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LETTERS
Every Kid’s Success Should Matter
Re: “Is Your School as Good as You Think?” Opinion, Oct. 31
Thank you for this excellent explanation of our current situation in Los Angeles public schools. As an LAUSD teacher I was coached to focus on the academic success of the third quartile of students. If those kids improved, our scores would go up. I ignored the advice, finding materials and creating opportu-
nities for the children in my class without help from the district or school. I left LAUSD at the end of the year with such a feeling of disappointment, more for the children than myself.
Surprisingly, when the district published the growth scores that year, visible by teacher, my students did well in spite of the challenges. I was so glad to eventually become a charter school principal to help build a system in which every child’s
success mattered and in which I was not tied to unfair advice by the district.
Wendy Zacuto Playa del Rey
Paid for My Crimes, But Can’t Find Housing
Re: “The Argonaut Poll: 65% Want More Regulation of Homeless Encampments,” Oct. 24
This poll is just The Argonaut pacifying its readers. Enforcement means incarceration and
tickets. Housing and services take years, and then if you’re a convict good luck finding housing.
illegal. We’re still Americans, and most of us are reformed. Some of us convicts turn out better than regular citizens.
I’m on the streets homeless, clean and sober 13 years, but no one will rent to me because of my criminal history. And that, to me, is discrimination. I have paid for my crimes —served my time, completed my parole — and so have many others like me who also can’t find housing. Not renting to an ex-con should be We Want to Hear from You!
David Garcia Santa Monica
Being in print is a lot more meaningful than grouching on Facebook. Send compliments, complaints and insights about local issues to jpiasecki@timespublications.com.
BUICK GMC Santa Monica
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EDITORIAL
Managing Editor: Joe Piasecki, x122 Arts & Events Editor: Christina Campodonico, x105 Staff Writer, News: Gary Walker, x112
Contributing Writers: Amy Alkon, Lisa Beebe, Bliss Bowen, Shanee Edwards, Jacqueline Fitzgerald, Richard Foss, Jason Hill, Danny Karel, Jessica Koslow, Angela Matano, Brian Marks, Colin Newton, Nicole Elizabeth Payne, Jennifer Pellerito, Paul Suchecki, Andy Vasoyan, Kelby Vera, Audrey Cleo Yap, Lawrence Yee Letters to the Editor: letters@argonautnews.com
News Tips: joe@argonautnews.com
Event Listings: christinac@argonautnews.com
ART
Art Director: Michael Kraxenberger, x141 Graphic Designer: Kate Doll, x132
Contributing Photographers: Mia Duncans, Maria Martin, Shilah Montiel, Ashley Randall, Courtnay Robbins, Jason Ryan, Ted Soqui, Zsuzsi Steiner
ADVERTISING
Display Advertising: Renee Baldwin, x144, Kay Christy, x131 Rocki Davidson, x108, David Maury, x130
Classified Advertising: Ann Turrietta (310) 821-1546 x100
BUSINESS
Associate Publisher: Rebecca Bermudez, x127
HOURS OF OPERATION
MONDAY 9:00 AM 8:00 PM
TUESDAY 9:00 AM 8:00 PM
WEDNESDAY 9:00 AM 8:00 PM
THURSDAY 9:00 AM 8:00 PM
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SATURDAY 9:00 AM 8:00 PM
SUNDAY 10:00 AM 7:00 PM
LOCAL VETERANS DAY CELEBRATIONS
• The Exchange Club of Culver City joins city government and the Culver City Chamber of Commerce to host the inaugural Tribute to Heroes – Field of Valor, displaying a flag for each of the city’s first responders from Nov. 8 through Nov. 12 in Veterans Memorial Park. A ceremony honoring veterans and public safety personnel happens at 10 a.m. Saturday (Nov. 9) at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 4117 Overland Ave. Proceeds benefit New Directions for Veterans’ efforts to help homeless Los Angeles-area vets. culvertribute.org.
• Rep Ted Lieu is hosting a Conversations with Veterans forum for veterans and the public from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 10) at the West Los Angeles VA campus. Rose Garden, 11301 Wilshire Blvd. (323) 651-1040 or eventbrite.com
• The West Los Angeles VA campus hosts its annual Veterans Day celebration on Monday (Nov. 11) with a formal program from 9 to 10 a.m. followed by
barbeque, music and entertainment for veterans and their families.
Orlando Quad, 11301 Wilshire Blvd. losangeles.va.gov
• Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis and other community leaders honor the service of veterans with a program from 9 to 9:30 a.m. on Monday (Nov. 11) at the city’s Veterans Memorial in Palisades Park, erected 20 years ago this week. Santa Monica Police Department explorers will post the colors. The event gives special recognition to Veterans for Peace, which maintains the Arlington West memorial on Santa Monica Beach. Ocean Avenue, between Arizona Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. sm.gov
ON THE COVER: East Germans pour across the Berlin Wall in 1989 as a West Berliner cheers them on from above in this photo from the “W/ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine” exhibit. Photo by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post, courtesy of Annenberg Space for Photography. Design by Michael Kraxenberger.
Trashing the Wetlands, Sprucing Up the Heart of Del Rey & Reviving Historic Fire Station 62
Compiled by Gary Walker
Truck Stuck in Wetlands
Prompts Illegal Dumping Probe
State Fish and Wildlife officials, the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating illegal dumping in the Ballona Wetlands after finding construction waste and an abandoned rental truck in the preserve near Nicholson Street and Cabora Drive on Oct. 21. The driver of the truck fled the scene on foot after it became trapped in grasses near a dirt trail under the bluffs, according to witnesses.
Investigators have traced the truck, which had to be towed out of the wetlands, to a contractor working near Manchester Avenue and Pershing Drive.
CHP spokesman Vance Perreira said investigators are trying to track the contractor’s movements since their work began in September, but whoever was driving the truck appears to have rented it under another person’s name.
“There were many witnesses to the alleged illegal dumping,” Perreira said. “We heard that someone was even using a backhoe in there, and that just caused further disruption to the area.”
