Z贸calo Tucson arts and culture / ZOCALOMAGAZINE.COM / april 2016 / no. 73
inside
April 2016
07. Arts 14. Galleries 19. Performances 20. Events 27. Film 45. Outside 50. Poetry 53. Borderland Ghost Towns 59. Tunes 64. Life in Tucson 65. Look Back On the Cover:
The Arizona International Film Festival celebrates 25 years. Inside this issue of Zócalo; an interview with the festival founder and a special section featuring the complete film schedule.
Zócalo is an independent, locally owned and printed magazine that reflects the heart and soul of Tucson.
PUBLISHER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR David Olsen CONTRIBUTORS Craig Baker, Andrew Brown, Francisco Cantuú, Jefferson Carter, Sara Cline, Carl Hanni, Jim Lipson, Danny Martin, Troy Martin, Niccole Radhe, Amanda Reed, Herb Stratford, Diane C. Taylor, Jeff Weber. LISTINGS Amanda Reed, listings@zocalotucson.com PRODUCTION ARTISTS Troy Martin, David Olsen AD SALES: Kenny Stewart, advertising@zocalotucson.com CONTACT US:
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April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 5
SIGHTLINES
Jody Forster
Daniel Leivick
MARCH 8 - JUNE 4, 2016 RECEPTION: 7-10 PM, MARCH 12, 2016 135 South 6th Avenue | P: 520.624.7370 | T-S 11am - 5pm & By Appointment | EthertonGallery.com
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Dick Arentz
arts Z
“Photosynthesis” by Robin Noorda
Merci Gallery
Downtown’s Newest Gallery & Special Event Space by Herb Stratford The Tucson gallery scene of the past 20+ years has been a challenging environment to operate in, to say the least. Art spaces that thrive are usually the result of operators who provide a few key elements to the public; a unique and easily accessible location, quality artwork by emerging and established artists and a vibe that is unlike any other space in town. Special event spaces are even tougher to find that are cutting-edge-cool and something that can host a wide variety of events without getting boring. Tucson’s newest gallery/ event space Merci Gallery, appears to have what it takes. The creation of Corbin Dooley and Colleen LaFleur, Merci opened up last December as a multi-media art gallery and special event location that also features live, local music and a fully functioning bar specializing in champagne. The gallery space is just an 1,800 square foot part of the larger 1947 building that once housed a laundromat, then a diaper factory and then a teen shelter before Corbin and Colleen transformed it over a period of 18 months. The space also features a state-of-the-art audio system and video wall, custom lighting, furniture, high-tech walk-in cooler and other amenities not found in other event spaces. The greater building also houses LaFleur’s botanical design business, so it was a natural extension to add Merci to the mix and fill a niche downtown in the process. Since opening in December, Merci has hosted a wide variety of events such as musical performances, book signings, private parties and art events, and is according to most people who see it, “unlike anything else in Tucson.” One of the more unique aspects of the Merci gallery is its permanent liquor license, which lets the gallery serve alcoholic beverages whenever they are open, unlike other art spaces that have to either obtain a special even permit
or skirt the law by serving wine in plastic cups for their openings and special events. Another element of note is Merci’s atmosphere. The space has a “green” feel to it with its stylistic plant wall and hip urban environment. No disrespect to other downtown venues, but the ante just got upped a few notches, and perhaps the addition of this space will drive even more business to downtown’s burgeoning special event scene. On April 2 a new group show of botanic-themed artwork debuts featuring the work of Jenny Brown, Craig Cramer, Daniel Kim and Colleen LaFleur and Robin Noorda. The show features remarkable works depicting the beauty of flora in the world. On opening night April 2, singer-songwriter Adam Townsend will also perform as part of the free reception at the gallery. Regular hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 5pm, and also on first Saturday Artwalks from 6pm to midnight. On May 7, singer-songwriter Luke John will be the featured performer for the evening along with the botanical show, which will be on display through early June. Merci has partnered with acclaimed Perrier-Jouet to become the prominent PJ botanical champagne bar in the United States, which will lead to future installations and special events at the gallery, and adds another dimension to the downtown bar scene. But Dooley and LaFLeur are most interested in seeing Merci be used by as many different groups as possible, and hope that their investment will inspire people to imagine the possibilities. Rental inquiries are welcome and should be directed to: enquete@mercigallery.com, or by calling 520.623.2114. n Merci Gallery is located at 630 East 9th Street. MerciGallery.com April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 7
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arts Z
CJ Shane - Desert Early Morning
Heart of Tucson Artists Open Their Studios by Diane C. Taylor Listen closely in central Tucson and you may hear the hammering of metal or the whir of a potter’s wheel. Some 49 artists in 19 locations are preparing for the Heart of Tucson Art Spring Open Studio Tour April 9-10. The artists will open their studios and share their art from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The Heart of Tucson Art is in the mid-town Tucson Arts District. Defined by the current group, it’s bounded by Roger on the north, Craycroft on the east, 17th Street on the south, and Euclid on the west. Art media include painting in all its forms (oil, acrylic, watercolor, encaustic, dye on silk, pastel, gouache, ink, charcoal, etc.), sculpture, metal work, wood, ceramics, fused glass, paper, photography, needlework and jewelry. The group held its first tour in October 2015, in response to the initial cancellation of last year’s Tucson Pima Arts Council citywide fall tour. A survey after
the tour provided really positive feedback, Linda Chappel, an artist with the Heart of Tucson Art, said. Visitors were excited about being able to see most, if not all, of the artists on the tour over the weekend. Artists were happy they could finally visit the studios of colleagues not on the same tour. The activities of the group are all volunteer-driven, Chappel explained, with artists coming together and using their special knowledge and abilities to make things happen and get things done. She takes care of the social media (Facebook and Twitter). Painter and writer C.J. Shane is the driving force behind the effort and responsible for the press releases. Painter Christy Olsen has put together the website with an interactive map. Lynne East-Itkin, a multi-talented artist and graphic artist, the organizer of Many Hands Artist Cooperative and heavily involved in the Blue Raven Art School, created the ads and flyers. “With a view to the future, we’re looking into Arizona nonprofit status, to be
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Z arts able to apply for grants. We’re planning a couple of pop-up events each year, as well. We’ve already set October 29-30 for our fall tour,” Chappel said. “And the best is, as an artist-centered group, we are having fun working together and bouncing off new ideas for promoting our art.” The artists in the group are amazingly talented, Chappel said. “You’d be surprised at how many creative people and spaces are hidden in the neighborhoods of Tucson. It’s important to note that not all professional artists are downtown,” she continued. “Many of us have our own individual spaces in the midtown neighborhoods. Artists’ studios are located in all sorts of spaces -- from historic adobes, including Many Hands Artist Cooperative, in a repurposed motor court, to the modern industrial loft-style studios at Metal Arts Village. It’s fun to see all the unique spaces artists have carved out of the central Tucson residential areas to work in.” “For me personally,” she continued, “participating in the tour lets me show my art work to the community and engage directly with people who are buying my art work. I am very excited to see more recognition of the smaller, regional tours.”
Looking for art? Looking for large-scale metal sculptures (or an oil painting)? Visit the Metal Arts Village artists. An art piece for your home or office? The artists on the tour offer an amazing variety, from silk that’s painted with dyes to abstract paintings. Be sure to ask Linda Chappel or Sarah Lewis about their encaustics, made with beeswax and resin.
Betina Fink - Mendocino Headlands
Kyle Johnston - Tall Tree 10 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
Some artists are using found materials in their work, turning them into sculptures or assemblages. One such artist is Kyle Johnston, who also creates mixed-media and acrylic pieces. He’s excited, because “Hot ART provides me and other artists in the area a means to establish and maintain a much-needed channel to show our work.” Then there are the jewelers. Among them: If you’ve wondered what happened to Piney Hollow, purveyor of beads and jewelry on Fourth Avenue, you’ll want to visit Shannon Haggerty and mom Mimi Haggerty, the former owners. Besides their silver and bead jewelry creations, they repair jewelry. “I’m really excited to be a part of a smaller, more centrally located show, with other artists in the same area of town that I live in,” Shannon Haggerty said. For clay pieces, you can visit a variety of individual artists as well as the Tucson Clay Art Center and the Tucson Clay Co-op. For the most diverse art forms in one spot, visit the Many Hands Artist Cooperative. “This is a great opportunity to stop by and meet the artists, learn more about how they work and talk about their work with them,” Chappel said. “Many artists are happy to show you the materials they use, explain their techniques and talk about what inspires their art work. Being able to see ‘behind the scenes’ is fun, and it gives you greater appreciation for the art you see and perhaps buy. The tour offers unique, affordable art and an experience you won’t get at any chain store!” n For a map and a complete, up-to-date list of artists, see heartoftucsonart.info. Diane C. Taylor is, by chance, also one of the HotART artists.
Al Glann - Beyond the Ridge
Betsy Tanzer - large spherical vesse
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 11
Open Studio Tour e e r F Self Guided Tour Open to the Public!
Saturday, April 9 & Sunday, April 10, 2016 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
More Maps & Artist Information Online at HeartOf TucsonArt.info
This advertisement is partially sponsored by Z贸calo Magazine.
More Maps & Artist Information Online at HeartOfTucsonArt.info
Open to the Public! Saturday, April 9 & Sunday, April 10, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
e FreSelf Guided Tour
Learn more about the artists and enjoy a unique shopping experience.
Celebrate the rich artistic culture of the Tucson Arts District, deep within the Heart of Tucson (HoT Art).
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Richard Zelens 3250 E Kleindale Rd (520) 301-9057
Linda Chappel 2315 E Blacklidge Dr (520) 326-1371
Betsy Tanzer 1703 E Fort Lowell Rd (520) 661-8089
Many Hands Artist Cooperative 3054 N First Ave Suite 7 (520) 624-7612
Barbara Peabody 924 E Desert Pkwy
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11 Kyle Johnston 1938 N Arcadia Ave (520) 404-9187 12 Diane C. Taylor 1938 N Arcadia Ave (703) 870-8077 13 C.J. Shane 4550 E Lester St
Tucson Clay Co-op 3226 N Dodge Blvd (917) 705-3803 Metal Arts Village Artists 3230 N Dodge Blvd (480) 560-3243 Christy Olsen 3910 E. Lind Rd (520) 777-1405
14 David Conrad 1801 N Desmond Ln
10 Carolyn Ferguson 4423 E Blacklidge Dr (520) 248-2069
Jonathan Bell 3250 E Kleindale Rd (520) 301-9057
19 Janet Burner 1019 N. Jacobus Ave (520) 624-5201
18 Meredith Milstead 828 E. Elm Street (520) 449-3643
17 Mimi Haggerty 2805 E Lester St
16 Shannon Haggerty 2805 E Lester St
15 Nathanael Addison 3902 E. 17th Street (520) 324-0189
photos: E. G. Schempf
Z art galleries & exhibits
CONRAD WILDE GALLERY, 11th Annual Encaustic Invitational: Length x Width x Depth. Shown artwork by Jennie Frederick, detail.
