Monterey Herald

Winter Solstice is upon us

Happy Winter Solstice! Turns out this day has inspired several entertainm­ent options, all of them taking place on Friday.

One of the most reliable musicians on the Central Coast for providing high caliber holiday music events is Dave Holodiloff. The 11th Annual “Enchanted Winter” Holiday-loff Solstice Concert takes place Friday, 7 p.m. at the Center for Spiritual Awaking, 522 Central Ave., Pacific Grove. Before the music, doors open at 6 p.m. for an opening reception with wine, cheese and a variety of refreshmen­ts. I'm glad to see that Holodiloff has found another venue for his concerts, one that will hold more people than others he's had in the past. He does have a large following.

This cherished program includes classic Christmas carols and songs of the season featured on the recording “Dave's `Enchanted Winter' II Holidayoff Jams.” As well, music from his band's repertoire of originals, Celtic, Balkan, folk, and gypsy music. Known for his spirited mandolin playing, Holodiloff will take the lead yet share the stage as a talented trio, featuring Santa Cruz fiddle player Elijjah McCullar and Pacific Grove pianist Michael Martinez. You'll hear holiday music like you haven't heard before, inventivel­y re-harmonized, funked and jazzed up enough to inspire dancing.

There's a little of Santa in Dave with his sponsored free raffle to all attendees. There's a chance you could win band merchandis­e, CDs and more. There's also a year end BOGO (buy one get one) closeout special on music and Holodiloff-stuff, good for holiday gifting and stocking stuffers. If you haven't enjoyed one of his great holiday events, this one is the last of his 2023 appearance­s. Tickets are $25 both advanced and at the door. You can buy tickets at CSA or by contacting Holodiloff at 831-5213877 or by email at daveholodi­loff@gmail.com.

While the 17th Annual Winterdanc­e Celtic Christmas Celebratio­n is on Friday night, there will also be a Saturday matinee performanc­e featuring the mandolin and banjo playing of the young hotshot player Tyler Weed. The band also features his father John Weed on fiddle, Stuart Mason on guitar and bouzouki, Amelia Hogan on vocals and bodhran, and Marisa Gilman performing Irish dance. Also, as a featured guest, piper Lane Olson. The shows will be filled with holiday music and high energy

The elder Weed and Mason have toured and recorded together for many years as two thirds of the popular Celtic band Molly's Revenge. In addition they've performed with the New World String Project, Little Black Train and other ensembles. Vocalist Hogan is an authentic Celtic voice, with the ability to translate her roots through Irish, Scottish, British and American-styled songs. The younger Weed was raised in a music family, with both his parents playing fiddle in the house as he grew up and became a fine musician himself. His “Uncle” Stuart Mason was the one who got him started on guitar and banjo. This wonderful family of musicians will be sure to put on an amazing show.

The Friday show is at 7 p.m. and the Saturday matinee is at 3 p.m. at St. Mary's By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Pacific Grove. Unfortunat­ely, both these concerts are sold=out in advance. If you're a gambling person, returned tickets may be available at the door on a first-come, first-served basis.

Closing out the series of events under the Iluminado title this Friday, 5:307:30 p.m., is the Winter Solstice Celebratio­n at the Monterey Museum of Art downtown Monterey gallery at 559 Pacific St. Entry is free where you'll find food and drink, a live set of music by DJ Gwynneth and the Miniatures raffle. A gift to MCGIVES! is your ticket to enter the raffle, with the chance to win a small masterpiec­e from the final invitation­al showcase of miniatures.

While not technicall­y a Winter Solstice celebratio­n, Friday night's performanc­e by the legendary George Clinton at the helm of the group Parliament-Funkadelic presents An Atomic Funk Cosmic Holiday Jam at the Golden State Theatre. Opening the show at 8 p.m. is Mestizo Beat. This is an all ages show with tickets available o19nline at www.goldenstat­etheatre.com for $49$150.

The 82-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Lifetime Achievemen­t Award-winner along with Parliament­Funkadelic is considered one of the foremost innovators of funk music, right along with James Brown and Sly Stone. His funk style is an eclectic form that he developed in the

1970s that drew on Afrofuturi­sm, outlandish fashion, psychedeli­a and surreal humor. The guy is outrageous.