Nature photographer Jonathan Coffin, who frequently takes pictures of wildlife from the edge of the wetlands, said he saw trucks entering and leaving the wetlands for more than a week.
“I contacted Fish and Wildlife after I saw them dump these mounds in an area where sawgrass grows, and sawgrass is the habitat of the wandering skipper [a brown-winged butterfly]” Coffin said.
Perreira said investigators have not determined possible criminal charges. On Feb. 25, a Carmel man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for illegally discarding construction debris and fill material into the San Francisco Bay wetlands.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin’s office called for an investigation after receiving a constituent complaint, and the city has since revoked work permits for the contractor suspected of illegal dumping in Ballona, council office spokesman David Graham-Caso said.
A New Look for Historic Fire Station 62
A group of Mar Vista locals working to repurpose the former Fire Station 62 on Centinela Avenue into an all-purpose community center is expected to discuss new project renderings during its upcoming annual meeting, happening from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church (3590 Grand View Blvd., Mar Vista). Over a decade-long fundraising campaign, Friends of Historic Fire Station 62 have also contemplated
inclusion of a childcare center and local historical society. Visit historic62.org to contact the group.
Heart of Del Rey Wants to Be L.A.’s Next Great Street
A committee of Del Rey residents is competing for $500,000 in city funding to make Centinela Avenue between Short Avenue and Braddock Drive a participant in the Great Streets program, a special initiative of the mayor’s office to make neighborhood centers more pedestrianfriendly. Locals are calling the project area the Heart of Del Rey. Early ideas include additional crosswalks and various cosmetic upgrades to the frontages of commercial properties, with the Del Rey/Centinela Streetscape Improvement Group hosting a community meeting at Casa Sanchez (4500 S.
Centinela Ave.) from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 12) to discuss results of a recent community survey.
Group member Ron Kato said some locals have suggested adding a protected bike lane along Centinela — similar to the Great Streets segment of Venice Boulevard in Mar Vista, still controversial after nearly two years of operation — but losing a lane of traffic in either or both directions has been a non-starter.
“That would take out a lane of traffic or parking lanes,” Kato said, “so that’s not viable.”
A Heart of Del Rey pop-up street party from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, will close Centinela to vehicle traffic between Short and Braddock, giving the public a chance to see mock installations of possible streetscape enhancements — including the possibility of a new crosswalk on Centinela at Greene Avenue, Kato said.
Sachi Hartley, a Del Rey resident who owns the SACHI.LA coffee shop on Centinela between Greene and Walsh avenues, said most of her customers walk to the shop. She applauds efforts to make Centinela safer and more inviting for pedestrians, including new crosswalks and sidewalk repairs.
“We have a lot of new families and moms with children in the neighborhood who walk a lot, so out of respect for their safety I think having an option to be able to cross the street in the middle of Centinela would be huge,” she said.
Attendees of Del Rey Day on Oct. 20 in Glen Alla Park were invited to participate in the survey being discussed Tuesday. “I would like to see a few more stores and make the street a little more festive, bright and cheery,” local Genevieve Santiesteban said during the event. “I think that would make people want to walk down Centinela and shop more.”
A contractor was dumping mounds of construction debris in the Ballona Wetlands
Senior Pet Adoption Fair
November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month! Wallis Annenberg PetSpace invites you to our Senior Pet Adoption Fair.
Join us and meet sweet senior adoptables and enjoy family-friendly activities, complimentary food & drink, and photo ops!
Saturday November 16 11am-3pm
COVER
PERSONAL BARRIERS
An exhibit about walls, both literal and figurative, investigates what people project onto them
By Bliss Bowen
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall…” — Robert Frost, “Mending Wall”
The entire text of Frost’s classic poem greets visitors to the Annenberg Space for Photography’s new exhibit “W/ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine,” on display through Jan. 25. Accompanied by a photo of a wall on Frost’s New England property, the poem emblemizes the increasing prevalence of visual language and asks: Why do we need these structures dividing us?
“So often that poem is quoted just as the final line, ‘good fences make good neighbors,’ so everyone uses that to support the idea that, in order to normalize relationships and maintain good boundaries between people, we must have a physical barrier that defines our property, our space, so that respect is imposed and maintained,” explains Dr. Jen Sudul Edwards, who curated the exhibit. “In fact, when you read that entire poem you realize there are two voices: the author’s and the author’s neighbor. And it’s the neighbor who asserts that good fences make good neighbors. The author is questioning [that].
“The whole point is that these are unnatural divisions that we’re imposing on the landscape, and to what end, really? That ambiguity is hopefully the mind frame that we’re going to send our visitors into the space with, so that they really are considering how exactly walls are relied upon and whether they’re really solving the problems at hand.”
Divided into six sections — Delineation, Defense, Deterrent, the Divine, Decoration, and the In-visible — “W/ALLS” considers the community effects of literal and figurative walls through the work of more than 70 photographers and artists, including Marina Abramovic, Tanya Aguiñiga, Banksy, JR, and John Moore. It also includes the I Ching-inspired, solar-powered installation “Light the Barricades,” co-created by Candy
Chang and James A. Reeves, thirds of which were shown last month at Santa Monica’s Annenberg Beach House, in Downtown L.A.’s Grand Park, and at the Natural History Museum. That now stands as one cohesive, interactive artwork on the Photo Space plaza.
Annenberg Space for Photography Director Katie Hollander first spoke to Edwards more than a year and a half ago about the concept for “W/ALLS” — before the government shutdown over the U.S.-Mexico border, before Brexit, but even then it was clearly a relevant topic.
and colors suggest both reckoning and redemption. Ami Vitale’s portrait of gun-carrying camel riders guarding an undulating dirt border road feels similarly surreal, with lights smearing blue sky like glowing sentinel orbs.
