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HIGH FLYING
Musicians pay tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson and bassist Ray Brown E3
Former Border Patrol agent writes a memoir about his four years on the job E7
A mountaintop in Mexico is a winter sanctuary for monarch butterflies, and human visitors find it a mystical experience E8
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SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 18, 2018
R O Y A L
D E B U T
Rising star joins accomplished veterans in San Diego Opera’s ‘Turandot’
W
BY PAM KRAGEN
hen she was 4 years old, Angel Joy Blue saw her very first opera: “Turandot.” ■ This
week, the Southern California soprano will mark another first. She’ll make her role debut as Liù in Giacomo Puccini’s beloved grand opera with San Diego Opera. ■ Raised in Apple Valley and Los Angeles and now
based in Redlands, Blue said she’s thrilled to be performing where her family can come to see her sing. But most important, she’s thrilled to embark on a new role with two of the best singers in the business guiding her path. ■ Production star Lise Lindstrom is one of the world’s leading Turandots and is playing the role in San Diego for the second time since her company debut in 2011. SEE ‘TURANDOT’ • E5
“Turandot” When: 7 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Feb. 27; 7 p.m. March 2; 2 p.m. March 4 Where: San Diego Opera at the San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown Tickets: $48 and up Phone: (619) 533-7000 Online: sdopera.org
OPENS SATURDAY! FEBRUARY 24 / 27 / MARCH 2 / 4M SAN DIEGO CIVIC THEATRE sdopera.org/UT
(619) 533-7000
“
CRISTINA BYVIK U-T ILLUSTRATION
PRODUCTION SPONSOR DARLENE MARCOS SHILEY
ravishingly seductive... unquestionably powerful…” —The New York Times
TURANDOT Giacomo Puccini
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SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 18, 2018
Tribute to two jazz giants ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Oscar Peterson was one of the world’s best-known jazz pianists. “When Oscar played the piano, he was the whole orchestra,” said bassist John Clayton.
Disciples of pianist Oscar Peterson and bassist Ray Brown will show their admiration in concert BY GEORGE VARGA
J
ust how important were pianist Oscar Peterson and bassist Ray Brown — two of the most iconic artists in jazz history — to the world of music? ■ Drum dynamo
Jeff Hamilton and bass stalwart John Clayton, each of whom played with Peterson and Brown, are quick to offer an answer. ■ “I said this in the ‘Music in the Key of Oscar’ documentary: Oscar will go down as one of the greatest pianists, ever, in any genre,” Hamilton said. “And, to me, Ray is the greatest jazz
bassist who ever played.” ■ Clayton concurs. On Saturday, he and Hamilton will headline the San Diego Symphony’s orchestra-free “Jazz at the Jacobs” concert “Affinity: A Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson Tribute.” The other musicians in the lineup include pianist Larry Fuller, who was the pianist in Brown’s final band, and — at least for one song — trumpeter and “Jazz at the Jacobs” curator Gilbert Castellanos. “Oscar and Ray were both phenomenal,” Clayton said of Peterson, who died in 2007, and Brown, who died in 2002. “When Oscar played the piano, he was the whole orchestra. He could play something as rhythmic and aggressive as Bartók, and yet be as tender and expressive as Debussy or Mozart. In any area of art — whether film, painting, music — there are always people who stand out as pivotal. Ray represents that, because he’s the link between the swing era and the bebop era. “And Oscar had one foot steeped in the pre-1940s stride piano tradition, and the other in bebop and swing. So, combine all that with Oscar and Ray’s love of the blues and you get that classic, innovative sound and style they both had.” Brown played alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker when bebop was born in the first half of the 1940s. In addition to scores of jazz luminaries, he also worked with artists as varied as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald (to whom he was married from 1947 to 1953), Elvis Costello and Blondie. Peterson also played with Parker, Gillespie and Fitzgerald, as well as with everyone from Billie Holiday and Buddy Rich to bossa-nova king Antonio Carlos Jobim and progressive-rock keyboard pioneer Keith Emerson. Brown and Peterson were both already well-established when they joined forces in the Oscar Peterson Trio in 1952. Over the next 15 years, they set an enduring standard for both virtuosity and finely nuanced interplay. The trio’s best-known lineups also featured either Ed Thigpen on drums or Herb Ellis on guitar.