ARIZONA HISTORY MUSEUM Chasing Villa opens April 1st with a reception and free admission from 6-8pm. Above and Beyond: Arizona and the Medal of Honor is on view through May. Hours: Mon & Fri 9am-6pm; Tues-Thurs 9am-4pm; Sat & Sun 11am-4pm. 949 E. 2nd Street. 520-628-5774. ArizonaHistoricalSociety.org
ARIZONA STATE MUSEUM
Intimacy of Faith, featuring retables and ex-votos from the Gloria Fraser Giffords and the Giffords family on view through May 2016. Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm. 520-621-6302. 1013 E. University Blvd. StateMuseum.Arizona.Edu
ARTIST STUDIO COOP C.G. Penaloza featuring ceramic works, opens with a reception on Apr 2nd from 6-9pm and will continue to the end of the month. Hours: Sat 12-4pm. 439 N. 6th Ave. Suite 179. ArtistStudioCoop.com
CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
The Lives of Pictures: Forty Years of Collecting at the Center for Creative Photography is on view to May 14th. Hours: Tues-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat-Sun 1-4pm. 1030 N. Olive Rd. 520-621-7968. CreativePhotography.org
CONRAD WILDE GALLERY
11th Annual Encaustic Invitational: Length x Width x Depth opens with a reception Apr 2nd from 6-9pm and continues through May 21st. Hours: Tues-Sat 11am-5pm. 101 W. 6th St., #121. 520-622-8997. ConradWildeGallery.com
HOTEL CONGRESS LOBBY Pieces of Tucson: Robert Berk is on view Mar 9th
CONTRERAS GALLERY Drawings at Contreras Gallery is on view from Apr 2nd
to Apr 20th with a reception on Apr 8th from 6-8pm. 311 East Congress St., HotelCongress.com
to 30th with an opening reception on Apr 2nd from 6-9pm. Hours: Weds-Sat 10am-4pm. 110 E. 6th St. 520-398-6557. ContrerasHouseFineArt.com
DAVIS DOMINGUEZ GALLERY Small Things Considered – 24th small works invitational opens on Apr 29th. Hours: Tues-Fri 11am-5pm; Sat 11am-4pm. 154 E. 6th St. 520-629-9759. DavisDominguez.com
DEGRAZIA GALLERY IN THE SUN DeGrazia After Dark featuring nocturnal paintings by Ted DeGrazia and The Way of the Cross are on view to Aug 24th. Hours: 10am-4pm daily. 6300 N. Swan Rd. 520-299-9191. DeGrazia.org
DESERT ARTISANS GALLERY
Color Crush continues to May 1st. Trunk Show: Sharon Bertrand & Dikki Van Helsland is on Apr 2nd from 10am to 1pm. Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 10am-1:30pm. 6536 E. Tanque Verde Rd. 520-722-4412. DesertArtisansGallery.com
DRAWING STUDIO Art Undressed: A Celebration of the Human Form runs from Apr 16th to May 7th with an opening reception on Apr 16th from 6-9pm. The Colored Pencil Way: Works in colored pencil by Leslie Hawes closes on Apr 3rd. Free colored pencil demonstration on Mar 12th from 1-4pm. 2760 N. Tucson Blvd. 520-620-0947. TheDrawingStudiotds.org
ETHERTON GALLERY
Sightlines featuring works by Dick Arentz, Jody Forster and Daniel Leivick is on view to Jun 4th. In the Temple Gallery, Tucson Artists Group: Re-Emergence 2 is on view to May 30th. Hours: Tues-Sat 11am-5pm. 135 S. 6th Ave. 520-624-7370. EthertonGallery.com
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IRONWOOD GALLERY International Society of Scratchboard Artists 5th Annual Exhibition opens Apr 8th with an opening reception from 2-5pm and is on view to May 29th. Society of Animal Artists: Art and the Animal closes on Apr 3rd. Hours: Daily 10am4pm. 2021 N. Kinney Rd. 520-883-3024. DesertMuseum.org
JOSEPH GROSS GALLERY Wynne Neilly: Female to “Male” closes on Apr 8th. Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm. 1031 N. Olive Rd. 520-626-4215. CFA.arizona.edu/galleries
MERCI GALLERY
Botanic Art Group Show opens Apr 2nd with a reception at 6pm featuring live music by Adam Townsend. 630 E. 9th St. 520-623-2114. MerciGallery.com
MINI TIME MACHINE Feel Big Live Small is on view to Apr 17th and Miniature Military Figures by Joe Seibold will be on view through the end of 2016. Hours: Tues-Sat 9am-4pm and Sun 12-4pm. 4455 E. Camp Lowell Dr. 520-881-0606. TheMiniTimeMachine.org
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART Max Estenger, 1991-2016 and Nicole Miller, Every Word Said: History Lessons from Athens and Tucson and For All, Selections From the Arts for All Archive are all on view through May 29th. Hours: Weds-Sun 12-5pm. 265 S. Church Ave. 520-624-5019. MOCA-Tucson.org
PHILABAUM GLASS GALLERY & STUDIO California Dreamin’ is on view to May 28th. Hours: Tues-Sat 10am-5pm. 711 S. 6th Ave. 520-884-7404. PhilabaumGlass.com
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April 30th 1pm-2pm SEED & EAT I Gary Nahan presents Tucson-UNESCO City of Gastronomy
featuring Friends of Tucson's Birthplace, Jonathon Mabry, Robert Ojeda, Gary Nabhan, Megan Kimble and Maribel Alvarez. What does the City of Gastronomy mean and how the Mayors Food Commission is guiding this initiative. presented by
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May 1st 11am-3pm SEED & EAT II
Barrio Bread presents an afternoon of 'Seed to Bread' Workshop featuring BKW Farms, Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, Gary Nabhan and San Xavier Co-op Farms. Learn about harvesting, milling, mixing and shaping dough.
art galleries & exhibits Z PORTER HALL GALLERY Susan Libby & Karen Wright is on view Apr 1st to 30th with an opening reception Apr 6th from 5-7pm. Hours: Daily 8:30am-4:30pm. 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 520-326-9686. TucsonBotanical.org
SOUTHERN ARIZONA WATERCOLOR GUILD April Workshop Wall Gallery Exhibit is on view Apr 5th to May 1st with an opening reception on Apr 7th from 5-7pm. Hours: Tues-Sun 11am-4pm. Williams Centre 5420 East Broadway Blvd #240. 520-299-7294. SouthernAzWatercolorGuild.com
TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART
Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold is on view to June 26th. Into the Night: Modern and Contemporary Art and the Nocturne Tradition is on view to July 10th. Continuing exhibitions include: La Vida Fantastica: Selections from the Latin American Folk Art Collection; Big Skies/Hidden Stories: Ellen Wagener Pastels; Waterflow: Under the Colorado River Photographs by Kathleen Velo; String Theory: Contemporary Art and the Fiber Legacy. Hours: Tues-Wed & FriSat 10am-5pm; Thurs 10am-8pm; Sun 12-5pm. 140 N. Main Ave. 520-624-2333. TucsonMuseumofArt.org
TUCSON PASTEL SOCIETY Mesch, Clark and Rothschild Show: Tucson Way of Thinking is on view until Apr 28th. E. River Rd. 520-615-5365. TucsonPastelSociety.org
UA MUSEUM OF ART 2016 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition is on view Apr 15th to May 13th. Modern Myth is on view to May 1st and Artworks: Through Our Eyes is on view to May 8th. Hours: Tues-Fri 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun 12-4pm. 1031 N. Olive Rd. 520-621-7567. ArtMuseum.Arizona.Edu UA POETRY CENTER Everything’s Saying: With My Hands I Hear My Eyes, New Works by Crane Giamo is on view through Apr 23rd. Hours: Mon & Thurs 9am-8pm; Tues, Weds, Fri 9am-5pm. 1508 E. Helen St. 520-626-3765. Poetry.Arizona.Edu
WEE GALLERY “The Tin Commandments” Rand Carlson is on view Apr 2nd to May 1st with an opening reception on Apr 2nd from 6-11pm. Hours: Thurs-Sat 11am-6pm; Sun 11am-5pm. 439 N. 6th Ave, Suite #171. 520-360-6024. GalleryWee.com
WILDE MEYER GALLERY Eclectic Mix is on view from Apr 7th to Apr 30th with an opening reception on Apr 7th from 5-7pm. Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm; Thurs 10am-7pm; Sat 10am-6pm; Sun 12-5pm. 3001 E. Skyline Dr. 520-615-5222, WildeMeyer.com
WOMANKRAFT ART GALLERY Drawing Down the Muse is on view from Apr 2nd to May 7th with an opening reception on Apr 2nd and May 7th from 7-10pm. Hours: Weds-Sat 1-5pm. 388 S. Stone Ave. 520-629-9976. WomanKraft.org
Chaille Trevor | Running Against the Wind | Wilde Meyer April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 17
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performances Z ART.IF.ACT Seven Deadly Sins, April 14, Loft Cinema, 3233 East Speedway, ArtIfActDanceProject.com ARIZONA FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC Jerusalem Quartet, April 13, TCC Leo Rich Theatre, 260 S. Church Ave. 577-3769, ArizonaChamberMusic.org
ARIZONA OPERA Falstaff, April 9 & 10, TCC Music Hall, 293-4336, AZOpera.com ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY The Gospel According To Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens And Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, April 9-30, Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. 884-8210, ArizonaTheatre.org
BERGER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Jesus Christ Superstar, April 23 – May 1, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd. BergerCenter.com
BLACK CHERRY BURLESQUE April 1, Surly Wench Pub, 424 N. 4th Ave. 882-0009, TucsonBurlesque.com
BORDERLANDS THEATER Ghost of Lote Bravo, April 14-17, 21-24 & 28-30 3-6, Temple of Music and Art Cabaret Theatre, 330 S. Scott Ave. borderlandstheater.org
BROADWAY IN TUCSON 42nd Street, April 1 - April 3, Chicago, April 21-24, UA Centennial Hall. 903-2929, BroadwayInTucson.com
CARNIVAL OF ILLUSION April 9 & 23, Lodge on the Desert, 306 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85711, CarnivalOfIllusion.com 615-5299
FOX THEATRE Chris Botti, April 1, Richard Marx, April 16, Holy Holy, April 21, Graham Nash, April 24, Clint Black, April 30,17 W. Congress St. 624-1515, FoxTucsonTheatre.org
Cirque Roots
Presents SPECTRUM: A Theatrical Stilt Dance and Acrobatics Spectacle. Showtimes: Friday, April 15, 2016 at 6:30 pm & 8:45 pm. Saturday, April 16, 2016 at7:00 pm & 9:00 pm. Tickets: $20 Each. More info at: cirqueroots.com/spectrum. Cirque Roots - 901 N. 13th Ave. Phone: (520) 261-4667
THE GASLIGHT THEATRE Rise of the Sheik,
March 31 – June 5, 7010 E.
Broadway Blvd. 886-9428, TheGaslightTheatre.com
INVISIBLE THEATRE I Ought to Be in Pictures, April 19 – May 1, at IT 1400 North 1st Ave. , 882-9721, InvisibleTheatre.com
LIVE THEATRE WORKSHOP
5317 One Slight Hitch, Through April 30, E. Speedway Blvd. 327-4242, LiveTheatreWorkshop.org
NOT BURNT OUT JUST UNSCREWED
Every Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, 3244 E Speedway Blvd 861-2986, UnscrewedComedy.com
ODYSSEY STORYTELLING SERIES Contradictions, April 7, 7:00pm, The Screening Room, 127 East Congress, 730-4112, OdysseyStorytelling.com
PCC THEATRE ARTS Love’s Labour’s Lost, April 14-24, 2202 W. Anklam Rd. 206-6670, Pima.edu/cfa
THE ROGUE THEATRE The Bridge of San Luis Rey, April 21 – May 8, 738 N. 5th Ave. 551-2053, TheRogueTheatre.org
SEA OF GLASS Threestyle, April 15, March 26, 330 East 7th St. TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Sailing with Scherazade, April 15 & 17, Judy Collins, April 22, Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella, April 30, TCC Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. 882-8585, TucsonSymphony.org
UA’S ARIZONA REPERTORY THEATRE Rent, April 10 – May 1, Tornabene Theatre, 1025 N. Olive Rd. 621-1162, web.cfa.arizona.edu/theatre
UA PRESENTS 42nd Street, April 1-3, Celtic Nights: Spirit of Freedom April 20, Chicago, April 22 - 24 Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. 621-3341, UAPresents.org
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 19
Z events
Meet the Latest “Local Geniuses” by Craig Baker
It’s something of an odd mix: a rainwater harvesting/local food expert and advocate, a Tohono O’odham poet and linguist, a reporter who was in Prague when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, and a medical doctor regarded as the foremost pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. All four, though, share one very important characteristic; a direct and salient connection to our weird and wonderful hometown. And, despite the glaring differences in their areas of expertise, all four of these individuals—Brad Lancaster, Ofelia Zepeda, Mort Rosenblum, and Andrew Weil, M.D.—will be on hand at a Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) this month to accept the museum’s 2016 Local Genius Awards for their work in Tucson, and around the world. Though MOCA tends to maintain a more permanent focus on the visual arts, Board President Courtney Johnson says that in 2009—the year the first handful of Local Genius Awards were distributed—the museum simply acted on the opportunity to provide some welldeserved recognition to those outside the realm of fine art. “It was just an area that really wasn’t being recognized,” explains Johnson, “there are a lot of great things going on in Tucson under the radar and we just wanted to be able to celebrate them.” MOCA’s Executive Director, Sam Ireland, elaborates: “The awards highlight how creativity and innovation— which people normally associate with the arts—are powerful and impactful in other fields…Non-artists (also) use creativity and make an impact through innovation,” he says. Ireland also says that the awards give MOCA a chance to remind the general public what it is that makes Tucson great. “We need to cultivate a sense in the Tucson community that we celebrate each other,” he says, adding that the Local Genius Awards “provide a sense of pride of place.” Though the award is essentially one of title only (it does come with a rather nifty trophy), each of the recipients seem more apt to deflect the acclaim away from themselves as individuals, and direct it toward their particular causes. “What I like about it is it shines a spotlight on local innovators and thinkers,” says Lancaster about the award, in general. “And as someone doing this community work…it’s great to get some community recognition in that way, but it also is a way to highlight the various efforts we’re all making,” he says. There seemed some general reluctance, however, about that title of “genius.” Says, Ofelia Zepeda—who, it should be noted, was awarded a
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MacArthur Fellowship (also known as a “Genius Grant”) in 1999—“I don’t think about it too much,” she says, “so it doesn’t bother me.” Zepeda adds that, were she to spend any amount of time thinking of herself as a “genius,” the effect would more than likely be one of fostering anxiety than anything else. “It would be very intimidating; you would be very self-conscious,” she says with a laugh that is simultaneously dismissive and unassuming, “…always proving yourself, one way or another.” As for International Reporter and UA Journalism Professor Mort Rosenblum, he says that his particular career path was more often one of madness than of genius. He quotes former Hearst correspondent H.R. Knickerbocker in saying, “Whenever you find hundreds of thousands of sane people trying to get out of a place and a little bunch of madmen trying to get in, you know the latter are newspapermen.” He says that he no longer self-applies the title of journalist “because the word is so non-specific” now. Rather, he prefers to be thought of as a reporter because, he says, “that means getting out to report; to actually be in the presence of news.” In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway called it a “purity of line through the maximum of exposure.” And, though he was talking about a bullfighter, it’s not hard to see how the statement can also be applied to a man who has spent the last fifty years placing himself in the line of fire armed only with ink and paper. The Local Genius Awards have been given out by MOCA in alternating years since 2009, except for a hiatus in 2015. On other years, MOCA’s annual gala focused primarily on specific visual artists, though that’s not to say that this year’s geniuses are not artists in their own right. Lancaster acts like a designer when placing indigenous plants in key places in a landscape and a sculptor when terraforming a property to direct rainwater run-off wherever it is needed; Zepeda’s ability to evoke images in her poetry is undeniable; Rosenblum whittles down information into the truest and most poignant bits when crafting a news story. And, as it concerns Dr. Weil, he says one part of the curriculum at the UA’s Center for Integrative Medicine—the worldwide leader in integrative medical education of which he is both the founder and director—is called “The Art of Medicine.” Says Weil, “I very much have always felt that practicing medicine is an art. I think it depends on information produced by scientific research, but fundamentality the practice of medicine is not a science; it really is an art.”