I remember seeing him at one of the mid-1990s Laguna Seca Days festivals, sporting a rainbow-colored head full of dreadlocks cascading every which way and, if I remember correctly, swaddled in diapers and brightly colored capes. The music was powerful and entertaini­ng. There's nobody else like him, and despite all the theatrics, his band can pump out the music and provide the jive to make y'all hips move. It should be interestin­g to see how he gets around these days. I have so much respect for these old guys, you know, like the Rolling Stones, etc., who get out there and do what they've succeeded at doing all these years. Not quite sure what the Cosmic Holiday Jam is all about, but I'm game to find out.

Dance band Scarlet plays the Links Club in the Carmel Plaza, both Friday and Saturday, 7-10 p.m. There's no cover for these two nights. If you haven't heard its high energy rock'n'roll music, you might want to preview the band for a possible night out on New Year's Eve at the same location.

The Footloose NYE Party is for those 21 and over. Doors open 8:30 p.m. General admission of $149 includes a food buffet, three drink tickets and champagne toasts. VIP Suites are $1,599 for six people with bottle service, reserved seating, food buffet and champagne toasts. Music is from 8:45 p.m.12:30 a.m. You actually get four hourly countdowns with balloon drops beginning at 9 p.m., so you can experience every U.S. time zone's midnight. That's a novel concept for a live event! Visit www.linksclubg­olf.com and link to the Eventbrite page to buy your tickets.

More news from the entertainm­ent front is an announceme­nt from the New Canon Theatre Co. of its Season 2024. The third season programmin­g of this exciting new local theater company offers Lady Day at Emerson's

Bar and Grill, in partnershi­p with the Sunset Presents series at Carmel's Sunset Center's Studio 105. Based on the iconic Billie Holiday's final performanc­e, the production is full of biting humor, pathos, and the music that made Lady Day a legend. Two weekends only, June 13 and June 23.

Shakespear­e in the Vines is back at Blue Fox

Cellars with Artistic Director Justin Gordon's adaptation of Shakespear­e's Hamlet, in “The Tragedy of Hamlet.” An ensemble of ten actors “hold a mirror up to nature” to examine why the tragic Prince of Denmark resonates so strongly with audience to this day. Playing June 27 July 14.

Summer 2024 is another New Works Reading Festival, to be held at the Stanton Center in Monterey, July 19-21. The event presents a weekend of new plays where you can be a part of the developmen­t process through postshow discussion­s with the playwright­s, actors, and director. A different play each night will be presented.

All tickets go on sale in early 2024. Stay tuned for the Season Launch Party announceme­nt. For more info on the non-profit company visit www.newcanonth­eatre.org. Make a donation if you can.

And in the donation realm, there are two treasured local musicians who are faced with very difficult health crisis and they could both use what help you might offer. Coincident­ally they are both a Tammi, or Tammy. Santa Cruz-based Tammi Brown is battling stage four lung cancer and besides donating

to the GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/ tammi-brown?utm_ campaign=p_ cp+share-sheet&utm_ medium=social&utm_ source=facebook, there are two fundraisin­g/healing concerts that were planned. This last weekend was the one in Santa Cruz at the Kuumbwa

Jazz Center. For the Monterey Peninsula there's another at Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Jan. 26, 6:30 p.m.hosted by veteran vocalist Lee Durley with a lineup of local musicians to include Lauri Hofer-Romero, Richard Bryant, John Wineglass, Janice Perl, Voices of Bible Way Gospel Choir, Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen, Brown, Sturgis & Brown, 5 Star Band and more. Tickets are through Eventbrite, $50-$100.

Jazz pianist Tammy Hall, who relocated to Seaside from the San Francisco Bay Area several years ago, was recently hospitaliz­ed for congestive heart failure and severe asthma. She's home recuperati­ng now, but she too needs your help as she cannot work and will need some time to recover. Her GoFundMe page is here: www.gofundme.com/f/no-amounttoo-great-or-small-thankyou