Not all conflicts are geographic or political; firewalls fascinate because they’re invisible yet define “how we get our info and how we communicate,” Edwards points out. Jerusalem’s Western Wall was originally built as a retaining wall, not a sacred site. Photos show a Muslim family praying to a wall in an airport, and a
“A world without walls isn’t possible. But maybe for a moment we can look at some of these historic examples and at least talk honestly about why this is the human reaction to fear and anxiety and struggle.”
— Jen Sudul Edwards, exhibit curator
An enthusiastic Edwards says they cast a “very broad net,” turning to casual tourists as well as commercial photographers and photojournalists in search of sufficiently interesting images.
One of art’s aspects that most intrigues her is the “visual language that we encounter all the time”; even primitive cave paintings sent messages of where to find bison and avoid lions, she notes with a laugh. As curator, it’s her job “to help the public recognize that images are constructed for us to see and perceive in a certain way. Messages are coded in that visual language. Increasingly, that is how we’re coming to understand our world and our history.”
Some of the exhibit’s images are ethereal, like Raymond Thompson Jr.’s pensive depiction of three youths gazing up toward clouds swelling above their enclosed basketball court; composition
traditional Tibetan Buddhism Mani wall constructed of prayer-inscribed stones. Inevitably, however, geopolitical conflicts intrude. “W/ALLS” raises the question of how walls normalize conflict via pieces like Carol Guzy’s eye-grabbing shot of a toddler being handed through barbed wire in Kosovo, and two specially commissioned series.
Noted photojournalist Moises Saman was commissioned to document Belfast’s Peace Walls (or Peace Lines), constructed by the British government in 1969. Talking to locals made clear that, even though a generation has grown up unscarred by the violence that essentially ended with 1998’s Good Friday Agreement, the Troubles have not fully dissipated. Plans to remove walls by 2023 have intensified community anxiety that “violence will be immediately renewed,” Edwards explains, and Brexit’s demands will likely
cause those walls “to stay up and in fact multiply.”
Baltimore-raised photographer Shan Wallace headed into her commission to document redlining at Detroit’s Eight Mile Wall eager to talk with residents and to spread the word elsewhere that the six-foot wall, built in 1941, “had to be torn down as a statement that African Americans were not going to be contained by the white government,” Edwards says. But getting to know people there reversed Wallace’s position. Instead of perceiving the mural-painted wall as a segregating divider, she came to see it as a unifier “bringing the African American community together and creating this sense of family, belonging and comfort that would not necessarily have been there [otherwise].” Wallace discusses that moving experience in an exhibit documentary. Edwards, who in July was named chief curator at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, calls “W/ALLS” a “bold show” that she’s happy is housed in a space committed to “the humanitarian mission of photography.
“It’s a really challenging subject, and we want people to think about it carefully and seriously,” she says. “But we also want people to feel inspired and encouraged to keep thinking about it. It’s so much easier to put a fence up around your house than to deal with the fact that there’s a reason why people are breaking into houses. … A world without walls isn’t possible. But maybe for a moment we can look at some of these historic examples and at least talk honestly about why this is the human reaction to fear and anxiety and struggle.”
“W/ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine” is on display through Jan. 25 at the Annenberg Space for Photography, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City. Admission is free. Call (213) 403-3000 or visit annenbergphotospace.org for venue information.
A
Indian border guards on camels patrol the Pakistan border; photo by Ami Vitale.
A meeting at the Baoli at Amer water well in India’s Rajasthan Thar desert; photo by Ami Vitale.
toddler is handed through barbed wire in Kosovo in 1999; photo by Carol Guzy / Washington Post.
WALLS OF THE MIND
30 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, political historians fear intangible barriers are moving the world back in time
By Joe Piasecki and Christina Campodonico
Nov. 9, 1989, was a big day in the history of freedom. The peaceful dismantling of the Berlin Wall, which for 28 years had sealed off West Berlin from Soviet satellite East Germany, signaled an end to the Cold War and — at least in the United States — optimism about the triumph of Western democratic values.
Thirty years later, Americans do not live in such optimistic times.
“Surveillance is in the news. Walls are in the news. The Cold War is back in a big way,” says Justin Jampol, founder and executive director of the Cold War-focused Wende Museum in Culver City. “Good for business; bad for the world.”
From a geopolitical standpoint, local experts say one drastic difference from 1989 is the United States’ dwindling appetite for exerting a dominant role in global affairs.
Shahin Berenji, a UCLA political science lecturer whose expertise includes Cold War diplomacy, speaks at length about U.S. engagement being a stabilizing force that enabled Europe to embrace German reunification as Mikhail Gorbachev loosened the Soviet Union’s grip.
“The idea that American engagement can be a force for preventing conflict from breaking out in distinct regions is something that often gets lost today — not just in the news but amongst some policymakers, especially the administration today,” Berenji says.
The Trump administration’s “America First” rhetoric, he said, signals a policy of disengagement to a level not seen since Eisenhower, who floated the idea of arming American allies with nuclear
weapons to eliminate the need for an American presence overseas.
Loyola Marymount University political science professor Michael A. Genovese, director of LMU’s Institute for Leadership Studies and president of its global
leadership in favor of an “America First” approach. In the face of vexing challenges from a rising China, a reemerging Russia and the threat of global terrorism, we have decided to ‘go it alone’ in an every-nation-for-itself approach which
“The Cold War is back in a big way. Good for business; bad for the world.”
— Wende Museum founder Justin Jampol
policy institute, served as a crisis management consultant for the Pentagon during the administration of George H. W. Bush, who was president during the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
The lesson of the Cold War is that “cooperation and common purpose were a strength magnifier,” says Genovese: “Today, we have abandoned global
sees international politics as a zero-sum game where either we (alone) win or lose. … In short, we did not learn the lesson of the Cold War.”
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Wende Museum installed 10 wall segments (weighing a combined 26 tons) at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard, which has since
become a setting for demonstrations against Chinese censorship and U.S. immigration crackdowns. The 2009 event also included a temporary “Wall Across Wilshire,” which attendees tore down as a symbol of breaking down socioeconomic and other figurative walls in our lives.
