Melissa Etheridge, courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.
Award-winning musician Melissa Etheridge brings her singular song stylings and stage presence to UCSB’s Campbell Hall (Nov. 15) to celebrate the release of her new album and the inspiration behind some of her most beloved songs. artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu.
Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Guitar Shorty, courtesy photo
The Santa Barbara Blues Society, the oldest existing U.S. blues society, founded in March 1977, presents award winning Guitar Shorty and his band at the Carrillo Recreation Center (100 E. Carrillo St.) on Saturday, November 14.
David Kearney, a.ka. Guitar Shorty, was born in Texas and raised in Florida. His early influences included B.B. King, John Lee Hooker and Guitar Slim. A valued musician since his teens, known since then as Guitar Shorty, he was lead guitarist in the bands of musical giants Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. Shorty has lived in Los Angeles for more than 40 years and led his own band for more than 30. Nominated for multiple Blues Music Awards by the Blues Foundation, he has won two for Best Blues Album of the Year. The Chicago Reader called him “among the highest-energy blues entertainers on the scene.”
Doors will open at 7 p.m. and music starts at 8 p.m. There will be free BBQ snacks, an outdoor patio, and a large, spring-loaded dance floor. For further information, go to www.SBBlues.org, or call 805/ 722-8155.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on November 6, 2015.
Louisa Sawyer Lindquist and Bob Lindquist. Photo by Derek Johnson
A spirited toast to all things alcoholic! by Leslie Dinaberg
We’ve longtime fans of Qupé wines at my house, so I was excited to hear that winemaker Bob Lindquist had a new duo of value blends available and couldn’t wait to try them. Thankfully, they didn’t disappoint. Both wines retail for about $16.
Drawing inspiration from the elegant wines of France’s Rhône Valley, crossed with an approachable California touch, both the “modern red” and “modern white” pair well with a wide variety of foods. Here are the tasting notes:
Qupé 2013 A Modern Red – “For lovers of Pinot, looking for ‘a bit more,’ A Modern Red offers delicate Pinot-like flavors, but with added complexity and spice. Not all red wines play well with a broad range of food, but whether it’s steak, chicken, or a Sunday afternoon burger, A Modern Red complements them all.”
Qupé 2014 A Modern White – “Call this blend a modern wine for the modern drinkers. Taking the best of California Chardonnay and integrating the aromatic notes and freshness of France’s Rhone Valley, this wine is easily paired with a variety of lighter dishes, serves as an easy sipper for an evening in with takeout, or a quality, value wine to bring to a casual dinner party.”
Qupe Value Blends, courtesy photo
Started in 1982, Qupé (kyoo-PAY) spans multiple vineyards across California’s Central Coast. Bob Lindquist, founder, winemaker and partner is considered to be an original “Rhône Ranger,” and was one of the first to advocate for American-made Syrah and other Rhône varietals such as Grenache, Roussanne and Marsanne. Qupé is celebrated as California’s preeminent producer of cool-climate Syrah and Rhône varietals. Qupé produces four tiers of wines: Single Vineyard/Estate, Reserve, Core and Blends. In 2013, noted wine investor, Charles Banks, purchased a controlling interest in Qupé, adding the brand to his Terroir Selections portfolio. Cheers!
Click here for more cocktail corner columns.
When she’s not busy working as the editor of Santa Barbara SEASONS, Cocktail Corner author Leslie Dinaberg writes magazine articles, newspaper columns and grocery lists. When it comes to cocktails, Leslie considers herself a “goal-oriented drinker.”
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on November 6, 2015.
Lucy in Turquoise by Aline Smithson, courtesy wall space gallery
Artist/photographer Aline Smithson, whose beautiful work graced the cover of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine in spring 2015, will be in town Friday night to show her the work and celebrate the release of her long awaited monograph, Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography.
Smithson’s roots in traditional painting and portraiture are the background for her latest body of work, Revisiting Beauty. “In the footsteps of classical portraiture, her images filled with vibrant rich color and the simple beauty of the young women sitting before her brings to mind Kusakabe Kimbei’s stunning hand painted portraits of young Japanese women. It is the connection to her subject that her standing out from the often overflowing world of portrait photographers,” says wall space gallery owner Crista Dix.
