In Sync With the Left Coast

Conventional wisdom has it that New York City is the world’s jazz capital. It is considered the nucleus from which most new ideas flow and the mecca to which serious jazz musicians flock.

But underscore the term “usually”: Jazz activity has flourished elsewhere in the country, especially right down the road in Los Angeles.

Tenor saxophonist Red Holloway is one of those respected jazz veterans who hangs out on the left coast when he’s not touring the States or Europe.

He’s wending his way to Ojai Saturday for a concert on the campus of the Happy Valley School. He’ll be joined by a stolid band of locals, with Jim Calire on piano, Kenny Dixon on drums and Eddie Guthman on bass. Guthman is the critical connection here, as the music director for Happy Valley. His resume includes work with Holloway, Joe Pass, Jimmy Smith and others.

Holloway, still going strong at 72, is a well-rounded jazz player with a special feeling for the blues. The deposits of warmth and friendly grit in his sound served him well in high-profile ‘60s work with organist Jack McDuff. The two played in a group that also included the fledgling young guitarist George Benson. Holloway and McDuff have continued to work together and were a highlight of the West Coast Jazz Party in Orange County on Labor Day.

Holloway also worked with Lionel Hampton, John Mayall, Sonny Stitt and Etta James. On a couple of James’ recent recordings for the Private label, Holloway’s sax was a featured voice, reminding the jazz world of his distinctive sound. The show, a too-rare jazz concert event in Ventura County, promises to be a rousing display of blues, bop and swing.

DETAILS

Red Holloway, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Zalk Theater (on the campus of Happy Valley School), 8585 California 150 in Ojai. Tickets are $15; 677-5450.

Seasonal Notes: ‘Tis the season to bring on Christmas music--traditional and otherwise--and the region offers plenty of yuletide musical options.

As trusty as Aunt Mabel’s fruitcake, Tchaikovsky’s cherished ballet “The Nutcracker” returns to the Oxnard Performing Arts Center this Saturday and Sunday for three performances.

The New West Symphony, under maestro Boris Brott, provides the musical component, and the Channel Islands Ballet the dance element.

The next weekend, the New West will return with Handel’s “Messiah” and will be joined by combined vocal forces of the Los Robles Master Chorale and the Ventura County Master Chorale.

The Los Robles Master Chorale will offer its own classically inclined Christmas program at Moorpark College tonight and Sunday afternoon. On the program are works by Bach, Morten Lauridsen and Faure, as well as lighter works. On Saturday night, the Conejo Valley Symphony will usher orchestrally outfitted carols and a bit of Bizet to the large theater space of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in a program called “Sounds of the Season.”

And for something off the beaten historical-musical path, the UCSB Musica Antiqua on Monday presents “A Millennial Christmas”--as in music from the last turn of the millennium. Director Alejandro Planchart specializes in the study and performance of early music, and turns his focus to liturgical Christmas music of a thousand years ago in England. The concert takes place in the pristine space of the St. Anthony’s Seminary Chapel in Santa Barbara, and should be worth a northern jaunt for anyone seeking alternative seasonal sounds.

DETAILS

* New West Symphony, with Channel Islands Ballet Company, “Nutcracker,” Saturday at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way. Tickets are $12-$28; 648-4430.

* Los Robles Master Chorale, “Gloria! A Christmas Jubilee,” tonight at 8 and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center, Moorpark College, Collins Drive. Tickets are $18 for adults, $14 for seniors, $10 for children and students; 497-0386.

* Conejo Valley Symphony, “Sounds of the Season,” Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Kavli Theatre of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.; 870-8200.

* UCSB Musica Antiqua, “A Millennial Christmas,” Monday at 8 p.m. at St. Anthony’s Seminary Chapel, 2399 Garden St. in Santa Barbara. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $7 for students; 893-3230.