Musical fireworks Brown provided a rhythmic foundation that was simultaneously fluid, propulsive and rock solid. Peterson’s keyboard fireworks — which included his trademark quicksilver parallel octave runs — often left audiences gasping (and many other pianists contemplating early retirement). His protean playing was so dazzling that he earned a rave review from The New York Times for a 1993 Big Apple club show, which Peterson performed a day after suffering a stroke that rendered him unable to use his left hand. “Oscar picked up his left hand and put in on the keyboard, and his left hand didn’t work at all,” recalled Hamilton, who was Peterson’s drummer at the time, in a voice still filled with awe. “But you would never have known it. I kept hearing all these great notes and it was all done with one hand. I thought, ‘This guy is better with one hand than 90 percent of all other pianists playing with both their hands!’ And John Wilson of The New York Times, not knowing Oscar was playing with just his right hand, gave him this glowing review. He wrote that Oscar sounded great and he was absolutely right. Oscar played with one hand and he just killed it.” Saturday’s two-part tribute concert will feature drummer Hamilton and his trio, which features pianist Fuller and bassist Christopher Luty. They will perform various Peterson favorites and selections from the pianist’s landmark 1964 album “Canadiana Suite.” Hamilton will then join Clayton’s trio to perform an entire set of Peterson classics. To preview the show, here are selected quotes from past UnionTribune interviews with Peterson and Brown. Also included are
Bassist Ray Brown played with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker when bebop was born in the first half of the 1940s. quotes from interviews with Hamilton, Clayton, San Diego flutist Holly Hofmann and pianist Mike Wofford, and former San Diego bassist Kristin Korb. Ray Brown: “All I want anybody who has heard me play, or will hear me play, is to say: ‘This guy gave us the best he could give us — he wasn’t fooling around when he was playing music.’ ” Oscar Peterson: “When I started off, my primary goal was to achieve a mastery of the instrument to the point where I could express myself without stumbling over the keyboard or my thoughts. Today, I don’t profess to be as worried about that aspect. What I am concerned about is the direction of my music. Like any artist, I am faced with a race against time.” Jeff Hamilton: “I’ve talked to several drummers who considered it a nightmare to play with Oscar and Ray because of the power with which they both played music. But they didn’t expect anything more than they did of themselves, which was to always operate at 100 percent and never make any mistakes.” Ray Brown: “I had heard a lot of good players — Count Basie’s band, tons of records — but I’d never heard anyone play like Dizzy and Bird before in my life. I’d heard Bird with Jay McShann’s band, but I had no idea what a monster he was. Nothing could get you ready for that! I had already played with Dizzy, Max (Roach) and Bird, and they played as fast as you can play. Then Oscar did it just as fast, only longer!” Oscar Peterson: “I would have to say we wanted to establish a standard for trio playing, and I think it’s still the standard in many ways today. … I knew exactly what I wanted to do from the word go, and I had this driving force inside me. I
“Affinity: A Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson Tribute” presented by the San Diego Symphony’s “Jazz at the Jacobs”
With: Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton, Larry Fuller, Christoph Luty, Tamir Hendelman, Gilbert Castellanos and the the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory Trio When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall, 600 B St., downtown Tickets: $25-$68 Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org wouldn’t accept any intolerance or insurgencies, and that was understood.” Mike Wofford: “Oscar was one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz piano and jazz in general. He was kind of a composite of the great masters before him, particularly Art Tatum and Nat ‘King’ Cole. But he carved out a style and approach of his own that others tried to emulate, although not too successfully.” Holly Hofmann: “I’ve never heard any other jazz bassist, from Dave Holland to Christian McBride, who didn’t immediately acknowledge being influenced heavily by Ray. I learned more about music and humanity from playing with Ray than from anyone else in my life. He was also one of the few jazz legends who still believed in the tradition that Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey were famous for, which was nurturing the musicianship and careers of younger players.” Kristin Korb: “I was such a jazz baby when I met Ray. I had a few
official lessons with him, but I always learned things from just being in his presence. At one point, when we were making my album, he asked me if I could play chords on the piano and suggested that I work on it. Dizzy made him do it, and now he was passing the lesson on to me. ... He knew that I was serious about being a better musician. He was kind enough to open the doors and show me the way.” Ray Brown: “When I was young, I was hired by older guys; I just think that’s the normal way, and that’s how I learned things. ... All the guys of my era did that.” Oscar Peterson: “I think, possibly, I made the decision to pursue jazz as a career after sitting in with a group in Montreal and playing unabashedly, so to speak. I was 14, and that experience cemented my idea that I wanted to have my own group and have it sound a certain way. How? I didn’t want to have bass and drums accompanying a piano, the way most groups did. I wanted to have a group like Nat Cole had, where every member was an integral part and their contributions would be of equal importance. At the same time, I knew someone would have to be a driving force within the group, and I decided that would be me.” John Clayton: “I don’t think Ray knew how good he was. He didn’t think of himself as having the answers. Some answers, yes, but the answers, no.” Ray Brown: “I like what (pianist) Tommy Flanagan said: ‘Technique is great, if you use it when you need it.’ But I know that when I do a bass clinic, all the young students are awed when you play something fast. And, yet, the hardest thing to do is play a slow jazz groove tempo, with quarter notes, and make it swing.” Oscar Peterson: “It doesn’t matter what the instrument is; it’s simply another means of expression. … Whether you have transistors reacting to you or strings and wires, it still depends on you and what you say that makes it valid or invalid.” Ray Brown: “I work with about six different groups every year, and I just sort of jump in between. I work with Oscar Peterson, Andre Previn, James Williams and Gene Harris. Then I play in Triple Threat with Monty Alexander and Jeff Hamilton, Gene Harris’ big band and — in Europe — with the group Two Bass Hit. You know, I’m like a guy with a harem! Work doesn’t bother me. I like to play. You get stuff from other musicians, then you elaborate on it, come up with something you call your own, and pass it along. That’s what I do.” george.varga@sduniontribune.com
ARTS
SUMMER STARS This year’s Bayside Summer Nights lineup includes Clint Black and many more E3
T R AV E L
ARTS
COWGIRL YOGA A yoga retreat in Montana offers sisterhood along with tree poses and trails E10
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CROWD FAVORITES Soprano Ailyn Pérez among the highlights of San Diego Opera’s 2018-19 season E4
SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 25, 2018
Actor Jason Heil hits the waves, determined to get into the mind of the surf-loving mayor he’ll play in San Diego Rep’s ‘Beachtown’
ON BOARD I
BY JAMES HEBERT
t’s true that “Beachtown,” the audience-interactive work that has its world premiere at San Diego Rep next month, is what could be called an “immersive” work of theater. That doesn’t mean there will be actual water on the stage. And there definitely will be no waves. But that hasn’t stopped Jason Heil, who portrays the mayor of the show’s titular town, from attempting to embrace his character’s surf-loving ways as he preps for his part in the play. What Heil is embracing at the moment, on a dazzling winter morning at La Jolla Shores, is a hulking “foamie” surfboard, which he lugs down to the water for the start of a surf lesson. Heil has tried surfing once before, on his honeymoon in Kauai some 16 years ago. But this is the Ohio native’s first attempt at it in San Diego — his first time, in fact, wearing a wetsuit. His rookie status, though, doesn’t faze Jessica Ryder, the instructor from Izzy Tihanyi’s esteemed Surf Diva Surf School SEE HEIL • E5
HOWARD LIPIN U-T PHOTOS
“Beachtown” When: Previews begin March 22. Opens March 28. 7 p.m. TuesdaysWednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. (Some exceptions; check with theater.) Through April 15. Where: San Diego Rep’s Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown Tickets: $20-$65 (discounts available) Phone: (619) 544-1000 Online: sdrep.org
Actor Jason Heil, who plays Mayor Steve Novak in “Beachtown,” gets a surfing lesson from Surf Diva instructor Jessica Ryder.
2018–19 SEASON • SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW • SDOPERA.ORG • 619-533-7000
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SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 25, 2018
Bayside bonanza
The San Diego Symphony’s 2018 Bayside Summer Nights schedule June 29-July 1: Star Spangled Pops July 4: “America’s Birthday,” with Clint Black July 6-7: Megan Hilty July 12: Arturo Sandoval* July 13-14: Rick Springfield July 26: Godfathers of Latin Jazz: A Salute to Dizzy Gillespie & Chano Pozo* July 27: Marc Cohn and the Blind Boys of Alabama*
Big-name lineup for 2018 outdoor concert series signals San Diego Symphony’s ambitious plans
July 28: Patti LaBelle July 29: “Beethoven by the Bay”
BY GEORGE VARGA
T
he San Diego Symphony’s Bayside Summer Nights
Aug. 3: TBA
concert series set an attendance record in 2016, when
Aug. 4-5: “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” live in concert
it surpassed the 60,000 mark for the first time in its
history, then jumped dramatically to 77,000 last year. Ticket
Aug. 9: “Bird on the Bay,” a Charlie Parker Tribute, featuring Charles McPherson and Christopher Hollyday*
revenues topped $3 million for the first time.■ Those numbers could go even higher this year, thanks to a 2018 lineup that includes R&B vocal powerhouse Patti LaBelle, Broad-
Aug. 10: “West Side Story”
way star Megan Hilty, the current editions of Motown legends
Aug. 11: “Hooray for Hollywood”
The Temptations and The Four Tops, and screenings — with live orchestral accompaniment — of “West Side Story” and
Aug. 12: Pablo Montero
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” The lineup also in-
Aug. 17-18: “Chicago, The Musical” live in concert
cludes Rick Springfield, Clint Black, Cuban-born jazz trumpet star Arturo Sandoval, and the double-bill of singer-song-
Aug. 19: Robert Randolph & The Family Band *
writer Marc Cohn with gospel-music legends the Blind Boys
Aug. 23: “Ladies Who Jam: Women in Jazz,” featuring Helen Sung and Sylvia Cuenca*
of Alabama. This year’s series, which runs June 29 through Sept. 1, will mark the 35th summer season for the orchestra. It will also be either the last or second-to-last before the Bayside Summer Nights concert venue at Embarcadero Marina Mark South undergoes a $45 million expansion, after which it will be renamed Bayside Performance Park. The new venue will feature permanent backstage dressing rooms and instrument-storage facilities, along with what is sure to be a fan favorite: 64 indoor toilets. There will also be dedicated work spaces for the audio and video staff. Dining options and other customer amenities will also be enhanced. The expansion will transform the seasonal summer venue, located behind the San Diego Convention Center, into a yearround concert and entertainment
TALKING WITH ...