events Z The Local Genius Awards Gala will take place on the evening of Saturday, April 16 at MOCA with a cocktail hour beginning at 6pm. Live music for that portion of the program will be performed by jazz quartet Blue Leisure Suit, followed by the award presentation and a dinner under the stars (that means outside) catered by Janos Wilder (himself a 2011 Local Genius Awardee), then ending things off with dancing on the plaza with DJ Buttafly. The event will also feature both a live and a silent auction, with high-end items including lunch with Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, a matching Tory Burch handbag and wallet set, and luxury vacation packages to places like Telluride, Colo., downtown L.A., and Oxford, England—all of which were donated to the museum by various sources. And even if you are unable to make the event and would still like to take part in the bidding, MOCA’s Immediate Past President and current Gala Co-Chair Randi Dorman says that there will be a way for the general public to bid online for items in the live auction beforehand, and to take part in the silent auction as it is happening. The annual gala provides MOCA with about 25-33 percent of its total operating budget, and the guest list is limited to 375 in order to maintain an intimate feel for the “black tie requested” event. And Dorman says that, though their capacity is up 25 seats from last year, those serious about attending should act quickly since tickets to the gala sell out every year. “There’s so much genius right here in Tucson,” says Dorman, who served as MOCA’s President for six years before assuming her current role there, “… and, even though we’re an art museum, we really wanted to celebrate the genius that is in Tucson in all forms.” And by mingling with the geniuses at the event (and perhaps even buying one of their books from the MOCA shop) she hopes that guests to the gala “will leave seeing Tucson in a different, more inspiring way.” Dorman asserts that attending the gala “really makes you proud to be a Tucsonan,” though it seems to go without saying. n
Brad Lancaster
Tickets to the 2016 Local Genius Awards Gala at MOCA are $275. More information is available online at MOCA-Tucson.org.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Mort Rosenblum
Ofelia Zepeda
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 21
Z events
april Fri 01-Sun 03 4th Avenue Spring Street Fair
The 4th Avenue Spring Street Fair is back with more than 400 arts and crafts booths, more than 30 food vendors, kids crafts, entertainment and street performances. The event is 10a.m. to 6p.m. Free. 316 N. Fourth Ave. For more information visit FourthAvenue.org
Sat 02 Moctober Fest Welcome in spring with a spring carnival. Many Mouths One Stomach hosts a spring celebration with a parade, performances, circus arts, dancing, food and drinks-the event promotes this year’s All Souls Procession in November. $5 for an all-day pass. 4p.m. to 12a.m. Mercado San Agustin, 100 S. Avenida del Convento. For more information visit MoctoberFest.com
Thu 07-Sun 10 Tucson Tango Festival
Immerse yourself in the culture of Tango by enjoying live music, participating in workshops and watching performances. Tucson Marriott University Park, 880 E. 2nd St. For details about the different events and tickets visit TucsonTangoFestival. com
Fri 08- Sun 10 Marana Bluegrass Festival
Enjoy a day or the whole weekend with bluegrass music, tasty food, a flatpickin’ contest and much more. Tickets at t he Gate are $15. Ora Mae Harn Park, 13251 N. Lon Adams Rd. For times and details about the events visit MaranaFestival.com
SAHBA Spring Home & Garden Show Spring has sprung and now it is time to get ideas and learn about the latest home improvement trends to make your yard and home flourish. Southern Arizona Home Builders Association hosts Tucson’s largest home and patio show. $8 for admission discounts for ages 50 and over. Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. For times and details visit SahbaHomeShow.com
41st Annual Spring Fling
Ride crazy carnival rides, indulge in tasty treats and play carnival games at the nation’s largest student-run carnival. General admission is $5, free admission for students and children under seven. Half sheet of tickets is $10. University of Arizona Mall, 1303 E. University Blvd. For times and more information visit SpringFling.Arizona.edu
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Sat 09 Tour de Cookie
Ride a relaxed 31- mile loop of the Santa Cruz river but with the reward of various stations handing out tasty cookies. Presented by the Rotary Club of Marana. 9a.m. to 1p.m. $40 to register. Kids, 12 and under, ride free. Santa Cruz River Bike Path, 7600 N. Shannon Rd. For more information and to register visit RotaryTourDeCookie.org
Chalk Art Festival
Help in covering the Park Place Mall sidewalks with creative murals. Color the area with chalk alongside professional mural artists or admire the artwork. Free admission. Park Place Mall, 5870 Broadway Blvd. For times and details visit Saaca.org
Sun 10 Cyclovia Tucson–Spring Event
Bike, walk, run, rollerblade, scooter, unicycle or other mode of alternative transportation on the five mile route of open streets. After the event join in on the party at O’Malley’s on 4th Avenue starting at 3p.m. Food, games and giveaways. Cyclovia is Free. Begins at 10a.m. 2700 S. 8th Ave. For more information visit CycloviaTucson.org
Earth Day Festival
Join in on a community celebration of the environment at the 22nd annual Tucson Earth Day Festival and Parade. There will be entertainment, food, activities, educational exhibits even a bicycle decorating station. 10a.m. to 3p.m. Parade begins at 11a.m. Himmel Park, 1000 N. Tucson Blvd. For more information visit TucsonEarthDay.org
Musical Feast
Enjoy a delectable and sophisticated dinner at Tanque Verde Ranch while listening to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Along with the four course meal and concert is also a tour of wines. Tickets are $140. The event begins at 5:30p.m. Tanque Verde Ranch, 14301 E. Speedway Blvd. For more information visit TucsonSymphony.org
Taste of Chocolate Benefit
Indulge in tasty chocolate creations from over 30 local chefs and vote for your favorite. The event is presented by the Rincon Rotary Club. $15 per person. Proceeds will benefit local educational initiatives. The event is from 2p.m. till 4p.m. Doubletree Hotel, 445 S. Alvernon Way. For tickets and more information visit TucsonTasteOfChocolate.wordpress.com
Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association Garden Tour Saunter around a two-mile self-guided walking tour of the Sam Hughes neighborhood. Get ideas for your own garden while enjoying the unique gardens of the historic neighborhood. General admission is $10. 10a.m. to 4p.m. Sam Hughes Historic District, 700 N. Wilson Ave. For tickets and more information visit SamHughes.org
Thurs 14-Sun 24 Pima County Fair
Have a day and night of fun while daring to ride crazy carnival rides, chomping on tasty treats, enjoying concerts and performances, petting animals at the petting-zoo, wining carnival games, taking the kids to Kiddie land, learn about science and agriculture, admire crafts and much more. General Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for children. Parking is $5. Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Rd. For more information visit PimaCountyFair.com
Begins Thurs 14 25th Arizona International Film Festival Don’t miss Arizona’s largest film festival, where you can watch independent films from over 25 countries. Tickets vary from free to $8. This year’s theme is “Bridging Cultures” and runs until the first of May. For a list of times, films and prices visit FilmFestivalArizona.com
Fri 15 A Night Under the Stars
Have a romantic night paired with food, drinks, and entertainment under shinning stars. A portion of proceeds will help the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce raise funds for college scholarships. $80 per person or $150 per couple. 6p.m. to 9p.m. Hilton El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort, 10000 N. Oracle Rd. For tickets visit OroValleyChamber.com
Pennington Street Block Party A family-friendly event with art exhibits, carnival games, performances and much more. Hosted by the City High School and Paulo Freire Freedom School that celebrates what young people do in the community. 4p.m. to 7p.m. City High School, 48 E. Pennington St. For more information visit CityHIghSchool.org
Fri 15-Sun 17 Tucson Poetry Festival
Listen to poetry, take workshops, compete and much more doing the Tucson Poetry Festival. 1508 E. Helen St. Rubel Room. For ticket prices, times and events visit TucsonPoetryFestival.org
Sat 16 Great Paper Airplane Fly-Off
Put your paper airplane folding abilities the test with a paper airplane competition at the Pima Air and Space Museum. The competition is for children ages 6-14. While there, try an obstacle course, win prizes even test a NASCAR racecar simulator. The event is 9a.m. to 3p.m. Pima Air and Space Museum, 6000 E. Valencia Rd. For more information and to register visit GreatPaperAirplane.org
events Z Fri 8 Jefferson Carter’s Diphtheria Festival Book Release Book Launch and Benefit for Sky Island Alliance. Author of nine previous poetry collections, Jefferson Carter is among southern Arizona’s preeminent poets. His latest collection Diphtheria Festival (Main Street Rag Press, NC) will be launched in connection with a benefit for Sky Island Alliance. 6pm-10pm in the Hotel Congress Lobby.
april Sun 17 GABA Spring Bike Swap Meet
The Greater Arizona Bicycling Association presents a day to shop for bike and accessories. The four-block bike swap meet is the largest in the Southwestern United States. The event is 7a.m. to 2p.m. Free admission. 5th Avenue and 7th Street. For more information visit Gaba.ClubExpress. com
Tucson Tour de Cure
The American Diabetes Association hosts its 10K, 50K and 100K bike rides to fundraise for the foundation as well as raise diabetes awareness. Registration is $15 and minimum fundraising is $200. Times vary based on the ride. Tucson Harley Davidson, 7355 North I-10 E. Frontage Rd. For more information
Wed 20-Sat 23 Tucson International Mariachi Conference Celebrate mariachi music culture with three public performances, learn about mariachi music, or get tickets to one of the many renowned musicians. The 34th annual Tucson Mariachi Conference offers a variety of performances at the Casino Del Sol Resort. For tickets and information about the performances and workshops visit TucsonMariachi.org
Thur 21 Tribute to David Bowie
Enjoy a night of music dedicated to the late David Bowie. The Holy Holy is formed of a couple members who worked closely with Bowie, including world renowned drummer Woody Woodmansey. The show begins at 7:30p.m. Tickets range from $30-$45. Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. For tickets and more information visit FoxTucsonTheatre.com
Sat 23 20th Annual Southwest Police Motorcycle Training Competition Watch as Police Motorcycle Officers display their riding skills on an obstacle course. Watch 130 riders compete in group rides, single rides, speed tests and technique. The event is hosted by Pima County Sheriff’s Department and is part of a fundraiser for the Law Enforcement Torch Run and Special Olympics Arizona. 7a.m. to 4p.m. Free admission. Park Place Mall, 5870 Broadway Blvd. For more information visit PimaSheriff.org
Baja Beer Festival
If you like craft beer this is the place to be with over 200 craft beers and 50 breweries the Arizona Craft Brewers Guilds hosts a celebration of craft beer. Wash down the beers with mouthwatering food, compete in lawn games and sway to live music. Must be 21 or over. Admission is $40-$50. Designated drivers’ tickets are $5. The event is 4p.m. to 9p.m. Rillito Park, 4502 N. First Ave. For tickets and more information visit EventBrite.com/e/Baja-Beer-Festival-Tickets
Home Tour: The Grand Adobes of the Tucson Basin Admire nineteenth and early twentieth century adobe properties on the Tucson Basin. The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation offers a self-guided tour of various landmark adobe properties. $40 per ticket. 10a.m. to 3p.m. For tickets and more information visit PreserveTucson.org
Thu 28 Take Back the Night
This annual event is a peaceful vigilance where the goal is to raise public awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and offer support to victims. The event includes a candlelight vigil, guest speakers and performances. Free to everyone. 5:30p.m. to 9p.m. The House of Neighborly Services, 243 W. 33rd St.