Jampol, who on Sunday (Nov. 10) debuts a six-part Travel Channel historical mystery series titled “Lost Secrets,” believes the Berlin Wall equivalents of 2019 persist largely in people’s minds. “I think the comparable wall is a German expression ‘mauer im kopf,’ which means ‘the wall in the head.’ And after the Berlin Wall as a physical entity came down, Germans started to use this expression to relay the division that was standing in between them that wasn’t physical but invisible. And ultimately, the invisible walls are much more insidious ones because you can’t knock them down with a crane or with a hammer.”
CRACKS IN THE WALL
The Wende Museum revisits the Eastern Bloc feminist art underground
By Christina Campodonico
East Germany is long dead, but women who created subversive art under the suppression of Stasi espionage are still making universal statements about feminism and patriarchy through artwork that survives at the Wende Museum in Culver City.
“The Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain” gives a long overdue spotlight to artists whose work has been overshadowed by male counterparts or interpreted only through the Cold War’s geopolitical
context, asserts exhibit curator Susanne Altmann.
“I think we often make the mistake that we put the oppression and the restrictions and the censorship first, and then look at the artwork as if it was to confirm or illustrate our preconceptions,” she says.
“The only way to rehabilitate or to make them visible is by not instrumentalizing the art as a full political history. I’m not illustrating the Cold War here. What I do is show their aesthetic and artistic achievements, and [how] they went against the grain of a then-dominant dogma.”
Altmann points me to the fabric art pieces of East Berlin artist Christa Jeitner, whose rippled cloth panels with abstract shapes could masquerade as an innocuous wall hanging even as it displayed abstract design, “which was otherwise really condemned,” she notes, or show up at a concert supporting a dissident writer as an unfettered display of “geometrical abstraction.”
“I think this is a wonderful example of how this kind of material with this feminine connotation — fabric — is being used as a medium to display power,
energy, transgression, radicality,” Altmann says.
Other pieces make more lasting statements about the state of womanhood. For instance, a series of photographs documents one Hungarian-Serbian actress’ answer to an erotic strip tease and the burden that many women feel to maintain hairless bodies, called “Black Shave Poem.”
“She strips down to bra and briefs but … still with another layer of this black
Justin Jampol debuts his historical mystery series “Lost Secrets” this Sunday on the Travel Channel
COVER STORY
(Continued from page 9)
whatever … turtleneck and leggings … And then, as if she was naked, she starts shaving herself,” recounts Altmann. “This is so universal.”
Like many modern women who struggle to “have it all” or put in a “second shift” of caretaking or housekeeping after a full day of work, Eastern European female artists of the Cold War era faced similar challenges, even if they weren’t consciously aware of them at the time.
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“With hindsight, a lot of these women artists admit that they had been doubly or triply suppressed by a patriarchal society that claimed women’s liberation was no issue any longer because women had to work as hard as men, but [also] have children and the household,” says Altmann. “Then again in the subversive circles … the male artists were at the forefront. If they needed a model it would be their wife or their girlfriend. ... It was a classical patriarchy seeping from high up … and then into the art circles.”
But not even the patriarchy could keep these artists and other Eastern European renegades from putting their art into the world, observes Wende Museum Executive Director Justin Jampol.
“Through the museum we know firsthand that no matter what kind of society you live in, people always find the cracks. Whether it’s the cracks in
the wall or cracks to express themselves, human expression is an ‘unquashable’ force.”
“The Medea Insurrection” opens Sunday (Nov. 10) and remains on view through April 5 at the Wende Museum, 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City. Admission is free. See wendemuseum.org for gallery hours.
Nashville Hot Chicken Sando
East German artist Verena Kyselka’s “The News Anchor” (1989)
THIS WEEK
Barbara Morrison is L.A.’s leading advocate for jazz and blues
THE BEATING HEART OF L.A. BLUES
Barbara Morrison and Keb’ Mo’ hold court in Westchester to keep the California Jazz & Blues Museum kicking
By Bliss Bowen
Los Angeles is fertile seeding ground for creativity, thanks in part to the volume and variety of people who transplanted their music and other traditions here during the Depression and after World War II from the South, Midwest, Northwest and elsewhere. Museums and similar institutions play a vital role in safeguarding that cultural legacy, as L.A. has grown notorious for blacktopping and building over its history.
Situated in Leimert Park, the nonprofit California Jazz & Blues Museum was launched by acclaimed jazz stylist Barbara Morrison in 2017. Photos and paintings of artists from L.A.’s storied midcentury jazz and blues community hug its walls, overlooking instruments and other relics of the vibrant music community that once made Central Avenue a hugely influential, nationally renowned destination for jazz and blues. More importantly, it maintains history’s living presence as a community hub, offering numerous harmony and music classes for kids, vocal workshops, masterclasses, drum circles, showcases, concerts and hopefully more in the future. The ambitious Signifyin’ Blues festival, happening Nov. 7 through Nov. 11 primarily at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel, benefits the museum and its mission.
In addition to Morrison, Keb’ Mo’, Brother Yusef, Reverend Tall Tree, Bleux Bros, Lenny “Fuzzy” Rankins, Erica Brown, Cheyenne Amen and Bernie Pearl are all scheduled to perform. Sideman supergroup Blacktop Trio has polled prospective attendees for blues and
hip-hop songs they should play. Interspersed between those appearances are dance lessons, an invitational dance contest, open musician jams, Six String Showdown semi-finals and finals (emulating flashy traditional “cutting contests” between blues guitarists), and lectures and workshops about composition, cultural appropriation, the substance of jazz, and the power and influence of black music. On Saturday night there’s also a tribute banquet for South L.A.’s favorite son Kevin Roosevelt Moore, more famously known as Grammy-winning artist Keb’ Mo’. The entire event culminates with a Monday afternoon museum tour and Q&A with Morrison.
“Go on the website, download the PDF with the entire schedule, and map out what you want to attend because there’s so much goodness packed into four days,” says Chris Pierce, who’ll be performing as his blues alter ego, Reverend Tall Tree. “It’s so much to experience.”