facility that will be able to accommodate up to 10,000 people per show. That’s more than three times larger than its current 2,900 capacity, although San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer stresses there will be no more than four shows per year designed to draw 10,000. The switch to year-round operations will also see the number of concerts grow, from the three-dozen or so now held annually by the symphony each summer to up to 110 annually. That increase will be phased in gradually over the next dozen years, with the majority of new events being non-symphony presentations for which the expanded venue will be rented by other organizations and promoters.
Aug. 24-25: The Four Tops and The Temptations * Aug. 31-Sept. 2: 1812 Tchaikovsky Spectacular DEREK BLANKS
When: Concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: Single tickets go on sale April 29. Subscription tickets are on sale now online, by phone and at the symphony’s downtown box office for the following packages: Ultimate Series: 8 concerts ($152-$696); Bravo or Encore Series: 4 concerts: ($84-$360); Thursday Night Jazz: 3 concerts ($51-$195); Sunday Sunset Series: 5 Concerts ($105-$430); and Sunday Classical Series: 3 Concerts ($63-$258).
‘Prelude to the expansion’ “There’s no question that this SEE BAYSIDE • E6
* The San Diego Symphony does not appear at these concerts.
COURTESY PHOTOS
Clockwise from top: Patti LaBelle, Robert Randolph and Megan Hilty will come to San Diego this summer.
Phone: (618) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org
Brian Selznick & David Serlin
PRIVATE JOKE BECOMES AN ACCLAIMED CHILDREN’S BOOK BY JOHN WILKENS Brian Selznick has been defying convention for as long as he’s been illustrating and writing children’s books — more than 25 years now. He’s best known for massive middle-grade novels so imaginative and cinematic that two of them, the Caldecott Medal-winning “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” and “Wonderstruck,” have been made into movies. His new book, “Baby Monkey, Private Eye,” is another boundary-buster, a beginning-reader that stretches to almost 200 pages. Co-authored with his husband, David Serlin, a University of California San Diego communication pro-
“Baby Monkey, Private Eye” by Brian Selznick and David Serlin; Scholastic; 192 pages fessor, it uses black-andwhite noir styling to capture the exploits of a snack-eating, note-taking detective who has a funny foe: his own pants. The book has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist and Kirkus. The authors split their time between La Jolla and Brooklyn.
Q:
How did this collaboration begin? I understand you used to trade stories about a monkey over the phone. Selznick: It began early in our relationship. David and I have for many, many years just joked about a little baby monkey and what the funniest job for him would be. I think David probably thought of private eye. Serlin: We would ask ourselves: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if he could solve some important detective story but he wasn’t able to climb over a wall? If it took him five minutes to figure out who did the crime but it took him an hour to climb a tree?” The funny contrast between
being able to do something very difficult on the one hand and not being to do something we would think of as straightforward on the other. Selznick: Like putting on his pants. We realized that was the funniest thing of all.
Q:
How did it become a book?
Selznick: I had finished “The Marvels,” my last big illustrated novel, 600 pages, and I had an idea for another illustrated novel and I was talking to my editor, Tracy Mack at Scholastic, about this new idea for another giant novel and Tracy kind of sighed and said, “Do you have anything that’s maybe a SEE ‘MONKEY’ • E6
COURTESY PHOTO
Brian Selznick (left) and David Serlin.
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