Sat 30 A Wild West Cinderella
The Tucson Symphony Orchestra presents a family concert series of the hilarious retelling of Cinderella, Southwest style. Tickets are $12 for children and $18 for adults. Leo Rich Theatre, 260 S. Church Ave. For show times and tickets visit TucsonSymphony.org
Festival of the Sun a solar potluck and exhibition Join in on the fun from the sun, literally. Citizens For Solar hosts its 33rd annual solar-powered day with educational displays, activities, musicians and solar cooked food. Bring your own food or food to share. Free admission. Parking is $7. Begins at 10a.m. The potluck dinner is at 5p.m. Catalina State Park, 11570 N. Oracle Rd. For more information visit SolarGuild.org
Begins April 30 Tucson Folk Festival
Dance, sing and listen to more than 200 folk musicians from the Southwest. One of the country’s largest free festivals. Free. The Festival runs till May 01. El Presidio Park, 160 W. Alameda St. For times and details about the performances visit tkma.org
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film Z
Arizona's Oldest Film Festival Turns 25 interview by Herb Stratford
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n the eve of the 25th annual Arizona International Film Festival (AIFF) we sat down with founder Giulio Scalinger to talk about the past, present and future of Arizona’s longest-running film event.
You’re in elite company once you’ve reached a 25th anniversary milestone, when the Arizona International Film Fest (AIFF) began, did you imagine it this far down the road? I have a long history of coordinating festivals – my first was in 1974 (the Athens International Film Festival in Ohio), which I ran for 10 years. Then I helped the transition from the United States Film Festival to the Sundance Film Festival. When I came to Tucson in 1984, my plan was never to run a Festival again. And here we are! When you’re running festivals, all you think about is completing that year. Then you start on the next one and the years add up—10 years, 15 years, 20 years and now 25 years. When I look back now I do marvel at how much we have accomplished with so little. You’ve seen a remarkable number of filmmakers come through the fest, who were a few of your favorites? Now you are trying to get me into trouble—over 1,300 filmmakers have attended. But I do have fond memories of spending quality time with Robert
M. Young (the godfather of indie film) at Fest 1997; documentarian Tony Buba (Fest 1990 and 2014) – we go way back as Tony was the first filmmaker I gave an award to at the Athens Film Festival; and Irish filmmakers who just won’t go to sleep. You are known for treating both short and feature filmmakers alike, which is sometimes not the case at other festivals. Why is that? AIFF is a project of the Arizona Media Arts Center whose mission is to help grow independent filmmaking in Arizona. So we help all filmmakers equally whether they make a two min. film or a feature, and this philosophy spills over into the Festival. The filmmaking process is the same, the main difference is in the budget. For example, we have two films in this year’s festival that are years in the making—a 30 minute animated film from Mexico and a feature length documentary about Palestinians. You seem to attract a good number of returning filmmakers who come back again to AIFF after their first experience…is that a good reflection on not only how they were treated but also on the audiences here in Southern Arizona? One of our tag lines is “indie films in search of an indie audience”. Filmmakers have commented about our audiences – unlike Sundance audiences who ask about budgets, working with stars, Arizona audiences are more interested in content of the topic.
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film Z What are a few films that have impacted you the most over the past 25 years? 65 Red Roses (2010); Bird (from Russia 2011); Birds of Neptune (2015); and the animated films of Don Hertzfeldt - Billy’s Balloon (1999) and The Meaning of Life (2005). You’ve seen tremendous changes in the film festival world over the past 25 years, what’s the future for fests in this landscape of niche audiences and splintered delivery platforms? When I started in the film festival arena in 1974, there were only about 25 festivals. Now, I believe, there are over 4,000 festivals. So that shows growth and progress! But, my biggest concern (for AIFF) is how difficult it is today to attract young audiences (18-35). This demographic receives its entertainment (YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon) through hand-held devices. So this could become a major hurdle for festivals to survive – not the big ones like Sundance who have the funding for a widespread on-line presence. Technology has dramatically changed how festivals exhibit films – when we started we needed a large space to store all our 16mm and 35mm prints, now the festival can reside in a small container or downloaded into the projector’s computer for DCP projection. These changes are efficient, but bring up new problems. You’ve seen so many great filmmakers start with shorts in smaller festivals and move on to features. Do you think film fest shorts programs are the place to see the next great auteur in the making? Definitely, festivals offer this rare opportunity to see wonderful films and the chance to see the early work of the next popular film director. I only participate in the Shorts Selection Committee because it is a blast. (See sidebar at end of story for list) You’ve been a strong supporter of local filmmakers since the beginning. Any film/filmmaker you’re most proud of helping shine a light on? We have exhibited over 400 Arizona films. But, there are some filmmakers who keep coming back and have appreciated the Festival. Kathryn Ferguson (documentary) - The Unholy Tarahumara (1998); Rita of the Sky (2009) Rob Loomis (features) - Dog Years (1998); Angry Young Man (2003); Dropkick (2015) Jonathan VanBallenberghe (documentary)– The Ostrich Testimonies (2008) Pyscho Guru (2010); Lapse (2014); Hear Me, See me (2015). Jonathan has won three Best of Arizona awards. Barton Santello (experimental) – five films since 2006. I’d imagine the education component of AIFF is one of the aspects you’re most proud of—bringing filmmakers into schools and also exposing audiences to stories they wouldn’t ordinarily see in the multiplex—how many students have been impacted by this program? This is a most rewarding program for students, teachers and filmmakers and we have received recognition (through grants) by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Filmmakers are emotionally moved after their interaction with students. Probably the Festival experience that has impacted me the most was taking a filmmaker to the Ajo Juvenile Detention Center. Since 1998, FITS (Festival-in-the-Schools) has reached 21,200 students. The AIFF is a nearly yearlong project, how many people are involved in bringing it to life each year? How many volunteers help each fest? We have 4-5 senior staff who work year-round, technically 11 months—as we take one month off after the Festival. We also have 4-6 associate programmers (in Canada, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Australia) who attend Festivals and recommend titles. Then we have 12+ screeners who watch submitted films (Nov thru Feb). Around Festival time we add 20+ volunteers who assist in running the Festival. All are volunteers, a total 40+. You’ve seen an increase in submissions over the years, do you think filmmakers are responding to the AIFF reputation or to word of mouth from other past participants?
We do have a reputation of helping films move on to the next stage. Other festivals keep an eye on our winning films and some of award-winners are getting distribution deals. Good word-of-mouth is due to our support and hospitality for filmmakers during and post-Festival (through social media). AIFF is well known for its presentation of films from nearly every country in the world. Any continent or country you’d still like to get a film from? We get many submissions from Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia. We need to get more in-roads into Latin America and Africa. Although our animation winner, Bear Story from Chile, won the Oscar this year. You’ve shone a light on border issues with the fest, something that other southwestern film festivals have begun to take notice of. Do you think there are more stories to tell from that part of the country? We have been exhibiting border films for many years from local docs by Pan Left to the Sundance doc “Crossing Arizona.” We also don’t screen many border films because they re-tell the same story. Films about family separation are now being made—this year, we are screening “Indivisible”, a doc about Dreamers. What special things are planned for the anniversary edition of the fest this year? This anniversary we decided we wanted to have something permanent— usually we would publish a special catalog. But this year, we have commissioned Canadian filmmaker Jeff Moneo to produce a 20 min film about the Festival’s relationship with the community. Jeff loves Tucson and this will be his 6th visit here. Are there any long-time supporters or attendees you’d like to mention and thank for their ongoing dedication to the fest? Claudia Jespersen is one of the founding members of AIFF and her behind-the-scenes work has kept the Festival moving forward; 13 years of Mia Schnaible’s enthusiasm in marketing and promoting the Festival and Ruben Reyes, since 1997, who helped me develop FITS and introduced the Festival to Chicano films. What’s next for AIFF—35 or 50-year goal? As I mentioned in the first question, we approach one festival at a time. In the summer, we have a board/staff retreat and discuss what worked and what didn’t, and look for solutions. Though the 2020 Festival has a nice ring to it! n
AIFF alums Public Access (1994) Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects/X-Men) Tenacity (1995) Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals) Lucky Peach (1995) Miguel Arteta (Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl) Shock Asylum (1997) Wheels of Fury (1998) by Dan Dinello and Paul Dinello (Strangers with Candy).Currently Paul is a writer and supervising producer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he has made several on-camera appearances. This Is John (2003) Jay Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Cyrus). Jay Duplass currently stars in the comedy-drama series Transparent, and co-created the HBO comedy-drama series Togetherness. Victoria Para Chino (2005) Cary Fukunaga (True Detective, Beasts of No Nation)
AIFF details: 25th Anniversary Arizona International Film Festival, April 14 – May 1. Featuring 33 feature films and 58 short films from 25 countries. See this year’s full schedule on the proceeding pages of this issue of Zócalo Magazine. Screening Room is located at 127 East Congress. Tickets - $ 4-6 per screening, all access passes $100. FilmFestivalArizona.com
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 29
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
Cafã Amargo
Thursday, April 14
Saturday, April 16
7:30pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission
1:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
The Anthropologist
The Caravan Film
(USA - Documentary) An environmental anthropologist, studying the impact of climate change, travels the world with her teenage daughter, documenting how societies negotiate the disruption of their traditional ways of life.
(Canada – Documentary) This stunning documentary follows the exploits of an eclectic group of international carriage drivers and horse riders as they journey across the American south from California to Florida.
Friday, April 15 7:00pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission
West Coast (France - Comedy) Four inseparable teenagers in a small town in Brittany, act, talk and dress as American rap gangstas. Humiliated by their classmates, they decide to take their revenge during one crazy adventure.
9:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Arizona Shorts Six new films by Arizona filmmakers demonstrate the diversity of Arizona filmmaking
4:00pm – The Screening Room - free admission
Saskatchewan and Beyond Experience the short films of Festival filmmaker-in-residence, Jeff Moneo.
7:00pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission
Cafã Amargo (Cuba – Drama) In 1950 Cuba, four sisters, working a coffee plantation, hide a young man on his way to join the guerrilla fighters in the nearby mountains. This leads to one unfortunate incident that changes their lives forever.
9:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Animation Shorts Don’t miss this set of mind-blowing animated gems including Revoltoso from Mexico. Last year’s animation winner, Bear Story, won the Oscar! ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
Jarvis Rockwell
Tickets The Screening Room is located at 127 East Congress in downtown Tucson. All Access Pass ($100) and Saver Pass ($25 for 5 screenings) available. Advance single tickets can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com
A Bitter Legacy
Sunday, April 17 1:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Jarvis Rockwell (USA – Documentary) Life wasn’t a Norman Rockwell painting for son, Jarvis. Embarking on a journey of self and art, he searches for a way to love his often difficult famous father. with
Good Business (South Africa – Documentary) What role can business play in transforming South Africa’s apartheid society?
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Global Shorts Great story-telling emerges from films from Croatia, Greece, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Spain.
Monday, April 18 6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
The Anthropologist (USA - Documentary) An environmental anthropologist, studying the impact of climate change, travels the world with her teenage daughter, documenting how societies negotiate the disruption of their traditional ways of life.
3:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
A Bitter Legacy (USA-Documentary) Little known World War II Citizen Isolation Centers in Moab, Utah and Old Leupp, Arizona were built to hold Japanese Americans “trouble-makers.” This stunning documentary shows the hidden truth behind these centers and the harsh treatment the detainees received.
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Irish Shorts Always a Festival favorite, a set of shorts filled with Irish wit.
6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Concealed (Australia – Drama) Life changes for Max, a struggling actor, when his girlfriend Sallie suddenly disappears. Frustrated with the police’s lack of progress, Max embarks on a desperate search to find her.