Lexie Turned by Aline Smithson, courtesy wall space gallery
The gallery will show a selection of highlighted works of Alines’ many portrait series. Arrangement in Green & Black (Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother), Revisiting Beauty and hand painted silver gelatin portraits.
Friday night November 6, from 6 – 8 p.m., Smithson will give an artist talk and sign books.
wall space gallery is located at 116 E. Yanonali St. in the Funk Zone of Santa Barbara. Open hours: Tu-Sa 11-5, Sun 12-5, and by appointment.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 4, 2015.
Arturo O’Farrill and the
Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.
Grammy Award-winning Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music and the virtuosity of 18 of the world’s most accomplished solo musicians, on Thu., Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. at UCSB Campbell Hall, presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures.
Pianist and composer O’Farrill, billed by the New York Times as leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz,” earned a reputation as a soloist in groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte.
Son of the late, great composer Chico O’Farrill, he established the Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra to bring the vital musical traditions of Afro Latin jazz to a wider audience. Fusing Latin rhythms, African-based percussion, modern jazz and swing, this 18-piece orchestra roars through new commissions and compositions by the best in Latin music: Tito Puente, Astor Piazzola, Hermeto Pascoal and Chico O’Farrill.
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at 805/893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 30, 2015.
Ranchito Bendito artwork by Frank Serrano
ranchito-bendito-montecito-magazine-article_fall-winter2010
This story was originally published in Montecito Magazine in Winter 2010.
A spirited toast to all things alcoholic! by Leslie Dinaberg
Wine + Beer and the Public Market will partner with Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company and chef Kyle Jones of Country Catering for the market’s first-ever beer dinner on Nov. 12. Courtesy photo.
Beer and food pairings are all the rage, and not surprisingly, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company, chef Kyle Jones of Country Catering and Wine + Beer at the Public Market are excited to get in on the action on Nov. 12.
How yummy does this menu sound?
Amuse Bouche
Kettle chips with whipped beer cheese
paired with FMB 101
First course
Garlic Baked Oyster
Oyster, Weiss Weiss topping, shaved asparagus salad
paired with Weiss Weiss
Second course
Shrimp and Grits
Shrimp, linguica soffrito, manchego grits (pictured)
paired with Danish Red
Intermezzo
Prickly Pear- Lizards Mouth IPA Sherbet
Third course
Ox Tail and Wild Mushroom Pie
Davy brown braised oxtail, wild mushrooms, black truffle crust
paired with Davy Brown
Fourth course
Black and Tan Dessert Duo
Saint Andre, Corn Tuille, Toasted Almond, Honey
paired with Paradise Pilsner
Stout Graham Streusel Cake, Milk Chocolate Stagecoach Ganache, Burnt Marshmallow
paired with Stagecoach Stout
The Santa Barbara Public Market is located at 38 W. Victoria St. Tickets are $65 and advanced reservations are required. Call 805/770-7702 to reserve your spot.
Cheers! Click here for more cocktail corner columns.
When she’s not busy working as the editor of Santa Barbara SEASONS, Cocktail Corner author Leslie Dinaberg writes magazine articles, newspaper columns and grocery lists. When it comes to cocktails, Leslie considers herself a “goal-oriented drinker.”
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 30, 2015.
Joyce Dudley, courtesy photo
The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara will host a Site Visit Kick-Off on Thursday, October 29 from 3 to 6:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church (21 E. Constance Ave., Santa Barbara). This annual event features progress reports from the seven local nonprofits that received Women’s Fund grants this past spring: Children’s Resource and Referral, Community Action Commission, Conflict Solutions Center, Mental Wellness Center, New Beginnings Counseling Center, Sarah House and Transition House.
In addition to representatives from the nonprofits, for the first time there will be a keynote speaker at the event—Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley.
“Joyce knows that prevention and early intervention strategies are key to changing lives,” said Women’s Fund Chair Nancy Harter. “For more than a decade, the Women’s Fund has researched and funded local programs with those same strategies.”
While there is a $20 fee for Women’s Fund members to help defray costs, the event is open to guests free of charge. A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m.
