Slice of Bluegrass

It’s Friday night at Vincenzo’s Pizza Esperienza in the Target Plaza in Simi Valley. Inside, six television sets are showing a hockey game no one is watching, and a thousand kids run wild over the peanut-shell-strewn floor between the video games and the green booths where their parents munch Italian food. The noise level approaches a mild uproar.

This unlikely setting provides the background for a weekly concert by the Witcher Brothers, a virtuoso group of bluegrass musicians who have had this gig for five years, or a zillion pizzas.

The band, which can also sing, consists of Dennis Witcher (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Kevin Gore (banjo), Andrew Paddock (bass) and Tony Recupido (guitar). They set up in the corner for the 7:30 p.m. show, the precise hour the kids have that pizza buzz working overtime. Gig from hell, right? Not even close, according to the mandolin player.

“It’s a great gig for us,” Dennis Witcher said. “The listeners stay and the pizza eaters and their kids are pretty much gone by about 9. At this gig, we can work on new stuff; it serves as sort of a rehearsal. We can play with no pressure, try new stuff and throw it out there and see what happens. This place has changed hands a couple of times and we kept the gig.”

The Witcher Brothers contain a pair of Witchers but no brothers. Instead there are a father, Dennis, and son Gabe, 20, who has been playing fiddle since age 6. The band has a pair of CDs, with a third in the works.

“It sort of ebbs and flows, but bluegrass has pretty much always been there,” Dennis Witcher said. “It seems to appeal to both adults and kids, and it’s made some fairly large inroads.”

While the connection between pizza and bluegrass remains somewhat hazy, the talents of the band are readily apparent. But this is an imperfect world, where, according to Witcher, there may be more pizza fans than bluegrass enthusiasts.

“It seems like 90% of the people who have never heard bluegrass don’t like it,” Witcher said. “They have images of people in bib overalls. A bale of hay is the last image I want for our music.

“Bluegrass is a lot more sophisticated than the general public gives it credit for. Anyone can’t just pick up an instrument and play this stuff. We do a lot of original material and a lot of traditional material--all with a Witcher Brothers slant.”

DETAILS

The Witcher Brothers at Vincenzo’s Pizza Esperienza, 2955 Cochran Ave., Simi Valley, Friday at 7:30 p.m. COST: Free. CALL: 579-9662.

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Several groups have no good singers. The Manhattan Transfer is greedy. It has four great singers in Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Cheryl Bentyne and Janis Siegel. This quartet, one of the preeminent vocal groups of all time, will offer its exquisite four-part harmonies in a Saturday-night show at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks. The group has recorded 20 albums and won eightGrammys. The singers have steadfastly refused to limit themselves to a particular style and have become proficient in jazz, pop, doo-wop, R&B;, rock and even Brazilian music.

In their most recent album, “Swing,” they add their stellar vocals to new lyrics for a collection of classic and modern swing instrumentals.

The Manhattan Transfer, which began in the early ‘70s, has a bio longer than this entire newspaper section, so suffice to say it’s been everywhere and sung everything to everybody.

DETAILS

Manhattan Transfer at the Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, Saturday 8 p.m. COST: $54, $39 or $29. CALL: 449-2787.

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While not quite Midtown-palooza, the Red Cove Cocktail Lounge in Ventura does strive to have live music every weekend. Saturday night, it’s reggae-flavored rock from Euphoria, one of the area’s premier dance bands.

The Red Cove is one of the most popular bars in Midtown. The Cove has no cover, no bouncers, no dress code, no long lines to the bathroom and no pretension whatsoever, no kidding. For example, to shoot a game of pool costs a whole quarter--not a quarter of your rent, but 25 cents. By moving the downstairs pool table (leaving three upstairs), there will be plenty of room for dancing at the Cove as the jukebox takes a rest.

Euphoria started in 1993 as a three-piece funk band but has expanded its musical horizons considerably since then. Now a tight quartet, Euphoria has a CD of reggae-flavored originals titled “Melting Pot Society” and a resume that includes nearly every venue in the area.

“We’re eclectic,” said bass player John DeSurra. “We have respect for many different types of music and we play it all. Our music reflects everything we’re into. We can play three sets of reggae, three sets of jazz, plus we have two CDs’ worth of original music. We’ll play anywhere.” A dose of Euphoria at the Red Cove is always affordable--it’s free.

DETAILS

Euphoria at the Red Cove, 1809 E. Main St., Ventura, Sat., 9 p.m. COST: Free. CALL: 643-1101.

Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.