Concealed
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
America Recycled
Tuesday, April 19 6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
South Bureau Homicide (USA – Documentary) Set in South Los Angeles, this riveting documentary explores the unsung bond created by the homicide detectives of LAPD and the local community's antiviolent-crime activists.
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Unearthing (Canada – Mystery) Since childhood, Healy and Fisher have been harboring a deep secret between them. Then Healy discovers the key to unlocking their mysterious relationship is buried on a suspected killer's property.
Thursday, April 21 8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Le Garagiste (Canada – Drama) Waiting five years for a kidney transplant, Adrien hires a young man from a remote village to work at his garage, setting off a chain of events that turns his life upside-down.
Wednesday, April 20 6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
America Recycled (USA - Documentary) Two brothers ride recycled bicycles through the American South en route to the west coast. They learn to survive on the road when they are taken in by several modern homesteading communities.
7:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Out Of The Desert (Belgium – Documentary) During his tour of Europe with his group Giant Sand, Tucson’s musical iconoclast Howe Gelb reflects on his life and musical career.
8:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Desert Age: A Rock and Roll Scene History (USA – Documentary) What started out as a handful of friends wanting more from the town of Palm Springs, gave rise to “Desert Rock”, one of the most important and unknown music genres of the early 1990s.
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
2.57K (Edgy Shorts)
Friday, April 22 6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
One Smart Fellow (USA – Comedy) Lively performances by Timothy Busfield (thirtysomething), Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie) and Laura Innes (ER) capture the core of a family crisis that changes lives forever. with
The Immaculate Misconception (United Kingdom – Comedy) Sinead is underage, pregnant and a virgin.
7:30pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission
Kandahar Journals (Canada - Documentary) A photojournalist reflects on the events behind his psychological transformation after covering front line combat in Kandahar.
2:00pm – Center for Creative Photography - free admission
Kandahar Journals (Canada - Documentary) A photojournalist reflects on the events behind his psychological transformation after covering front line combat in Kandahar.
4:15pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Return to Dak To (USA - Documentary) The filmmaker and four veterans he served with go back to Vietnam and confront what the war meant and what it has done to them and the Vietnamese. with
Heart of a Tiger (China – Documentary) Sixty years after being shot down, a WWII Flying Tiger pilot travels back to the village in China to meet and thank the villagers who saved his life.
7:00pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission 9:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Edgy Shorts Late night films not for the faint-hearted!
Saturday, April 23 2:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Carry On: Finding Hope in the Canyon (USA – Documentary) This inspirational documentary follows Anthony’s quest to make the 20-mile hike to the bottom of one of the largest canyons on earth in a wheel chair.
Kepler's Dream (United Kingdom – Family Drama) During a memorable summer at an isolated New Mexico adobe, a young girl searches for a missing rare book from her grandmother's library and tries to understand why her family is so fractured.
9:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Comedy Shorts Laughter breaks down all barriers. Be part of the Festival’s funniest program with a collection of global comedies.
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
Madina’s Dream
Sunday, April 24
Monday, April 25
1:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Short Docs
Global Shorts & Monty and the Runaway Furnace
Enjoy revealing documentaries that allow you to journey through place and time.
3:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Indivisible (USA - Documentary) Love knows no borders: a film about the fight to reunite families separated by deportation.
6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
(USA – Drama) Monty, a kind, old maintenance man, tries to save the furnace that powers the factory from its new owner.
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
The Great & The Small (USA – Drama) Living on the streets, Scott tries to find his way back into society and win back the heart of his ex-girlfriend, a working single mom.
Chalet (South Korea - Romance) A North Korean man and a South Korean woman time-share a room. Never meeting each other, their relationship develops by leaving post-it notes when they vacate their room each day.
7:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Guns to Mics (Canada/Sierra Leone – Documentary) In post-war Sierra Leone the youth, who once used guns to vent their frustration, are picking up microphones to exercise a new-found freedom of speech through music.
Tuesday, April 26 6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Po (USA – Family Drama) When his wife falls victim to cancer, a single working dad is left with the sole responsibility of caring for his sixth grade son with autism.
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Madina's Dream (USA/Sudan – Documentary) Eleven-year-old Madina and other villagers dream of a brighter future as Sudan’s government employs aerial bombings and starvation warfare against the Nuban people.
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
Misfortune
Wednesday, April 27
Friday, April 29
6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Two Blue Lines
Dramatic Shorts
(USA - Documentary) Shot over a period of twenty-five years, this film examines the human and political rights situation of Palestinian people from the 1930s to the present day.
Experience a hard-hitting collection of shorts ranging from border crossings, illegal fights, and crime.
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Broke (Australia - Drama) A disgraced sports star and gambling addict attempts to turn his life around with the support of his number one fan.
8:30pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission
Misfortune (USA - Drama) A young man, down on his luck, learns about the parole of his father’s killer. This sets off a cat and mouse chase through Tucson’s desert locations as he searches for the hidden family loot.
Thursday, April 28 6:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
The Region (Chile - Documentary) Set in the desert regions of the copper industry in Northern Chile, a mining community performs a ritual populated by mystical beings and ancient traditions in an effort to deal with their changing surroundings.
8:00pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Other Madnesses (USA - Drama) A reclusive tour guide becomes an unlikely vigilante when the dark underbelly of New York City is revealed through his dreams.
Other Madnesses
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
Mad Peter
Saturday, April 30 12:30pm – The Screening Room - free admission
IndieYouth Eight teenage filmmakers offer new young perspectives on the world we live in.
Sunday, May 1 12:00 noon, 2:15pm, 4:30pm, 7:00pm The Screening Room - $6 admission, $10 all day pass
BEST OF THE FEST Four exciting programs pay tribute to the award-winning films from the 2016 Arizona International Film Festival.
1:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Navajo Math Circles (USA – Documentary) Using concepts from Native culture and a unique student-centered approach, Navajo students engage in a lively collaboration with mathematicians. with…
Ours Is The Land (USA – Documentary) There are just some places mining should not exist.
4:30pm – The Screening Room - $6 admission
Lucky U Ranch (USA – Family Drama) Stuck in an Arizona trailer park, a chubby, bullied 11-year-old boy is not prepared for the arrival of a sophisticated Hollywood girl.
7:00pm – The Screening Room - $8 admission
Art of the Prank (USA/Italy - Documentary) New York artist Joey Skaggs, the famed media prankster, decides to pull off the most demanding hoax of his career.
Navajo Math Circles
ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE • APRIL 14 - MAY 1, 2016 • FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM Courtesy of Zócalo Magazine • April 2016
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Near UA: 2001 E. Speedway • 795-0508 Eastside: 6212 E. Speedway • 885-8392
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April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 39
at Tucson Music Hall CLASSIC
Sailing with Scheherazade Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Smetana: The Moldau Britten: Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Friday, April 15, 8pm Sunday, April 17, 2pm Concert Comments one hour prior to performance. Complimentary with ticket.
Judy Collins Friday, April 22, 8pm An Evening with Judy Collins and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Hear the legendary singer/songwriter perform her “Hits” show in concert with the TSO for the first time since 1992. A Grammy-winner for the Top 10 hit, “Both Sides Now” and a nominee for “Send in the Clowns,” Collins is renowned for her command of folk, show tunes, pop, rock and standards. TSO Musicians are donating their services for this benefit concert.
See and hear more at judycollins.com PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY! | 520.882.8585 | TUCSONSYMPHONY.ORG
Tour of the Gila Most visitors come to slow down.
VisitSilverCity.org Funded by Silver City Lodger’s Tax
film Z
Miles Ahead
Remember
Baskin
Spring Films at the Loft Cinema, Something For Everyone by Herb Stratford It’s spring in the Old Pueblo and that means time for new films that deal with the underworld, revenge, a charmingly creepy dystopian future and of course, high fashion right? As usual the Loft Cinema has us covered in April so we don’t have to worry about spring flowers bringing just allergies. Stay inside this month with some wildly entertaining films on the big screen.
April 1 There are two very different horror films on tap this month, with the Turkish film Baskin debuting first. This one is not for the squeamish, as its depiction of a black mass and the unlikely cops who stumble upon it by accident, had me turning away several times. This is nightmare material for sure. You’ve been warned.
April 8 The thriller Remember stars an excellent Christopher Plummer as an aging concentration camp survivor out for revenge against the Nazi guard who killed his family years ago. The excellent cast also includes; Martin Landau, Bruno Ganz and Jurgen Prochnow. This is an edgy, smart and compelling film.
April 15 April’s other horror film is the psychological, slow burn thriller The Invitation. Set at a dinner party of old friends who have not gathered in several years following a tragedy, this is literally the worst party you’ll ever go to. What starts out as an awkward series of interpersonal dynamics turns deadly and pulsepounding in the final act.
April 18 The new documentary The First Monday in May gives viewers an inside look at the creation of the annual Met Gala, which takes place every year at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. From director Andew Rossi, who took us inside the New York Times for his last film, this one looks beautiful, and this one-night-only screening arrives just days after its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
April 22 And finally, two other films not to miss; April & The Extraordinary World, a remarkable animated film about missing scientists in a steam punk future, and the Miles Davis bio film from director/star Don Cheadle, Miles Ahead. n April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 43
photo: Craig Baker
Z outside
Lee Carlaw releasing one of the giant weather balloons, which happens everyday at 4pm.
44 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
outside Z
Early Spring in the Sonoran Could Become the Norm by Craig Baker
E
very weekday at 4 pm, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Weather Service (NWS) Intern Lee Carlaw climbs to the roof of a three-story building on the UA campus and releases a giant weather balloon; twelve hours later, someone else on the staff releases another, and the process doesn’t stop for weekends or holidays. The balloons—equipped with a device called a radiosonde trailing 100 feet below on a length of string—will travel for about two hours at an altitude of roughly 100,000 feet measuring things like atmospheric temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction to help meteorologists predict the weather up to seven days out. And, though Carlaw says that his office “is not necessarily in the business of dealing with climate change,” it is data collected from the 122 NOAA/ NWS offices across the U.S. (mostly from their Automatic Surface Observing Systems; not so much the weather balloons) that provide some of the best information available to scientists looking to identify climate trends. “We maintain the equipment that’s used to produce those data sets,” Carlaw says, “so one of our primary tasks is quality controlling that information.” This, he points out, is “very important; you wouldn’t want sensors that are showing spikes in temperature because they’re not maintained well,” he says. True enough. But even without the advantage of a century of meticulously collected weather data, it’s still possible that you are beginning to notice a seasonal trend as flowers seem to be coming into bloom each year well before the anticipated start of spring. Many experts, including Jake Weltzin, Executive Director of the National Phenology Network (NPN)—which looks at the “influence of climate on plants, animals, and landscapes,” according to its website—say that across the U.S. spring seems to have sprung about two to three weeks early this year. Late last month, the Arizona Daily Star mentioned reports of early blooming in several cactus and wildflower species, as well as in local paloverde trees and ocotillos. A handful of saguaros were even seen blooming in Sabino Canyon as early as late February, though Weltzin is quick to point out that saguaros are “well known for extra-seasonal flowering.” Still, says Weltzin, “Things are changing,” and though he says that there is not enough data available to say with certainty why it’s happening, he points out that spring “was also early in 2012, and it was early in 2010.”
Still, as to what degree the early arrival of spring can be correlated directly with human-caused climate change, Program Manager for UA’s International Research and Applications Project and former Staff Scientist for Climate Assessment for the Southwest, Zack Guido says “the jury’s still out.” He says that the issue of drawing viable conclusions is basically a statistical one. “You don’t have a large sample size and you have a lot of variability,” Guido says, “so when you have small numbers and a lot of variability, it’s really hard to detect a statistical change.” He points out that this year’s early bloom comes on the heels of a “very intense El Niño event” (for those that don’t know, El Niño refers to a periodic warming of waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can have dramatic effects on local weather patterns) and, even with the 100-or-so years of available weather data to draw from, since only about twenty-five percent of those were El Niño years, this means a sample size of only about two-dozen events for that particular climatic framework. Guido says that the earth is getting warmer and that this is no longer a topic of scientific debate. “There’s a clear warming trend that people contribute to human-caused climate change,” he says, “there is a component of that, for sure.” But, he adds, the question remains as to exactly how much of that warming is strictly anthropogenic, how much is natural, and how much is simply a result of the natural variability in weather cycles. According to non-profit climate change monitoring organization, Berkeley Earth, the temperature of the planet has risen 1.5 degrees Celsius in that past 250 years, with 2015 weighing in as the hottest year ever on record; 2016 isn’t looking like it will be any cooler. “The globe is feverish this year,” says Guido, “January and February had higher average global temperatures than there have ever been in the history of our record keeping.” He says that the previous record for global temperatures in February was set last year with a deviation of 0.8 degrees Celsius above the historical average; this February that deviation was closer to 1.25 degrees Celsius above average. Here in the southwest, where the warming effect is more pronounced than in other regions of the country, Tucson’s previous two Februaries have also been the hottest ever on record, with a total of six daily high temperature records set in February of this year.
