A Cup of Acoustic : Latte 101 just the stop for cappuccino, conversation, chess and the blues.
The epicenter of industrial-strength coffee in east Ventura is Latte 101, in a Vons shopping center between a vitamin store and a pasta place. There, one can get wired to the max, chat about Important Stuff, read a magazine, play chess, do homework and, six nights a week, check out some music.
In addition to all that jangle-inducing liquid featuring all the usual suspects from espresso to breve, Latte 101 has food, including all sorts of pastries, sandwiches, croissants, juices galore and even chili.
As to the soundtrack, there’s no slam pit, no bouncers who hate your face, no lines to the restroom so long they waste your few good remaining years. And no decibels to make your liver quiver--just acoustic stuff by mostly singer-songwriters. There’s two hours of music every night except Sunday--”The X-Files” night--beginning at 8, featuring solo acts, duos or trios.
This is a completely low-budget/no-budget production. The musicians set up--really, they just stand or sit there--under the Happy Mother’s Day sign and in front of the coffee cup and knickknack display near the myriad coffee dispensers.
On a recent Tuesday night, it was acoustic blues from Junior & Bob, with pal Johnny Borraza sitting in on guitar.
This quieter, gentler band plays Chicago-style blues with two guitarists, and Bob Holt blowing away on one of his many harmonicas. Their songs touch on the usual blues topics of bad luck, bad women and bad whiskey, and Junior & Bob have a tape of originals.
“This place is real casual,” said Junior Vega, guitar player for Night Train, a classic rock band that plays all over the county, including at Latte 101.
“People come in to have a cup of coffee, read or maybe just hang out. Lots of students come in and do their homework, and there’s lots of families.”
DETAILS
Jodi Farrell plays acoustic music tonight; Tom Kwake plays acoustic music Saturday; Paul Courselle plays acoustic music Monday; Junior & Bob play acoustic blues Tuesday; Scott Ford plays acoustic music Wednesday; John Alexander plays acoustic music Thursday; at Latte 101, 5722 Telephone Road, C11, Ventura, 658-2677.
Texas is known for tall tales, 10-gallon hats and people with three names. One such Texan is Stevie Ray Davis, a masterful blues slide-guitar player who will showcase his stuff at a pair of weekend gigs at O’Leary’s Side Bar in Ventura.
For more than 30 years, Davis has been in bands--the majority of them named Stevie & the Stealers, much like the tattoo on his arm. A younger Davis learned his licks touring with the likes of blues man Freddy King, and by the time he left the Lone Star State, the blues guitar player had done OK for himself--he was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame with a few other pretty fair players.
“Once a year in Texas they have this poll, which is voted on by the public and some industry people,” Davis said during a recent interview. “There may be as many as 200 in each category before they narrow it down to five, and then the industry people choose the winner. I won in 1982, three years after Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmie Vaughan was elected in 1984.”
Davis has been playing this area for years, beginning with an eclectic folk and blues band called Michael on Fire. Once the accomplished sideman, Davis is now the front man for the current version of Stevie & the Stealers and a ferocious guitar player. Then again, you’d be mad too if you had to drive all the way from Palmdale.
“I think we’re a contemporary blues band,” Davis said. “Oh, we do some traditional blues, but mostly we do contemporary progressive stuff, sort of like Robert Cray. He’s a blues guy, but he doesn’t play traditional blues, and some of the stuff he does is pretty far out. When I play, I just want to reach into each note with the heart of the instrument. If it comes out slow, that’s OK, or if it comes out fast, that’s OK too. There’s no one out there I’m trying to impress.”
There’s no band CD yet, but Davis is going to begin work soon on a solo project of “spiritual music.”
Meanwhile, the band plays on.
“We’re just trying to hang in there, just cruising along,” Davis said. “We’re too stubborn to do much else.”
DETAILS
Stevie & the Stealers at O’Leary’s Side Bar, 6555 Telephone Road, Ventura; Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m.; free; 644-4619.
In one of the more inspired bills of the year, four of the best local bands, all of whom know how to spell “ska,” will play an all-ages show Saturday night at the Ventura Theatre. It’s a bargain as well--$7 for four bands--19th Hole, the Ska Daddyz, the Upbeat and Euphoria.
The Ska Daddyz, who will headline, are the soundtrack for Silver Strand, Oxnard’s surfing community where “Duuuuude” is a three-syllable word.
Silver Strand has a long (and loud) musical tradition stretching back to the early ‘80s when all sorts of hard-core punk bands took turns scaring one another’s parents. Groups such as Agression, Stalag 17, Dr. Know and Ill Repute (who yet rage) came to be known collectively as Nardcore.
Heirs to all this noise are the rockin’ Ska Daddyz, survivors of nearly seven hard years on the local scene. Three of the original members are still standing: guitar player Darren “Zorba” Cruz, singer/sax player Jess Leedy and keyboard player Billy Davis. Jimmy Chastain on bass, Alan Lomax on trumpet and Dave “Red” McLaughlin complete the lineup.
Once content to play just to cover its bar tab, this version of the band is kinder, gentler, more professional and more dedicated, yet its signature tune remains “She Likes to Party.” Not so much a ska band these days, but definitely a dance band, the Ska Daddyz have a couple of CDs.
The Upbeat, the greatest ska band in all of Carpinteria, also has a CD, plus a line of clothing to rival that of Raging Arb & the Redheads in sheer diversity. Euphoria plays reggae-flavored rock, with some ska tunes as well, and opener 19th Hole is a new ska band taking the stage with the big boys.
This should be the best dance fest of 1999, giving the local kids something to do and somewhere to sweat.
DETAILS
Ska Daddyz, the Upbeat, Euphoria, 19th Hole at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., Saturday, 8 p.m.; $7; 653-0721.