Tuesday night Les and I enjoyed the Dave Koz Christmas concert in Santa Barbara. It was fantastic! We made it a date night with dinner at
Ca' Dario, followed by Spoon gelato. The concert was held at the
Granada Theatre. It was built in 1924 and recently underwent a monumental restoration and re-opened in March 2008. This massive chandelier was part of the original decor.
It only seats about 1500 people, so it seemed quite intimate. There are eight side boxes that made me think of the Count of Monte Cristo...
And the music itself? Simply amazing! The show started with a number of traditional Christmas songs - Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, and Jingle Bells. I had heard
Dave Koz and
Rick Braun, but the other two guests were new to me.
Candy Dulfer is an amazing
saxophonist and Jonathan Butler is a singer/guitarist. There were quite a few pieces with all the musicians playing together, and of course they featured music off their latest projects.
Immediately following intermission, they featured four songs from the 40s and 50s. Each musician chose their favorite, told why, then the song was started by the original artist. For instance, Rick chose "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Bing Crosby. They played Bing singing the first verse, then Rick took over with his trumpet and sang. It was a really cool part of the evening.
A couple other highlights included "Little Drummer Boy" with a South African twist. Jonathan Butler sat on and played an unusual drum, with Rick Braun accompanying him on the trumpet. They got the audience involved on the pa rum pum pum pums, too. There was a very cool version of "Grazing in the Grass" ~ Rick Braun came down in the audience for part of it and I know Les was loving that! We learned Jonathan Butler's "Brand New Day" and sang along to "Forget all your problems, Forget all your worries, God will make a way."
(This tree is in the middle of State Street in Santa Barbara!)
My absolute favorite was Jonathan Butler's "O Holy Night." It is one of my favorite Christmas carols and his soulful twist was simply amazing. The room was silent as he played and sang. At the end of the song he did about a two minute improvisation that can only be described as worship. He sang "Holy, You are holy. You are worthy to be praised. Holy is the Lamb of God. I love You, Jesus." On and on it went. It was very moving and a great reminder of what Christmas is truly about ~ the Lamb of God, Who is holy.