Vigilant Angel
If the California Jazz & Blues Museum is the raison d’être of Signifyin’ Blues, then Morrison is its vigilant angel. The Detroit native has championed this community in myriad ways since relocating to L.A. in the ’70s, and the museum is her dream — one whose borders reach beyond the physical space’s limited square footage. Renowned for her vocal range and clearly articulated, shimmering tones, she sang with Johnny Otis’ band for decades, and as a solo artist she’s often performed a revue of Dinah Washington’s songs to
enthusiastic reviews. Musicians and fans across generations speak of her with love and gratitude.
“Barbara Morrison has always been that kind of person in the community where she’s not just performing, but really supplying places where music and culture can grow,” Moore (aka Keb’ Mo’) says.
“When I started performing solo, there was a place I played on La Brea; it’s a big storage facility now, but at the time they were having a big swap meet there called Shoppers World. We played out on the porch as people walked up, Saturday and Sunday from noon to four. [Laughs.]
Almost every time, I’d call Barbara and she’d always show up and supply a great moment for folks there.”
“She’s an advocate, and always has been, for education, for exposing jazz and blues to a wide audience, a California audience, a young audience,” says Pierce, who played last year’s California Jazz & Blues Museum benefit in Van Nuys.
“She’s a true visionary, as far as I’m concerned — somebody who does what she says, at least tries her damnedest to make happen what her vision is.”
For Moore, who moved to Nashville in 2010 (“I still live in L.A. in my head”), flying back to help the museum was a no-brainer: “Every time I call her she says yes, so when she calls me I say yes.”
He credits the diverse L.A. community with shaping his artistry and music. “I always remember L.A. blues as part of a wider landscape of music,” he says. “The L.A. scene in music literally raised me. The studios, the clubs, the entertainers. A lot of people ask about who’s your influences: ‘You into B.B. King, Robert Johnson?’ I did listen to those people, but really it was the Lermon Hortons, and Miles Grayson, and Sterling Harris, and people like Barbara Morrison and Keisa Brown. Musicians that were playing the club scene back then, like John Barnes and Phillip Upchurch.”
After starting out in a steel calypso band as a teenager in the 1960s, Moore was hired at 21 to join Papa John Creach’s genre-spanning band. But his first solo gig on guitar, he says, was at the Apartment on Crenshaw in the ’70s. Chuckling at certain memories, he rumbles through a list of other mostly long-gone venues: Babe’s & Ricky’s Inn, the smoke-choked Family Room (“I’d cough up a lung every time I left outta there”), the Living Room, Page Four Lounge, the Parisian Room, the Pied Piper. Monday nights at Marla’s Memory Lane, the jazz and supper club run by actress/singer Marla Gibbs from 1981 to 1999, is where he got
(Continued
THIS WEEK
“schooled in the blues.”
“Class was in session with Monk Higgins and Guitar Charlie Tuna, better known as Charles Dennis. That was in probably ’82 or ’83. They whipped me into shape [laughs] when it come to the blues. …
“I wasn’t playing in elite sections of L.A. I was in South Central. That’s where the music was. That’s where I learned. That’s where I became who I am, you know? Those are the people who taught me, who came to the club and bought drinks and yelled at you sometimes [laughs], who’d tell you when you were sucking. People wouldn’t let you get away with anything.”
‘Clubs Were Like Neighborhoods’
“Every club had its regulars [who’d] get the club going,” Moore recalls. “They were there every night, socializing and whatever. Some music lovers, some musicians that just like to hang out, some hustlers and pimps. [Laughs.] Nightlife, you know. … Page Four Lounge, you never knew who was gonna duck their head in there, because it was really good music, it was a hangout for other musicians, sometimes touring musicians, famous actors, people from the neighborhood. A comedian named Robin Harris would come there every night and tell jokes, be there hanging out. Then he suddenly died, and I went to his funeral and he was frickin’ famous! Stevie Wonder was there and Spike Lee. I didn’t know he was famous. … Clubs were like neighborhoods.”
For a stretch of time in the 1980s and ’90s, stages from Long Beach’s Blue Café and
Hermosa Beach’s Café Boogaloo and Lighthouse Café to Leimert Park’s World Stage and Hollywood’s King King were hopping with jazz and blues acts like Mickey Champion, Buddy Collette, James Harman, World Stage founder Billy Higgins, Hollywood Fats, Juke Logan, King Cotton, King Ernest, Kid Ramos, Jimmie Wood, and too many others to name. The club circuit’s contracted severely since then, but L.A.’s blues and jazz community remains “pretty tight,” Pierce says, despite the toll exacted by music industry changes. That need for communal connection remains, too; understanding its history here helps with understanding the city and the music.
“Everybody’s out there just gigging and trying to keep their heads above water,” says Pierce, who was mentored by Jon Butcher before earning an Ella Fitzgerald jazz scholarship to USC at 18 in the ’90s. “There’s a great amount of respect for each other because we know how hard it is. We know you have to really love blues and
jazz and, in my case, soul. You have to have a deep yearning. … Events like this are a chance for everybody to come together and reconnect — ‘Hey, I haven’t seen you in five years’ — that’s really important, to share not only the triumphs but the struggles that we all have, trying to keep the music alive. We’re all warriors in this, trying to keep this legacy moving.”
Signifyin’ Blues 2019 happens Nov. 7 through Nov. 11 at Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel, 9620 Airport Blvd., Westchester. Single-night presale tickets start at $35 and full weekend passes start at $209 via signifyinblues.com. Tickets for the Saturday (Nov. 9) Keb’ Mo’ tribute banquet are $99 and for the Sunday (Nov. 10) jazz brunch/concert are $49 at signifyinblues.com.
The California Jazz & Blues Museum (4317 Degnan Blvd., South L.A.) hosts a kickoff party ($10 donation suggested) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 7). Call (310) 462-1439 for more info.
