Summer would not be summer in this town without the Culver City Boulevard Music Summer Festival. This is week two of the special, free music fest and tonight’s headliners will bring some heat with their beat.
Argentinian rock with superb vocals and guitar from Los Pinguos, plus Worldbeat/Funk/Rock/Mambo from the Bonedaddys plan to rock the joint from 7 to 9 p.m.
This is the Summer Music Fest’s second of six free concerts in the intimate Dale Jones Courtyard of Culver City City Hall.
Every week, a diverse style of musical entertainment will take listeners on a journey of sound and experiences that they won’t soon forget. Curated by producer Gary Mandell of Culver City’s Boulevard Music, the 2019 Summer Music Fest will feature “something for everybody.” The multi-dimensional sounds of Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand will be in the house to rock down the joint in cool-breeze fashion. Last week, the Bluegrass-rock music of Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand kicked off the series.
On the music menu for the coming weeks, are Afro/Cuban that can literally burn up the dance floor from Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca (July 25); Jazz/Blues/Motown with a tribute to Aretha Franklin from the George Kahn Jazz and Blues Revue plus the sounds of Surf Music/the Beach Boys with a tribute to Dick Dale from Big Wave (Aug. 1); An Evening of the Music of John Denver with singalongs from Jim Curry (Aug. 8); The ultimate vocal cover group—the most requested Pine Mountain Logs (Aug. 15).”
Culver City’s Boulevard Music Summer Festival takes place on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. through mid-August.
The Dale Jones City Hall Courtyard is located at 9770 Culver Blvd. in Downtown Culver City (corner Culver Boulevard and Duquesne Avenue). Parking is free for the first two hours (with festival validation) in designated structures in the Downtown area. The courtyard opens at 4:30 p.m. No glass containers or alcoholic beverages may be brought into the courtyard. For more information, call Boulevard Music 310-398-2583 or go to www.boulevardmusic.com.
Those who want to add to their listening pleasure can take a seat up front near the stage, as an entry-level sponsor for a mere $10 per show. There are 100 premium reserved seats available each week and tickets can be purchased at Boulevard Music in person or by phone 310-398-2583.
TONIGHT’S PERFORMERS
Los Pinguos
Los Pinguos came to the United States from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a mixture of Latin rhythms, reggae, rumba Flamenca and rock. The sound of the band has claimed fans worldwide. The story began in 1999 when Adrián Buono, Enzo Buono, José Agote, Juan Manzur and Juan Manuel Leguizamón (later joined by bassist Santiago Lee) formed the band. In early 2001, Los Pinguos arrived in the City of Los Angeles and began playing on the street (3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica) and local bars. Shortly, they participated in a new television show, “The
Next Big Star,” hosted and produced by Ed McMahon from “Star Search.” Los Pinguos won the contest and received the Grand Prize. Since then, they have recorded all their CDs, Magia (2001), Camino Bueno (2002), Serenata (2003), Live in Los Angeles (2005), Peripecias (2006), California (2008) and 11.11 (2011). Los Pinguos have appeared on three of the famous Putumayo World Music compilation albums, Baila!, Radio Latino and World Party. They have performed worldwide in places such as India, Bali, The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, and throughout the United States.
The Bonedaddys
The Bonedaddys, are L.A.’s original “Worldbeatniks” (since 1985) and one of the very first American bands to be described as Worldbeat. The Bonedaddys still take a “wide stance” stylistically, and claim influences ranging from Charles Ives to Burl Ives and much in-between; with the common musical denominator being a fun, danceable party ambience.
The Bonedaddys were formed in Los Angeles by percussionist Michael Tempo and the group’s sprawling, the ever-changing roster would variously include singers Kevin Williams, King Cotton, Billy Sheets, Gregg Sutton and now Kaspar Abbo. Their album debut was in 1988 with A-Koo-De-A!, (although they had earlier written and recorded a song about Bo Diddley with Bo Diddley on vocals and guitar; which was not released until a shortened version of it appeared on their CD “Garage Sale. After “A-Koo-De-A” The Bonedaddys subsequently issued a series of albums including “Worldbeatniks”, “To Jam Is Human, to Gig Divine, Jungle/Jungle, and Garage Sale.
The Bonedaddys have now released their 6th album “waterslide.” The all-original songs on “waterslide” are designed to move butts of all persuasions and feature soulful vocals by frontman and tunesmith Kaspar Abbo and King Cotton (named after Elvis’ favorite brand of bacon) who are accompanied by the twin guitar attack of Marcus Watkins and Phil Gough, with Jay Work on saxophones and propelled by bass (Rick Moors), drums (Casey Jones) and percussion (Mike Tempo.) The 13 grooves on “waterslide” are a merry-go-round of styles and range from funk, rock, blues mambo, soca, Latin, rock-steady and psycho-billy two-step to an afro-surf twang meets spaghetti-western instrumental. “waterslide” is a gumbo stirred up in light refracted through a prism called Los Angeles. For The Bonedaddys, Worldbeat has come full circle to include an expression of American roots music.
Culver City’s Boulevard Music Festival is sponsored by The City of Culver City, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Boulevard Music, John Riordan Plumbing, Culver City Volvo & Mazda, Swiss Motors, Sorrento Market, D & E Associates, Cavanaugh Realty, Dolce Realtors, Michael Kayem Remax, LaRocco’s, Music Munchers, Dynagraphics, Culver City News, Culver City Observer, Steeldeck Inc, Eastman Guitars, Kremona USA, Ohana Ukuleles, Ernie Ball and others.