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April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 45
Danny Martin’s
Tucson Neon Coloring Book 30 black and white drawings of Tucson’s historic neon signs.
2nd printing! Available online at: WoodAndPulp.com Or find it at any of these Tucson area outlets: Antigone Books, University of Arizona Bookstore, Arizona Experience Store, Art House Centro / Old Town Artisans, Bookstop, Blue Willow, Bookmans (all locations), Downtown Clifton, Hotel Congress, Loft Cinema, MAST, Pop Cycle, Presta Coffee Roasters, Stella Coffee, Yikes Toys, and Zia Records.
outside Z Tucson Fashion Week & Film Fest Tucson invite you to the Arizona premiere of the new documentary,
The First Monday in May the new film that takes viewers behind the scenes at the creation of the annual, ultra-exclusive Met Gala.
photo: Craig Baker
Monday, April 18, 2016, 7:00pm
So, if the climate is in fact getting warmer, as it seems to be, what is the effect of that warming going to be here in the Sonoran Desert? A study published last month by a UA-led team of researchers in the journal Geophysical Research Letters suggests that high temperatures have a greater-than-expected effect on flow of the Colorado River, for one. And a 2012 report published by the U.S. Geological Survey said that draught conditions led to increases in the concentration of cacti, as well as declines in the abundance of plants like velvet mesquite, foothill paloverde, ocotillos, and white ratany, the latter of which is an important shrub in the diet of endangered desert tortoises. Weltzin says that changes in the blooming patterns and distribution of plants that are important to migratory species could also have a potentially devastating effect on those species’ populations. “Birds that come up from South America don’t necessarily know that it’s a warm, early spring in North America,” Weltzin told NPR’s Robin Young last month, “And so they may be arriving at the wrong time of year and end up becoming mismatched with the prey that they need to eat to feed their young.” Weltzin says that NPN is working to better understand the phenomenon he calls “mismatch,” but says that (surprise) there still isn’t “a whole lot of data” available from which to draw statistical correlations just yet. Amateur scientist David Bertelsen has seen the effects of a changing climate first hand. Every week since 1984 he has walked the five-mile Finger Rock Canyon Trail, which climbs 4158 feet beginning in desert scrub land and ending in pine forest. He documents the flowering patterns of some 600 species of plants within sixty feet of the trail on each hike and, though he is not a botanist by trade, his work has been the subject of about half-a-dozen published scientific papers over the years with the help of colleagues at the UA. Though Bertelsen says that his data has mostly contributed to demonstrating the “astounding variability” amongst plants in the canyon, he’s also observed higher evening temperatures in the summer over the years, which he says could negatively affect the ability of plants to retain water and respire. With respect to species distribution, he is hesitant to make any concrete claims, but Bertelsen has watched the landscape change before his eyes over the course of three decades. “The lower elevation—the first mile of this canyon—is actually losing species over this thirty-year period,” he explains, “… the second mile isn’t gaining or losing (species diversity)…the third mile is tending to gain species, although it’s not significant yet, but the upper two miles are definitely gaining species.” This seems to jibe with the theory that warmer weather will inevitably send species creeping into higher altitudes. Still, Bertelsen says that the more than 164,000 data points he’s collected over the years is just not enough to say for sure what is causing this shift, pointing out that his roughly 1.6 million-square-foot sample area only covers about one percent of the canyon being surveyed. “Give me another thirty years and I may be able to say with some certainty that’s what’s going on,” he says. And, until then, though our general acceptance of climate change as a society is reaching new peaks, our understanding of the phenomenon will no doubt continue to be a matter of gathering data, at least, that is, for the time being. n
TickeTs: $20 or $12 for students
Advance tickets at TicketLeap.com or at the Loft Box Office LoFT cineMA 3233 eAsT speedWAy Thanks to our sponsor: Baker+Hesseldenz
FILM FEST
TucsonFashionWeek
TUCSON
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 47
Artists throughout metro Tucson will share their work and process by opening their studios to the public for two weekends of art and exploration.
May 14 & 15 and 21 & 22
11:00 am - 5:00 pm all four days LISTINGS AND MAP WILL APPEAR IN THE MAY ISSUE OF ZĂ“CALO For more information, visit TucsonOpenStudios.com
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 49
Z poetry
Maria Johnson
The shame-faced crab is a species that is taken as bycatch in the shrimp trawler industry in the Gulf of California. Bycatch is a term that refers to all species caught that are not the target species, so in this case, everything that is not shrimp. 85 to 90% by weight of catch in the trawling industry in the gulf is bycatch. This poem and drawing are part of a co-produced research project that we are undertaking as part of the Next Generation of Sonoran Desert Researchers 6&6 art-science endeavor. The project has brought us out on trawlers overnight in the Gulf. We thank the field station at Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies in Bahia de Kino, Sonora, Mexico.
-Eric Magrane and Maria Johnson
Eric Magrane is the coeditor, with Christopher Cokinos, of The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide (University of Arizona Press, 2016). He is currently completing a PhD in geography at the University of Arizona, where he teaches environmental studies. His website is ericmagrane.com. Maria Johnson is an illustrator and marine conservationist. For several years she has worked on a shrimp trawler bycatch study in the Gulf of California with Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies. Her website is http://mariareneej.wix.com/artwork
50 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
OFFICE SPACE FOR LEASE 1039 N. 6TH AVENUE BUZZ ISAACSON 520.323.5151
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RUBY by Francisco CantĂş / illustrations by Danny Martin This is the latest installment of Borderland Ghost Towns, an ongoing series which pairs architectural illustration by Danny Martin with short essays by Francisco CantĂş
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 53
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W
e arrived in Ruby at dusk and let ourselves in through an unlocked gate. The town lay slumped in a small valley at the end of a dirt road, surrounded on all sides by winter-pale hills of Sonoran grassland. We had come to spend the night in a campground at the edge of town, and as all visitors to Ruby are advised to do, we called in advance of our visit. Over the phone, I was made aware of several important rules. Visitors must check in with the caretaker. Visitors must sign a liability waiver. Dogs must be leashed. Firearms are not permitted. Campers are to bring their own firewood. On the phone I was also advised that discounted camping rates were available for large groups. There’s five of us, I said, is that enough? No, I was told, there’s got to be six or more. For several moments I remained silent on the line, trying to calculate the cost of our excursion. Are you students? the other voice asked. Yes, I replied quickly, is there a student rate? The voice sighed into the receiver. Sure, they finally said, agreeing to lower their asking price. After hanging up the phone I thought for a moment about various members of our camping party. Two of us were students and the other three were instructors and school administrators. Close enough, I thought. As we drove past the gate into Ruby, we followed handmade signs directing us to check in with the town’s caretaker. We passed a rust-eaten utility truck from the 1930s and drove by a crumbling schoolhouse flanked by the warped and undulating skeleton of a children’s slide towering above a long-overgrown field. The signs led us to a hilltop in the center of town where we parked beside a motorhome next to a white-walled building with light emanating from the windows. I stepped out of my truck and was greeted by a shaggy unleashed dog. As I walked toward the building the back door suddenly swung opened, revealing a small man in large shorts and tiny glasses. He stood in the doorway and gestured at the dog. Her name’s Kaida, he said. I’m Michael. He looked at 54 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
me for a moment. You called about the student rate? That’s right, I said. There’s five of us—I have the money right here. Michael waved his hand. You can pay tomorrow, he said. Michael disappeared into his warmly-lit house and came back bearing a small map of what he called “the premises.” He gestured at the road below us and explained how to arrive at the campground on the other side of the town reservoir. You brought your own firewood? he asked. You’ve got to have your own firewood. Of course, I said. I asked Michael if he’d already eaten, and invited him to join us around the campfire later. As the sole enforcer of the town’s many rules, it seemed important to remain in his good graces. We’ll be making Sonoran hot dogs, I told him. He paused and told me he’d just eaten. But maybe I’ll come down for the company, he said—you seem nice. As we slowly drove away from Michael’s house, Kaida followed us through twilit ruins of the town until we rounded the edge of the reservoir and arrived at the campground, where she circled the ash-filled fire ring several times before finally lying down in anticipation of the coming warmth. Caretaking in Ruby is serious business. Abandoned after a mining bust in the early 1940s, the town was jointly purchased twenty years later by a loose association of five Tucson families who soon realized the need to protect it from further vandalism. That Ruby is now considered Arizona’s best-preserved ghost town is largely due to its remote location more than 40 minutes by dirt road from the nearby towns of Arivaca and Nogales, and the continued presence of a long line of eccentric caretakers employed by the town’s owners. In the 1960s, Ruby was watched over by a man who called himself Peppermint Patty and an infamous cohort of 20 hippies who were dismissed after they started using pieces of the town’s crumbling buildings for firewood. Since then, the place has been watched over by a one-armed man, a retired heavy equipment operator,
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an oil painter who built a sailboat during his tenure, and a man called Sun Dog who often roamed the premises half naked and was known to direct violent outbursts at his dog. It is said that Sun Dog once compared jackrabbit recipes with Bruce Babbit during a surprise visit by the former Arizona Governor. Each of these caretakers has experienced their own strange encounters and close calls, and many of them still have memories of chasing off looters at gunpoint and being shot at by unfriendly trespassers. The sandy campground beside the reservoir, which Michael had referred to as “the beach,” was in fact a canyon long ago filled with mine tailings—leftover earth extricated from the bowels of nearby hills and discarded after the careful removal of lead and zinc ore. As the light faded from the sky, we laid out the firewood we had brought and realized it wouldn’t be enough. We walked discreetly along the water’s edge collecting dead pieces of mesquite and broke them into small pieces, carefully placing the wood into plastic grocery bags to give the illusion we were in full compliance with the town rules. It was dark by the time we finished setting up camp. As soon as our campfire was lit I noticed headlights edging the reservoir. As Michael’s truck made its way across the beach, I told my friends about the need to play along with another small lie. I told him we were all students, I confessed. My friends looked at me strangely. It was cheaper that way, I shrugged. Michael joined us around the campfire and hungrily ate two Sonoran hot dogs as we peppered him with questions about his life and the town deteriorating around him. I like to go for long hikes, he told us, claiming to have explored every corner of the 360-acre premises. He used the word “benign” to classify things he would encounter on his walks: the bees swarming on the shores of the reservoir, the wasps that burrowed in the sand, the hundreds of thousands of bats inhabiting the abandoned mine shafts during the summer—all of them were benign. He told us that he valued his time alone, that his time off was
important to him. How do you mean? we asked. Well, he explained, Ruby is closed to visitors Monday through Wednesday. If someone shows up, I refuse them entry to the premises without question. If I have to come to the gate, that’s already work, you see? Even talking to people is work. Michael’s body tensed with resentment as he took a long drink from the beer we had given him. We asked Michael how he managed to stay connected with the outside world. I take trips into town once a week, he said, to fill my water tanks and make small purchases. He told us that once a month he drove to the city to buy food in bulk. He then began to explain his daily routine. I can’t really live without a computer, he confessed, so when I moved here I hooked up solar panels and satellite internet. Michael went on to tell us that he set aside time in the mornings to read the news, check his email, and play World of Warcraft. I don’t play as much as I used to, he said, but still, it’s good for me—I meet people that way. Michael smiled and took another drink from his beer. More than two hours after his arrival, Michael was still at our camp, fully engaged in what had become a monologue about the history of Ruby, the importance of enforcing the town rules, and the various kinds of visitors—good and bad, tolerable and bothersome—who made their way here throughout the year. He found us all to be very nice, he said, but he seemed disinterested in hearing our stories or asking us about our lives, except when one of us mentioned working in an office. I thought you were a student, he said sharply. I’m a school administrator, my friend confessed, having lost his motivation to keep up the ruse. I looked at Michael with panic in my eyes, afraid that he might come unhinged at our obvious violation of the town code. Slowly, I leaned toward him and placed my hand on his shoulder. My friend works in an office, I said, but he takes night classes at the community college. I smiled nervously, trying to sell the lie.