Keb’ Mo’ plays multiple sets at Signifyin’ Blues, a fundraiser for the California Jazz and Blues Museum
SPANISH VILLA
“Experience a new level of excellence in this landmark 1929 villa with four bedrooms, three baths in a two-story floorplan, offering views to the Palos Verdes peninsula, ocean, Santa Monica and DTLA,” says agent Jane St. John. “There has been exquisite attention to detail in the restoration of this timeless Spanish interior with oak floors, paver tiles, authentic fixtures, and impressive upgrades. The sophisticated new owner will enjoy the security systems, exterior lighting, two new HVAC systems with Nest controls, Tesla charging station, a wine cellar for your 800 bottle collection, and updated multi-room Control 4 stereo and sound systems. Four patios and courtyards create the perfect indoor/outdoor entertaining venues. The lower level private spa garden offers privacy and serenity.”
Marina City Club
Los Angeles Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle
ACROSS 1 Arctic “snowshoe” critters 6 Musical Mama
Meter users 15 Bit of beer, say
Cluster of stars?
Myanmar, at one time
Look forward to
Colorful card game 22 Note to self before appearing on “America’s Got Talent”?
MGM rival
Tile setter, often
Firing offense? 28 Well-mannered
Bits of energy 32 Stable dwellers 34 Dresses down 35 “What do you __?”
39 Where to find Reubens and Cubans
41 They’re in the air 43 Today, to Tomás
Coop up in a coop 46 Take a load off
Cry out
ENTERTAINER'S DREAM
“One of Westchester's largest lots has been artfully maximized into an enchanting oasis,” says agent Stephanie Younger. “Meander past manicured landscaping to an upgraded Napa-meets-Mediterranean home. Inside, a stately fireplace opens the great room. Perfect afternoons are spent in the California room, with its outdoor kitchen and secondstory redwood deck. Back inside, the master suite offers a private living room with two-way fireplace, wet bar and expansive walk-in closet with spa-like en suite.”
Offered at $2,789,000
Stephanie Younger Compass 310-499-2020
SOPHISTICATED LOFT HOME
“A modern live/work space is located in the unique Princeton Lofts,” says agent Charles Lederman. “This exceptional loft offers the ideal, quiet setting with incredible architecture to match. The master bedroom or sumptuous office features tall wood cabinets, providing ample storage in addition to large floor-to-ceiling windows. Currently used as a test-kitchen, this space has infinite possibilities for use Secure access and gated, this loft comes with two parking spots as well as additional guest parking.”
Offered at $865,000
Charles Lederman
Charles Lederman & Associates 310-821-8980
PLAYA VISTA TOWNHOME
"This pristine home in Tapestry I has 3 bedrooms and a bonus room" says agent Jesse Weinberg. "Features are a spacious sun-drenched living room, walnut flooring +
in the
room. The chef's kitchen
countertops & stainless-steel appliances. The upstairs showcases the master suite & 2 other
bedrooms w/ en-suite baths. The master boasts a walk-in closet, & mountain view. Live in modern comfort w/ all the benefits that Playa Vista has to offer."
Offered at $1,475,000 Jesse Weinberg & Vivian Lesny KW Silicon Beach 800-804-9132
THE ARGONAUT OPEN HOUSES
1-4
PLAYA
1-4
1-4
Sun 1-4 7959 West 83rd St. 4/4 Backyard firepit, lounge, built-in bbq, hot tub
Sun 1-4 6400 Seawalk Dr. 4/4.5 Refreshed ICON single family home
Sun 1-4 5700 Seawalk Dr. #6 3/3 Pristine townhome in Tapestry I
Sun 1-4 12824 S. Seaglass Circle 3/3.5 Modern features, bluff views in the heart of Playa Vista
VENICE Sun 1-4 2923 Grayson Ave. 3/2 Amazingly redone
WESTSIDE HAPPENINGS
Compiled by Sara Harmatz
Thursday, Nov. 7
On Air Los Angeles, 7 to 10 p.m.
Thursday and Friday. KCRW’s new HQ hosts the inaugural On Air LA Annex, featuring intimate conversations, performances and live podcasts, plus a cocktail reception before programming begins.1660 Stewart St., Santa Monica. $35. onairfest.com
Soundwaves: Jacaranda, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Attend a free preview of the Jacaranda Music series hosted by John Schneider and TJ Troy of the Grammy-winning Partch ensemble. Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. smpl.org
Friday, Nov. 8
Culver City Senior Center Holiday Boutique, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Get a head start on holiday shopping with handcrafted gifts at the Culver City Senior Center, 4095 Overland Ave., Culver City. (310) 253-6700
Jimmy Brewster with Suzanne Taix, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Enjoy dinner and dancing at the Marina City Club while listening to the sounds of Jimmy Brewster and Suzanne Taix. 4333 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey. (310) 822-0611, ext. 215; marinacityclub.net
Niall Breslin Interviews Chris O’Dowd, 6:30 to 8 p.m. The Irish music and television star bringing focus to mental health conducts a live taping of his “Where Is My Mind?” podcast at The Townhouse & Del Monte Speakeasy, 52 Windward Ave., Venice. $15. eventbrite.com
Poetry & the Science of Language, 8 to 10 p.m. Acclaimed poets Adam Dickinson and Amy Catanzano join Beyond Baroque’s poet-in-residence
Will Alexander for a reading and discussion on the intersection of poetic and scientific language. Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice. $6 to $10; free for members. (310) 822-3006; beyondbaroque.org
The Real Irish Comedy Show, 8:30 to 10 p.m. A night of emerging Irish comedy featuring Sean Finnerty, Dave Nihill, Jen Murphy, Adam Burke and Emma Payne follows Breslin and O’Dowd in the Townhouse, 52 Windward Ave., Venice. $15. eventbrite.com
Saturday, Nov. 9
St. Jerome’s Holiday Craft Faire, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. St. Jerome Church hosts its annual arts and crafts fair in the Parish Hall, with raffles every few hours. Food and beverages available. St. Jerome Church, 5550 Thornburn St., Westchester. (310) 348-8212; stjeromelax.org
Kiwi Conference, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participate in a full day of networking and hands-on learning from world class New Zealand speakers at the Spruce Goose Hangar, 15 Bluff Creek Drive, Playa Vista. Free with RSVP. eventbrite.com
Hand Book Binding at BookArts LA, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Karen Hanmer teaches a two-day workshop on basic leather techniques and split board binding. BookArtsLA, 11720 Washington Place. $250. (310) 722-9004; bookartsla.com
“A Military Family Documentary
- While Time Stands Still,” 9:30 a.m.
The Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club screens this documentary following
Rita Moreno stops by The Broad Stage for a night of show tunes and original songs. SEE SATURDAY, NOV. 9.
three military wives before, during and after their husbands’ combat deployment. Representatives from Bob Hope USO, UCLA/VA Veteran Family Wellness Program and Wounded Warriors Family Support Programs will be in attendance. Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club, 1210 Fourth St., Santa Monica. Free. smbw.org
Westchester Elks Holiday Boutique & Day of Beauty, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Westchester Elks Lodge hosts a day of shopping, beauty and exercise. Lunch included with admission. Westchester Elks Lodge 2050, 8025 W. Manchester Ave., Playa del Rey. $20. facebook.com/westchester.elks
Movember Undie Run, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Support men’s health during this charity underwear run supporting the fight against prostate and testicular cancers as well as mental health issues. Pick up a swag bag and cool
down at an after party. The Waterfront Venice, 205 Ocean Front Walk, Venice. $50. eventbrite.com
Clive Wilkinson: “The Theatre of Work,” 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Architect, designer, writer and strategist Clive Wilkinson discusses his debut book based on his experiences working with some of the world’s most creative companies, including Disney, Google and Microsoft. A tour of the KCRW Media Center follows. 1660 Stewart St., Santa Monica. $45; $35 FOR AIA members. (213) 639-0777; aialosangeles.org
Free Pizza & Bread Bake in Westchester’s Outdoor Wood-Fired Oven, 11:30 a.m. Experience the fun of preparing and baking breads in an adobe oven with members of the community. The pizza bake happens from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the bread bake starts at 2 p.m. 6700 W. 83rd St., Westchester. Donations welcome. meetup.com
Jukebox Jamboree Show, 2 to 4 p.m. The L.A. South Towns Show Chorus perform musical favorites spanning the decades. Admission includes entry to the Automobile Driving Museum, 610 Lairport St., El Segundo. $30. (310) 539-9123; lasouthtowns.org
Hama Sushi 40th Anniversary Block Party, 3 to 9 p.m. This OG Venice sushi joint celebrates a milestone with 40% off select dishes, drink specials, classic cars and a Venice Vintage Motorcycle Club rally, plus over 20 vendors, a Venice Paparazzi photo booth and the Venice Sign lit up in honor of the restaurant. 213 Windward Ave., Venice. (310) 396-9763; hamasushi.com
An Evening of Indian Raga and Beats, 7 to 10 p.m. Violinist Raaginder
ON STAGE – THE WEEK IN LOCAL THEATER
Momi and Nilan Chaudhuri on tabla perform Indian electronic raga music during an intimate candlelit concert. Wine and light snacks included. dnj Gallery, 3015 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica. $20. eventbrite.com
Come Gather ’Round People: Bob Dylan and Songs of Solidarity, 7 to 10 p.m. Join professors Richard Thomas and Jason Blakely as they discuss Bob Dylan’s life and lyrics with special guest Jamie N Commons. Deus Ex Machina, 1001 Venice Blvd., Venice. (888) 515-3387
An Evening with Rita Moreno, 7:30 p.m. Legendary entertainer and Oscar winner Rita Moreno performs favorites from the American Songbook, Broadway classics and selections from her Spanish album Una Vez Más. The Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. $79+. thebroadstage.org
The Susie Glaze New Folk Ensemble, 8 p.m. Award-winning vocalist Susie Glaze performs new folk Americana with mandolinist Steve Rankin, fiddler Mark Indictor and bassist Fred Sanders at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. $20. (310) 828-4497; mccabes.com
Sunday, Nov. 10
Yappy Hour at the Lincoln, 2 to 4 p.m. Hang out with therapy dogs and their human companions at this pup party and social hour. RSVP for a chance to win a Healthy Spot gift card. 2536 Lincoln Blvd., Venice. facebook.com/petpartnersofsocal
Robert Kerbeck: “Malibu Burning: The Real Story Behind L.A.’s Most
(Continued on page 22)
Encore: The Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre (BFF) @ Santa Monica Playhouse
The annual celebration of the dramatic arts continues with encore performances of “Dear Yoko,” about Anzu Lawson’s experience portraying Yoko Ono; “Leaving Prince Charming,” about one woman’s experience leaving an abusive relationship; and “L.A. I Hate You: A Love Story,” about the search for love and stardom in Los Angeles.
Now playing at various show times through Nov. 15 at 1211 4th St., Santa Monica. Free with RSVP. (310) 394-9779; santamonicaplayhouse.com
“Our Country” @ The Broad Stage Based on recorded conversations and Sophocles’ “Antigone,” this autobiographical play by Becca Wolff and Annie Saunders explores the fraught nature of siblinghood by combining stories from the American West and
marijuana country with Greek myths in a fresh way. Recommended for mature audiences.
Limited engagement: 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 9 & 10) at 1313 11th St., Santa Monica. $39 to $49. (310) 434-3200; thebroadstage.org
“Until It Becomes Dancing” @ Highways Performance Space
This split bill features Emily Barasch’s hybrid lecture and pop performance exploring the medical legitimization of hysteria and Levi Gonzalez’s series of four interrelated solos for individual dance artists, exploring sensuality, sensibilities, intimacy and vulnerability.
One performance only: 8:30 p.m.
