXSW, and in an upcoming episode of “American Idol.” National radio play includes L.A.’s KCRW and KCSN, Austin’s KGSR, San Francisco’s KPFA and Seattle’s taste-making KEXP.

Sept. 5

Gardens & Villa and Mr. Little Jeans Gardens & Villa is the project of five college friends from Santa Barbara, formed following the collapse of a noisier post-punk band and a hitch-hiking journey up the West Coast.

Members Chris Lynch, Adam Rasmussen, Levi Hayden and Shane McKillop began playing in earnest as Gardens & Villa in 2008.

The name is pulled from the location of their house on Villa Street, and the property’s lovely garden to which they tend. The music they make is very much connected to the coastal city they call home — the stoney bike rides, dance parties and a scene free of judgment.

For two weeks in the summer of 2010, the band camped behind visionary and now-labelmate Richard Swift’s Oregon studio. No shower, no kitchen, but all the magic you could ask for. After taking a band oath to always play all parts live — a la Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” — the band added member Dusty Ineman to supremely execute the live incarnation of the band.

SEE LINE-UP PAGE 14

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Mr. Little Jeans Meet Mr. Little Jeans, a.k.a. Monica Birkenes. She is small and Norwegian and she makes music that will leave you reeling.

Her pop dances left of center, a curious thing of equal parts organic magic and buzzing electricity. She has worked hard to get to this place, traveled far to find it. On some unmarked pasture between St. Vincent’s prettiest moments and Debby Harry’s wilder inclinations, she stands fronting an army of bright ideas and sharp sounds, a shipbuilder’s daughter with a voice that could part a sea.

Monica grew up in the middle of the woods in a seaside town called Grimstad. Her

SANTAMONICAPIER.ORG dad built catamarans and her mum was a secretary whose love for music was infectious.

They didn’t have much money, but put their daughter through years of piano and voice lessons which she’d attend wearing her mother’s oversized outfits from another era. There were four black cats called Missy, and some neighbors who killed a man, but otherwise it was all Nancy Drew, dancing through the trees, and singing to mum’s records.

Her first instrument has always been her voice. Monica sang in the church choir at 5, then around town wherever and whenever her mum saw fit: malls, old folks’ homes, theaters, even on local television once or twice. At 10, she recorded a cassette of children’s classics and shopped it around to gas stations mainly.

By 15, she was singing in bars, clearly underage but backed by a band of boys in their 20s. She focused on music in high school,

Jimmy Cliff

then relocated to London to study drama.

A year later, Monica was on her own in England, having left college to chase singing leads gleaned from the “wanted” pages.

Mostly she spent an endless string of years as a terrible waitress and, after an exploratory trip to Los Angeles, a couple more years sofa-surfing, country-hopping, and racking up credit card debt as she wrote with different producers — Peter Moren (Peter Bjorn & John), John Hill (Santigold) — and shaped her sound into that of the inimitable Mr. Little Jeans we now know.

Sept. 12

Jimmy Cliff with The Delirians “I got one more shot at the goal/Straight from my soul/I’m in control,” sings reggae legend Jimmy Cliff on “One More,” the lead track from “Rebirth” the new Universal Music Enterprises album from the Grammy-winning musician, actor, singer, songwriter, producer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, produced by punk icon Tim Armstrong, of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame.

The release, his first studio album in seven years, is the next step in their collaboration on last year’s “Sacred Fire” EP, an effort Rolling Stone called Cliff’s “best music in decades ... [his] tenor still soars.” With the groundbreaking 1972 film “The Harder They Come” celebrating its 40th anniversary, Cliff — who starred in the movie and contributed the title cut, “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Sitting in Limbo” to the soundtrack — is still going strong in a career that has spanned almost 50 years and includes his native Jamaica’s highest honor, the Order of Merit.

In the autobiographical “Reggae Music,” Cliff recounts going to see famed Jamaican producer Leslie Kong in 1962 to convince him to work with him, releasing Cliff’s first hit, “Hurricane Hattie,” when he was just 14.

“Jimmy is one of my musical heroes and I’ve been responding to his music my entire life,” said Armstrong, who had never met Cliff before, but was once recommended to him by mutual friend Joe Strummer of The Clash.

Gathering Armstrong’s studio band, the Engine Room (bassist/percussionist J Bonner, drum/percussionist Scott Abels, organ/percussionist Dan Boer and piano/lead guitarist Kevin Bivona), the first song they tackled was a cover of Rancid’s “Ruby Soho,” a skatinged number from the band’s 1995 album “... And Out Came the Wolves” about a musician having to tell his lover he’s headed for the road.

“I had no idea it was one of Tim’s songs, but I liked it and could identify with the sentiments,” said Cliff. “I never really had the opportunity to hear his music, but it was a great thing how we hit if off in the studio.”

They also worked on a cover of The Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton,” a song about the growing tension in Brixton at the time.

Ironically, Strummer’s last session ever was with Cliff on “Over the Border,” a song from Jimmy’s 2004 album, “Black Magic.” It was at that time Joe talked up Armstrong as someone who might make a good collaborator for him.

“It was inspiring working with Tim because even the sound of the album feels like we went back to the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Cliff. “I had forgotten about a lot of the sounds and the instruments we used then, and we brought that all back.”

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Flash back Week one went off without a hitch S

urfer Blood headlined the first week of this year’s Twilight Concert Series much to the delight of a packed house.

There was crowd surfing, an appearance by the mayor and plenty to do and see.

This week’s show features Meshell Ndegeocello with The Record Company.

Photo courtesy Brandon Wise

Photo courtesy Brandon Wise

Surfer Blood headlined week one of the Twilight Concert Series.

Santa Monica Mayor Pam O'Connor welcomes the crowd to the first week of the Twilight Concert Series.

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29TH ANNUAL

TWILIGHT CONCERTS

SANTAMONICAPIER.ORG