For more information and to register, go to the Women’s Fund website at www.womensfundsb.org
After the October 29 Kick-Off, Women’s Fund members and guests will have the opportunity to sign up for small-group visits to the seven 2015 grantees to see first-hand how Women’s Fund grants are changing lives. The small-group visits will be available on a first-come basis between November and February.
Donating more than $5.1 million to the local community since 2004, the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara is an all-volunteer collective donor group that enables women to combine their charitable dollars into significant grants focused on the critical needs of women, children and families in south Santa Barbara County. The Women’s Fund has grown from 68 members in 2004 to nearly 700 in 2015.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 27, 2015
Courtesy Santa Barbara Empty Bowls
Help to end hunger when one of Santa Barbara’s most beloved events, the annual Santa Barbara Empty Bowls luncheon, returns on Sun., Nov. 1 at the Ben Page Youth Center, 4540 Hollister Ave. Tickets are still available.
Always a unique and fun fundraising event, Empty Bowls benefits the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, which works to eliminate hunger and food insecurity by distributing nutritious food, education and other resources through its own programs and through a network of more than 300 member nonprofit partners and programs in Santa Barbara County.
For a donation of $30 (or more), participants choose a beautiful bowl handcrafted by local ceramic artists, enjoy a simple meal of soup, bread and water, and take home the bowl as a reminder of the meal’s purpose to feed the hungry in our community.
Following the luncheon, attendees may tour the Foodbank Warehouse Facility, located next door from the Page Center at 4554 Hollister Ave. and enjoy a slice of pie and delicious coffee from French Press while touring.
Last year, more than 800 people attended Empty Bowls, which raised $108,109 for the Foodbank. Santa Empty Bowls has donated over $1 million to the Foodbank over the last 17 years to help alleviate hunger in Santa Barbara County and has provided huge community awareness for Foodbank’s mission and work.
The event is hosted by Santa Barbara Empty Bowls Committee: Danyel Dean (Founder), Diane Durst, Cathy Closson, Merrillee Ford Bev Hanna, Donnalyn Karpeles, Nancy Krug, Elizabeth Olson, Laurie Potter, Shanon Sedivy, Linda Shillerstom and Dierdre Woode. Tickets are still available and guests can choose between three seating times: 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. For tickets click here. Online registration ends Friday, October 30, but tickets can also be purchased at the door.
For more information, visit foodbanksbc.org.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 27, 2015.
Spanish Colonial Style, photo by Matt Walla, courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum
This retrospective exhibition, the first in 90 years, celebrates the publication of a monograph on the work of two seminal Santa Barbara architects, who happen to be husband and wife.
James Osborne Craig is widely credited with establishing the Spanish Colonial style in Santa Barbara. He left two buildings of such potency—even precocity, given his age—completed posthumously, that one suspects he would have given George Washington Smith ample competition if not for his premature death at the age of 33. One was Casa Santa Cruz, the house for Irene and Bernhard Hoffmann. The other was El Paseo, which set the standard for Santa Barbara’s architectural rebirth in the twenties and continues to be a reference today. His wife Mary McLaughlin Craig, indelibly linked with the houses of Plaza Rubio, followed in his footsteps and established her own identity as an architectural designer for 36 years.
Spanish Colonial Style: Santa Barbara and the Architecture of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig, written by the Craigs’ granddaughter Pamela Skewes-Cox and architectural historian Robert Sweeney, was recently published by Rizzoli, in conjunction with the Museum. The exquisite book includes a stunning collection of contemporary photos by Matt Walla.
Experience the exhibition premiere with a cocktail reception, comments by noted architect and author Marc Appleton, and book signing by the authors, Pamela Skewes-Cox and architectural historian Robert Sweeney.
Opening Reception
October 22, 5:30 p.m.
Experience the exhibition premiere with a cocktail reception, comments by noted architect and author Marc Appleton, and book signing by the authors. Reservation required.
Lecture
October 23, 11 a.m.
Pamela Skewes-Cox, author Spanish Colonial Style: Santa Barbara and the Architecture of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig, will give a presentation about the book and the lives of her grandparents. Reservation required.
First Thursday
November 5, 5-8 p.m.
Join us to view the exhibition after-hours during Downtown Santa Barbara’s art walk. Wine, music and family-friendly activities.
All events take place at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, 136 E. De la Guerra St., 805/966-1601.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 16, 2015.