Friday (Nov. 8) at 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. $15 to $20. (310) 453-1755; highwaysperformance.org
“Rigoletto” @ Miles Memorial Playhouse Vineyard Touring Opera Company
“Our Country” treads into America’s new wild west
brings Giuseppe Verdi’s classic opera about a jester’s daughter seduced by a powerful duke to Santa Monica. Two performances only: 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 9) at 1130 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica. $20 to $30. (909) 229-4410; vtopera.org
“Friidom & The Epiic Group: Existence” @ Highways Performance Space Dance artist and technologist Friidom (aka Darrel Dunn) unveils his
next “Epiic” style of movement featuring performances from well-known choreographers and global dance artists with hints of “Black Mirror” and “The Twilight Zone.”
One performance only: 8:30 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 9) at 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. $15 to $20. (310) 453-1755; highwaysperformance.org
“Fleabag: The Play” @ Loyola Marymount University LMU students tackle the stage version of the provocative Amazon comedy, which actress-writer Phoebe WallerBridge turned from an award-winning one-woman play into an Emmy-winning series.
Two performances only: 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 11 & 12) at Barnelle Theatre on the LMU campus in Westchester. Free, but RSVP at eventbrite. com. facebook.com/lmufleabag
Love Games: “Mono/Poly” @ Odyssey Theatre
Two monogamous couples who encounter a polyamorous triad at a costume party are forced to reexamine their long-held beliefs about love, devotion and marriage. Leave the kids at home for this adult comedy. Last shows: 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 7 to 10) at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A. $20 to $37. (310) 477-2055, ext. 2; monopolytheplay.com
Big Brother Returns: “1984” @ The Actors’ Gang Academy Award-winner Tim Robbins directs and plays the antagonist O’Brien in this dark and twisty adaptation of Orwell’s literary classic. Now playing at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (and 2 p.m. some Sundays) through Dec. 7 at 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City. $25 to $35, or pay what you want at the door on Thursdays. (310) 838-4264; theactorsgang.com
PHOTO BY GEMA
GALIANA
PHOTO BY AUSTIN HARGRAVE
WESTSIDE HAPPENINGS
Devastating Wildfire,” 3 p.m. Actor, writer and Pushcart Prize nominee Robert Kerbeck discusses his new investigative memoir about how the city of L.A. fought the Woolsey fire and how his family ultimately saved their Malibu home from the traumatic blaze. Diesel Bookstore at Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th St, Santa Monica. (310) 576-9960; dieselbookstore.com
California Guitar Trio at McCabe’s, 8 p.m. The band explores the intersections of rock, jazz, classical
and world music at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. $30. (310) 828-4497; mccabes.com
Monday, Nov. 11
Publication Party: “All-American Muslim Girl,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Join author Nadine Jolie Courtney in celebrating the release of her relevant and relatable novel “All-American Muslim Girl.” Diesel Bookstore at Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th St., Santa Monica. (310) 576-9960; dieselbookstore.com/brentwood
Tuesday, Nov. 12
Calamity Company + United Jams
Present “Live from Venice,” 9 p.m. Live rock, soul, folk and blues every Tuesday night in the Del Monte Speakeasy, 52 Windward Ave., Venice. $5 cover. (310) 392-4040; townhousevenice.com
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Toastmasters Speakers by the Sea Club, 11 a.m. to noon. In this workshop to develop better presentation skills, Toastmasters present the fundamentals of public speaking in a
relaxed atmosphere. Pregerson Technical Facility, 12000 Vista del Mar, Conference Room 230A, Playa del Rey. (424) 625-3131; toastmastersspeakersbythesea@gmail.com
Culver City Democratic Club Endorsments Meeting, 7 p.m. Cast your vote for endorsements for the March 2020 primary. Veteran’s Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City. culvercitydemocraticclub.com
A Living Laboratory for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. UCLA’s Chief Sustainabil-
ity and Executive Officer of Facilities Management Nurit Katz shares highlights of nature-based enhancements to UCLA’s campus and learn how campus birds and wildlife are integrated into applied research. Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, 6300 Hetzler Road, Culver City. laaudubon. org
Rusty’s Rhythm Club Swing Dance, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Dance the night away to jump blues by Danny Freyer and the Red Hot Flyers at 8025 W. Manchester Ave., Playa del Rey. A half-hour swing dance class precedes the 8 p.m. dance. $15. (310) 606-5606; rustyfrank.com
Theta Grooves at Gravlax, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Behind the Meter presents a techno night featuring Matt Hill, Sans Nom, Dan the Boy and Christian Fuller. Gravlax, 12400 Washington Blvd., Del Rey. No cover. gravlaxla.com
Thursday, Nov. 14
Women Empowering Women Joint Fall Mixer, 5 to 7 p.m. Join Women Empowering Women Los Angeles and network with entrepreneurs from the Riveter and the Center for Intersectional Media and Entertainment. The Riveter, 4505 Glencoe Ave., Marina del Rey. $5. eventbrite.com
Real Estate Vendors Expo, 6 to 8:30 p.m. The L.A. Real Estate Investors Club hosts an expo featuring over 40 real estate professionals, including lenders, contractors, property insurance agents, home inspectors and mortgage brokers. Olympic Collection 3rd floor ballroom, 11301 W. Olympic Blvd. Free. RSVP at lareic.com.
South Bay Laker Game with LAX Young Professionals, 6 to 9:30 p.m. Watch the future stars of the NBA take on the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Before the game, network amid drinks and food trucks; after the game enjoy getting autographs from players and pose with the LA Lakers trophy! UCLA Health Training Center, 2275 E. Mariposa Ave., El Segundo. $25; $15 for members. business.laxcoastal.com
Historic Fire Station 62 Update, 7 to 8:30 p.m. The community group working to turn the old fire station on 3631 Centinela Ave. into a community center gives a project update at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 3590 Grand View Blvd., Mar Vista. historic62.org
Museums & Galleries
“The Box Project,” opening reception 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9. Inspired by mail art exchanges of the 1960s and ’70s, this exhibit features small artworks from three women’s art collectives in Paris, Mexico City and Los Angeles and their transnational correspondence. Duron Gallery at SPARC, 685 Venice Blvd., Venice. (310) 822-9560; sparcinla.org