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Despite our desire to stay in Michael’s favor, our attention and courtesy to him wavered as the night wore on. After all, we had come here seeking a bit of isolation. Gradually, we attempted to send him signs of disinterest: we began conversations amongst ourselves, we quietly sang songs to each other as a friend strummed the banjo, we passed a flask around the fire and neglected to offer it to him. Finally, Michael stood from our dwindling fire and called to Kaida. When the dog came to his side, he reached down and touched her head. She always does as she’s told, he said. Kaida’s tongue flopped out of her mouth. Isn’t she benign? Michael smiled weakly at us and then shuffled away to his truck. The next morning we woke slowly. One by one, the members of our group wandered across the wind-rippled sands of the beach to the other side of the reservoir, where we each made our way through the center of the old town, walking among hulking and rusted machinery and dozens of ruined buildings: homes and warehouses, a hospital, a mercantile, a jailhouse. After exploring the town I made my way back to camp to brew a cup of coffee and then walked alone to the end of the tailings to peer down into the unfilled reaches of the canyon. Behind me I heard the lilting sounds of Spanish and I turned to see two men with rifles chatting casually as they made their way across the sand to the edge of the reservoir. As I made my way back to the campsite, I saw Michael’s truck barreling across the dirt road. He slid to a halt in front of the newlyarrived truck and stepped out of his vehicle, slamming his door. Where did they go? he shouted at me. I gestured toward the reservoir behind us. Michael was unarmed, outfitted only with a broad straw hat and an oversized flannel shirt tucked into his baggy jeans. He pulled his pants high upon his waist and stormed past me, muttering incredulously. They drove right past the goddamn signs, he said, right past my house. I turned to watch Michael confront the men. I was close enough to hear them greet him in Spanish as he approached. Can’t you fucking read? he shouted at them with his arms outstretched. Check in with the caretaker! The 56 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
men looked at each other in confusion, as if hurriedly considering what excuse they might give, what lie they might concoct. One of the men began to say a few words in Spanish before Michael abruptly cut him off. NO. FUCKING. TRESPASSING. Do you understand? Michael yelled in their faces, pointing his finger and pumping his arm in the air. Get out! GET THE FUCK OUT! The men said nothing and walked quickly back to the truck with their rifles. Michael walked over to me as the men drove off, still fuming. I stared at him nervously, thinking of something to say. We still need to pay you, I finally told him. That’s right, he said. I handed him a wad of cash and he walked back to his truck. He returned with a handwritten receipt. His breathing was still heavy. I’m sorry, he said. Sometimes I’ve got to be hard with people. There’s rules out here, goddamnit. n
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XIXA On The Brink By Carl Hanni
photo: courtesy XIXA
For our collective consideration: a near perfect-circle that stretches from Tucson to New York and around at least part of the world and back to Tucson again, in a roundabout that reflects how our circles of affiliation - coupled with a big dose of chance - dictate the course of our lives, both personal and creative. This is the origin story of Tucson’s XIXA, on the brink of their move out into the world, and ready to see where the global trade winds will take them.Â
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 59
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n 2007 a fledgling record label based in Brooklyn, Barbés Records (they also run a small club in Brooklyn by the same name) released a ground-breaking compilation called The Roots of Chicha. The record - a collection of 17 Peruvian ‘psychedelic cumbia’ tracks recorded between 1968 and 1978 - proved to be a watershed release, providing a look into a musical world that few outside of South America were aware of. The record went on to generate both a wave of positive media attention and to inspire numerous musicians enchanted by the sinuous, heavily syncopated chicha grooves that blend native Amazon music with cumbia, all filtered through an overlay of wigged out surf guitars and keyboards, ala American psychedelic garage rock. In 2010 Tucson musician Brian Lopez, on tour with French expatriate singer Marianne Dissard, played a show at the club Barbés and met the owner Olivier Conan, who also leads a chicha influenced band, Chicha Libre. Conan turned Lopez on to the Roots of Chicha record, and he in turn did the same for fellow musical traveller Gabriel Sullivan back in Tucson; both were pretty much blown away, to the point where Brian says “For me it made rock & roll interesting again. It was the most rock and roll thing I’d heard in like 20 years.” Around the same time Jason Urman, keyboard, sax and accordion man from Tucson (and musical compadre of Sullivan and Lopez) also found his way to Barbés and was knocked out by Chicha Libre. Back in Tucson they compared notes and figured out they’d all been listening to the same stuff. Sullivan and Lopez started playing a track off the Roots record, “Cariñito,” on one of their European tours backing up Dissard, bringing the house down every night. They in turn brought the song to the legendary, decadesrunning Tucson band Giant Sand, who they had both joined at the behest of Giant Sandman Howe Gelb. The song ended up being recorded and released on the Giant Giant Sand record Tucson: A Country Rock Opera in 2012. Facing some post-tour down time, and not wanting to return to a cycle of part time work until the next tour started, they founded the band Chicha Dust, playing rocking covers of chicha and cumbia tracks with the energy of a party band with an exotic sound. For Chicha Dust, Lopez and Sullivan assembled a stellar group of Tucson musicians, including drummer Winston Watson, timbales and percussion player Efren Cruz Chavez, bass player Geoffrey Hidalgo and keyboard and accordion guy Jason Urman. This is what eventually became XIXA in 2015, when they started writing original material and recording it in Sullivan’s Dust and Stone studio in Tucson. Back in Brooklyn, Olivier Conan had been watching all of this from afar for several years, and signed them immediately to Barbés Records upon hearing their first demos and digging the new band name, XIXA (more or less pronounced ‘seek-suh’). Barbés, home to many fantastic acts like Chico Trujillo, Very Be Careful and Banda de los Muertos (featured in the November issue of Zocalo) is ‘Sort of a dream label for us,’ says Sullivan, and the club became a sort of club house away from home whenever any of them were in New York. There, then, is the full circle in action; from Tucson to New York to Tucson, then around part the word and back to Tucson again, via the label and the club in Brooklyn. The story is just starting, and yet it already has a rich history, heavy with chance and layers of affiliation. The multiple, convergent paths that led the members of XIXA to where they are today reads like a roll call of a few essential lanes of the Tucson musical 60 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
freeway. Sullivan and Lopez have both released several solo records and fronted their own bands, as well as playing together in Giant Sand and Marianne Dissard’s band, and have wandered around the edges of the Calexico orbit. Sullivan fronted the ‘Balcumbia’ band Taraf de Tucson, has played with John Doe and Sergio Mendoza, worked extensively with Tucson singer/songwriter Billy Sedlmayr, and cut his teeth in the punk rock combo American Black Lung, as well as playing in a new combo, Crystal Radio. Sullivan and Lopez have recorded and toured with the national singer/songwriter KT Tunstall, and Lopez played and recorded with the rock trio Mostly Bears for several years, along with bass player Geoffrey Hidalgo, who has also played in Holy Rolling Empire, Texas Justice, The Cloud Walls and Saint Maybe, among others. Urman played in Taraf de Tucson, with the long-running combo The Jons and Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta, as well as sitting in with Calexico a few times, and some jazz gigs centered around the UA, including one with Linda Rondstadt. Cruz has done musical time with Vox Urbana, Tesoro, Salvador Duran and Carlos Azarte, along with Taraf de Tucson, Billy Sedlmayr and the Orkesta Mendoza. And Watson has a truly impressive resume going back several decades, including stints playing drums with Bob Dylan for several years, other national acts like Warren Zevon, Alice Cooper, Was (Not Was) and Chuck Prophet, and locally-based ones like Gentlemen After Dark, Greyhound Soul, Giant Sand, Rich Hopkins and the Luminarios and Saint Maybe, to name just a few. And XIXA currently has two bass players; the new guy is Frenchman Hikit Corbel, who will be touring with the band during the spring and summer. He previously played with Brian and Gabriel in France, as well as Robin Foster and several French combos, including We Are Bodies, Dajla, Tonus and Pygmy Johnson. All of which leads to XIXA and their two new releases on Barbés, the four song Shift and Shadow EP and the ten song Bloodline, both released on CD and vinyl. Produced by Lopez and Sullivan, written collectively, and given a ravishing visual boost by the graphics of the Tucson visual artist, video maker and musician Daniel Martin Diaz (also part of Crystal Radio, along with his wife Paula Catherine Valencia), they are national releases by an ambitious and far-reaching band that definitely has their eyes on the big picture. XIXA have moved far beyond their roots in cumbia and chicha; they are a full-fledged Sonoran rock band, dramatic and liberating, not afraid of making the big gesture. Much of the musical tension comes from the sweet and salty mix between Lopez’s and Sullivan’s voices, a blend of contrasts that is wholly their own. The twelve original tracks (“Dead Man” is on both records) and one cover (an uncanny version of “Plateau” by The Meat Puppets) run a spectrum that includes spaghetti-Western surf (“Vampiro”), desert pop (“Killer), monsoon drenched raga-rock (“Down from the Sky”) and demented cumbia (“Cumbia Del Paletero”). They can rock heavy (“Bloodline,” “Shift and Shadow” the galloping “Pressures of Mankind”) or melodic (the lovely “Dead Man,” “World Go Away”). “Nena Linda” is sung in Spanish, while “Pressures of Mankind” is the most overtly chicha-influenced song on the record. There are guest appearances: vocalist Katherine Byrnes from Sweet Ghosts sings on two tracks, Sadam Iyad Imarhan from the transcendental North African desert rock band Tinariwen lends a plaintive voice to the enchanting “World Go Away,” and Tucson spoken word artist/poet, DJ and cultural activist Logan ‘Dirtyverbs’ Phillips lends his words and voice to the epic, monumental “Living On The Line,” giving voice to a migrant stuck in a profit-driven prison in Arizona.
photo: courtesy XIXA
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XIXA have forged an original sound that bends previous hot climate genres into new shapes, filters them through a consistent, subtle background haze of electronics and a bit of cut-and-paste studio technology, and pushes it back out coated in layer of desert dust. It’s inevitable that, being from Tucson and the Southwest, the band will get tagged in some fashion with the...wait for it...’Desert Rock’ tag, and it’s not without some truth, as you can feel the heat and dust and wind of the Sonora rolling off of the band. But they have also, already expanded into a different dimension, pulling from wherever they choose, and the overall effect is something like a pagan rock & roll ritual and blood boiling barbecue in the desert, where you might want to look twice at what’s being served. On the origins of Chicha Dust, Lopez says: “We knew it would be fun to have a chicha cover band...it would be like a job where you don’t have to get a job, you could just play parties. Honestly, that was our plan!” And the appeal was obvious: “You’d play a whole set of your own material, then play ‘Cariñito,’ and they’d all jump up and say ‘What was that last song?’ It was like that in every country, and at some point you just have to look at it as go, ‘well there’s something to this.’ It crosses boundaries, it crosses cultures, it works EVERYWHERE.” Sullivan: “We don’t play that song anymore.” XIXA as a new band really came together in the studio, with songs written largely on the spot. “Sometimes Brian would come in with a verse and we’d build a song around that, or Jason would have a melody and no vocals. With a lot of the songs we’d track the music, and have no idea of the lyrics or even the vocal melody. Some mornings nobody had anything, so we’d sit around and laugh and hang out for a bit until somebody turned the corner.” Themes emerged organically, like the blood references in several songs, “Like a nest of veins running through all the songs, where, unknowingly, we were all in the same realm, conceptually” as Sullivan says. Watson: “It didn’t matter how much time we took, because it was all hours, there was no clock running. We built up all the gear and put all the gear together, we did all the sounds ourselves, there were no other engineers” (although local producer/studio owner Jim Waters does get credited on the album for some additional engineering). Chavez wrote the lyrics for ‘Cumbia Del Paletero’ on the spot. He says “Gabe put me on the spot, I had to come up with something. I was thinking
about writing something simple, about somebody or something that’s always overlooked, always cast in the shadows. I just thought about the paletero, who’s always around...paletero, the ice cream man. It’s about the ice cream man.” XIXA, working in tandem with Diaz and Valencia (who helps with the visual design), strive to create a total experience that blends the visual with the aural. Sullivan, on working with Diaz and Valencia, says it was “Like everything about this band, so natural and obvious, where we needed to go at every step.” Watson: “It was one of those things that had to happen, all the ingredients are a perfect storm. When the imagery came back, having the finished product in hand was just mind-blowing. It started out with some chords and wires and whatever, and now it’s a living, breathing entity, a spectacular moment captured by us.” XIXA are a uniquely Tucson band, in both sound, approach and temperament, and a true product of their environment. Sullivan says “I think that this band couldn’t happened any where but in Tucson, for a multitude of reasons. With Mexico only an hour away from us, and with the music that you can drive 20 minutes down to the south side to hear, the mariachi, the cumbia, norteño, waila...it’s natural that this stuff is going to seep into you one way or the other.” And Urman says “If you pick one of us up and put us into a different city we don’t evolve the same way as a musician. So, in a way, how we sound now couldn’t happen anywhere else but Tucson. Part of growing as a musician is the environment you’re around.” Lopez: “We’re a very tight band outside of music. We hang out, we have birthday parties with pinatas, Efren’s there grilling some carne asada. That’s Tucson to me, and I don’t know if that somehow translates through our music, but to me it certainly does, and it’s not just about what you do on the stage and in the studio, it’s also the surrounding culture.” As for the band name, it shouldn’t be overthought, and it boils down to the idea that it’s symbolic, simple and iconic, visually rich (thanks to Diaz), open to interpretation and likely to be remembered - it’s hard to miss those big X’s and all. XIXA’s willingness to embrace ambiguity and chance among all the very specific stuff that they are made of - guitars and saguaros and cords and mountains and much more - is the stuff that greatness can be forged out of. Time will tell, but they’re off to a spectacular start. n
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Little House of Funk at Boondocks Lounge, Wednesday, April 20.
