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Randy Sparks loves what he does. So, he plans to keep right on doing it.His 86th birthday isn’t an impediment.“Hell, no,” Sparks said, → Read More
It’s never too late for a few firsts. The Stockton Symphony’s been playing for 93 years, yet it’s still taking time to create some precedent.Conductor Peter Jaffe and the symphony musicians will be doing that during a 2019-20 season that includes five “classics” concerts and four “pops” productions.“I really feel like it’s a season of blockbusters,” said the always enthusiastic Jaffe, in his… → Read More
Bruce Springsteen has gone symphonic.Not entirely, but his first studio album in five years is awash in orchestrated strings and horns.The E Street Band → Read More
Billy Cohen always is enthusiastic.He’s even more upbeat now.“This year, it’s a big leap forward,” Cohen said. “All the → Read More
Kelly Foley knew it would happen. It just took a while.“The day Bowie died, I got a call,” Foley recalled. “We said, ‘Not now, → Read More
This year’s list of new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members has a decidedly English accent. Five of the seven are British bands. Announced on Dec. → Read More
Recorded music is unique among the pop arts.It allows listeners to experience the creative process, from inspiration to completion.New box-set releases of → Read More
A half-century later, 1968 still resonates as a pivotal period in the evolution of pop music. “Rock and roll’s greatest year” is how the Time/Life editors label it in a “Music of 1968” publication released this summer. While England’s Beatles were at “their peak,” The Band’s 1968 debut recording — “Music From Big Pink” — is characterized in the magazine as being the “most influential in rock… → Read More
During a year in which women’s voices are being heard with increasing impact, it’s possible to assemble a comparable list of memorable pop-rock albums from the first half of 2018.Though these artists can’t — and don’t — contend with the dance-pop diva-ettes for attention and audiences, they express themselves in ways that generally are more honest, intimate and realistic.It’s impossible to truly… → Read More
Maybe the nuclear negotiators should try this tactic: “Music has more power than anything in the world,” Robert “Bobby” Harris said. “Music is more powerful than anybody.” That’s been a self-fulfilling reality for Harris since he was a teenager. During most of five decades, he’s been living it as a co-founder of the Dazz Band. “I love playing my horn,” said Harris, a tenor saxophone specialist… → Read More
Bob Stover has no difficulty finding musicians now. “People are actually knocking on the door wanting to play,” he said. “But we have a → Read More
The bar stools are 36 inches high. The “offset-V” stage angle prevents breezes from distorting the sound. The shade patterns keep things cool. → Read More
The guys in U2 — “wipe the tears from your eyes” — are ready when needed. Again.“We’re just getting warmed up,” Paul “Bono” Hewson said Wednesday as his 41-year-old Irish rock band concluded a particularly thundering and visceral concert/call-to-persistent-activism at a sold-out Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.Now in their 50s, Bono and U2 grew up during Ireland’s "troubles.” Whether it’s… → Read More
There’s nothing particularly funny about a pet with poor hearing.“Deaf Puppies” is more a term of endearment and affection that reveals the sometimes “silly” comedic instincts of Saul Trujillo and his dog-adoring friends.“We’re comedians from the 209” — including a “dairy farmer” — said Stockton-born Trujillo, a former chef.His stand-up style is “observational,” said the 32-year-old St. → Read More
Part of it began “jokingly.” Bruce Southard was serious, though.Now, the Stockton Chorale concludes its 59th season with “Peace Train” concerts of 21 reimagined pop-rock-folk songs that includes Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”Glenn Pillsbury, a tenor who’s been singing with the group since 2004, also suggested “Love Gun” (1977) by KISS and “Stargazer (1976) by → Read More
One of the “firsts” won’t be amending the name to: Brubeck Institute Jazz, Rock, Blues Quintet.“I don’t even know how to describe it,” Xach Wagner said. “I was kinda surprised. I really didn’t expect it. Growing up as a kid, I always thought about it, but I never thought I’d be in it.“It’s a totally different creature than rock. With jazz, I don’t even know what’ll happen. There’s a lot of… → Read More
If Ralph Cesena Jr. heeds his grandfather’s advice, he still could be playing music in 47 years.“My grandpa’s music always was about sharing it with the people,” Cesena said. “I’m not the greatest. I’m an average musician. But, putting together a band and going out and seeing how happy it makes people is definitely worth doing.”Cesena, 54, has done that for most of his life, emulating maternal… → Read More
Alcaraz brings a Latino voice to the funnies Tony Sauro Record Staff Writer @TSauroRecord Lalo Alcaraz’s head felt “like 10 basketballs.” Still, he was back on the road, two days after enduring a painful root canal dental procedure. Despite the headache, he keeps on administering the novocaine of wit, wisdom and satirical humor as an editorial cartoonist who also creates a daily syndicated comic… → Read More
Shakara Alvarez and the Polyester Wags are having fun with their ongoing identity crises.After Alvarez located her singing voice, uncertainty has been → Read More
As a child, he wanted to “see” music. Not just hear it. “It’s something, I guess, that’s part of the construction of a → Read More