Schedules accurate as of press time. Visit the web sites or call for current/ detailed information.
2ND SATURDAYS DOWNTOWN Congress Street, 2ndSaturdaysDowntown.com Sat 9: Please see web site.
BOONDOCKS LOUNGE 3306 N. 1st Ave. 690-0991, BoondocksLounge.com Fri 1: Frankensteel/Kevin Pakulis Band Sat 2: Whole Lotta Zep Sun 3: Heather Hardy & Lil’ Mama Band Mon 4: The Bryan Dean Trio Wed 6: Nancy McCallion & The Scarlet Lettermen Thu 7: Titan Valley Warheads Fri 8: The Railbirdz, Rock Hardz Sun 10: Benefit for Kevin, music lineup TBA Mon 11: The Bryan Dean Trio Thu 14:Titan Valley Warheads Fri 15: Johnny Ain’t Right Sat 16: Heather & Li’l Mama Band Sun 17: The Last Call Girls Mon 18: The Bryan Dean Trio Wed 20: Little House Of Funk With Connie Brannock Thu 21: Titan Valley Warheads Fri 22: Anna Warr & Giant Blue Sat 23: Festival Band Sun 24: FrankenSteel with Freaky Frank Manhardt Mon 25: The Bryan Dean Trio Wed 27: Michael P. & The Gullywashers Thu 28: Titan Valley Warheads Sat 30: AmoSphere
BORDERLANDS BREWING 119 E. Toole Ave. 261-8773, BorderlandsBrewing.com Fri 1: Adam Townsend Fri 8: Rich Hopkins & The Luminarios Sat 9: Belinda Esquer Sun 10: Kevin Pakulis Fri 15: The Determined Luddites Sat 16: Adara Rae Sun 17: Kevin Pakulis Fri 22: Funky Bonz Sun 24: Kevin Pakulis Sat 30: The Muffulettas
CAFE PASSE 415 N. 4th Ave. 624-4411, CafePasse.com Thursdays: Jazz with Glen Gross & Friends
ches lounge 350 N. 4th Ave. 623-2088, ChesLounge.com Please visit the web site.
CLUB CONGRESS 311 E. Congress St. 622-8848, HotelCongress.com/club Fri 1: Supersuckers, Jesse Dayton, Very Be Careful, DJ Dirtyverbs Sat 2: Tom Walbank, Naim Amor, Nathaniel Knows, Sid The Kid, Bob Really Sun 3: The Cave Singers, Draemhouse Tue 5: Big White, Tamar Aphek, The Gayboys, Cucumber, The Suntans Fri 8: Jefferson Carter’ Diphtheria Festival Book Release, Young Hunter, The Night Collectors, Ohioan, DJ Dirtyverbs Sat 9: Little Green Cars, Angelz, Sean Watson, Sid The Kid, Bob
62 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
Photo courtesy Fox Tucson Theatre
Photo courtesy Little House of Funk
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Anderson-Ponty Band, Fox Tucson Theatre, Thursday, April 28.
Reallydrew Shuta Thu 14: Ghostal, Garboski, West Foot Forward Sat 16: Planned Parenthood Rock & Roe, Katterwaul Sun 17: Incendio Tue 19: Blackbird Blackbird, Chad Valley & Matinee Commute Thu 21: Micky and the Motorcars, Strangetowne, Drew Cooper Sat 23: Sisters Morales Wed 27: La Luz, Massenger, Katterwaul Sat 30: The Hood Internet, Sid The Kid, Andrew Shuta, Bob Really
coronet 402 E. 9th St. 222-9889 CafeCoronet.com Wednesdays: Naim Amor Tue 5: O Ryne Warner Thu 7: Kevin Pakulis Band Mon 11: Loveland Tue 12: Connor Gallaher, Jeff Lownsbury Thu 14: Kyklo! Tue 19: Karima Walker Thu 21: Mariah McCammond Tue 26: Jamie O’Brien Thu 28: Kyklo!
LA COCINA 201 N. Court Ave. 622-0351, LaCocinaTucson.com Sat 2: Nathaniel Burnside Duo Thu 7: Freddy Parish Thu 14: Louise Le Hir
CUSHING STREET BAR & RESTAURANT 198 W. Cushing St. 622-7984, CushingStreet.com Fridays & Saturdays: Cool Jazz
DELECTABLES RESTAURANT 533 N. 4th Ave. 884-9289, Delectables.com Sun 3: Tucson Classical Outreach Sat 9: Eb Eberlein
Ermanos 220 N 4th Ave, 445-6625, ermanosbrew.com Fri 1: Steff Koeppen & The Articles Thu 21: Katie Haverly Trio Thu 28: Real Love & The Counterfeits
FLYCATCHER 340 E. 6th St. 798-1298, TheFlycatcherTucson.com See web site for details.
FOX TUCSON THEATRE 17 W. Congress St. 624-1515, FoxTucsonTheatre.org Fri 1: Chris Botti Sat 2: December ‘63 Sun 10: The Edwards Twins in Twintastic Sat 16: Richard Marx Thu 21: Holy Holy Fri 22: Roy Orbison Returns Sun 24: Graham Nash Thu 28: Anderson-Ponty Band Sat 30: Clint Black
HACIENDA DEL SOL 5501 N. Hacienda Del Sol. 2991501, HaciendaDelSol.com Nightlly: Live Music on the Patio Please visit the web site.
The Hut 305 N. 4th Ave., 623-3200 huttucson.com Sundays: Acoustic Open Mic, with Cadillac Mountain
Thursdays: Mockingbirds Fridays: Sunset Soul eith Kelsey St. Germaine Saturdays: Mike & Randy’s 430 Show with Top Dead Center Fri 1: Planet Jam, The Grind Sat 2: Mason, Little Kings, Finite Fiction Sun 3: Rockers Uptown
Merci Gallery 630 E. 9th St. 623-2114 MerciGallery.com Sat 2: Adam Townsend Sun 24: Balearic Beats by Corbin Dooley
MONTEREY COURT 505 W. Miracle Mile, MontereyCourtAZ.com Fri 1: Sam Baker in Concert Sat 2: Carnivaleros—CD Release Party Sun 3: Nancy Elliott & Friends, Tru Composure Tue 5: Christopher David Larkin Wed 6: Nick McBlaine & Log Train Thu 7: Mark & Maggie O’Connor— American Classics Duo Fri 8: Roadhouse Sat 9: Heather Lil Mama Hardy & her band Sun 10: Nancy Elliott & Friends, Swingset w/ special guests Tue 12: Nancy McCallion & Danny Krieger w/ guest Heather Hardy Wed 13: Tucson Songwriters Showcase Thu 14: Don Armstrong & Friends Fri 15: Bob Corritore & Dave Riley Juke Joint Blues Band Sat 16: Cockswain-Celtic Rock Sun 17: Nancy Elliott & Friends,
Photo courtesy Rialtotheatre.com
Photo courtesy Louise Le Hir/BandCamp
Louise Le Hir at La Cocina Cantina, Thursday, April 14.
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M83, Rialto Theatre, Tuesday, April 12.
Leigh Lesho Tue 19: The Tucsonics—Western Swing Thu 21: Slow As We Wanna Go—Fundraiser for TKMA and the Folk Festival Fri 22: Sonoran Dogs Sat 23: Baba Marimba—World Beat Sun 24: Nancy Elliott & Friends, Ronstadt Generations Wed 27: Eric Schaffer & the Other Troublemakers Fri 29: Rhythm Jax
Mon 18: The Ann Wilson Thing Tue 19: Foals, Kiev Wed 20: Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular Fri 22: Katchafire, Mystic Roots Sat 23: Ghost, Tribulation Sun 24: The Front Bottoms, Brick Mortar, Diet Cig Wed 27: Turnpike Troubadors, Jason Boland & The Stragglers Thu 28: Infected Mushroom Fri 29: Don’t Look Back—The Boston Experience
PLAYGROUND TUCSON
Royal Sun Lounge
278 E. Congress. 396-3691, PlaygroundTucson.com Sundays: The George Howard Band
1003 N Stone Ave (520) 622-8872 BWRoyalSun.com Sun-Tue: Happy Hour Live Music Sundays: Ivan Denis Mon 4: Swingset
Plaza Palomino 2990 N. Swan Rd., 907-7325 plazapalomino.com See web site for more info.
RIALTO THEATRE 318 E. Congress St. 740-1000, RialtoTheatre.com Fri 1: Día De Las Luchas, Los Guapos Sat 2: Local Love Metal Fest VII—Push, Headrust, Bordertown Devils, Blueprints For Destruction, Stubborn Old Bastard, Conceived By Thunder, O.P.U. Tue 5: Run Boy Run, Woven Oak Trio Thu 7: Kathleen Madigan Fri 8: Freddie Gibbs, Chaz French Sat 9: Elvis Costello Detour Sun 10: Olate Dogs Tue 12: M83, Yacht Wed 13: Candlebox, Lullwater, Pete RG Sun 17: The Darkness, RavenEye
The Screening Room 127 E. Congress (520) 882-0204 screeningroomtucson.com Sat 9: Psych Out! Benefit for Downtown Radio— Crystal Radio, Mute Swan, Cobra Family Picnic, Wet Marble, Trees Speak
Sea Of Glass--Center For The Arts 330 E. 7th St., 398-2542 TheSeaOfGlass.org Fri 15: ThreeStyle
SKY BAR TUCSON 536 N. 4th Ave, 622-4300. SkyBarTucson.com Sat 2: People Who Could Fly, Charlotte Ham Tue 5: Tom Walbank, Naim Amor Wed 6: Open Mic Thu 7: Fire & Gold Belly Dance,
White Fuzzy, Bloodbath, Pistachio, Periscope Fri 8: Cirque Roots Sat 9: David Liebe Hart, Whoops, Dirt Friends Sun 10: Crown Larks, Daycones, Wight Lhite Tue 12: Tom Walbank, Haboob Wed 13: Open Mic Thu 14: The Long Wait, Leigh Lesho Sat 16: B4Skin, Serene Dominic, Shooda Shook It Tue 19: Tom Walbank, Naim Amor Wed 20: Open Mic Thu 21: Dirt Moon, Austin Counts Fri 22: Cirque Roots Sat 23: Lexi Weege, Dutch Holly, Rotary Speed Dial Tue 26: Tom Walbank, Haboob Wed 27: Open Mic Thu 28: Human Ottoman Fri 29: Desert Beats, Paper Foxes, Un:ted States, Bad Neighbors Sat 30: Alter Der Ruine, Early Black, IOTA
SOLAR CULTURE 31 E. Toole Ave. 884-0874, SolarCulture.org Sat 16: Blood, Sweat & Bass
Tap & Bottle 403 N. 6th Ave. 344-8999 TheTapandBottle.com Thu 7: Eric Schaffer & The Other Troublemakers Thu 14: Amy Mendoza & The Strange Vacation, The Surfbroads Thu 21: Haboob Thu 28: Tiffany Christopher
April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 63
Z tucsonstreetportraits by Andrew Brown / @aemerybrown
Left to right, top to bottom: Rillito Downs; Trump Rally; Trump Rally; Portraits of Cactus; Young Punks; Rillito Downs.
64 ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com | April 2016
Death Valley Girls (3/15/16
lookback Z
by Jeff Weber / @loljeffweber
Lance Alan (Lando Chill)
Protomartyr (3/1/16)
SAAF’s Möda Provocateur Official After Party at Playground Bar & Lounge (3/6/16) April 2016 | ZOCALOMAGAZINE.com 65
949 N Van Alstine $111,000
840 S. 8th ave, $253,000
921 S. Meyer, $559,800
211 S. 4th, $489,000
SOLD 408 S. Convent Ave, $889,000
990 S. Meyer, $331,800