San Diego Museum of Art becomes a floral paradise and Adams Avenue Roots Festival offers a weekend of bluegrass music. We'll talk about these and events for your weekend.
Guests:
Maya Kroth is the editor of Where San Diego and Performances magazines.
Chris Cantore is the founder of Cantore Creative and the host of NBC's SoundDiego blog.
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This is a rush transcript created by a contractor for KPBS to improve accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Please refer to the media file as the formal record of this interview. Opinions expressed by guests during interviews reflect the guest’s individual views and do not necessarily represent those of KPBS staff, members or its sponsors.
CAVANAUGH: I'm Maureen Cavanaugh, you're listening to These Days on KPBS. Well, after being away on vacation, I've worked all of one day this week. I am ready for the weekend! And if you are ready too, stand by to hear about two kinds of roots, the flower kind and the music kind, along with art shows, and a firm festival, south of the border. Joining me for the weekend preview are my guests, Maya Kroth is editor of Where San Diego and Performances magazines. Maya, good morning.
KROTH: Good morning, Maureen.
CAVANAUGH: And Chris Cantore is host of the afternoon show, on 102.2 KPRI, founder of Cantore creative, and the host of NBC's San Diego blog.
CANTORE: Wow, he's a busy guy.
CAVANAUGH: I can't even think about it.
CANTORE: How are you Maureen? Good to see you.
CAVANAUGH: Good to see you.
CANTORE: Happy Thursday.
CAVANAUGH: Happy Thursday. Happy weekend preview. Let's start with art alive. One of San Diego museum of art's most popular annual events, Maya, tell us about it.
KROTH: I gotta say, when I first moved to San Diego [CHECK AUDIO] what are they smoking down there at the San Diego museum of art? They get flower arrangers to interpret paintings? I just did I understand how it works, and then and there I went, and it was like one of those things, hike, oh, okay, I get it. There's something hard to describe about it, but you understand why it's been going on for 30 years and so successful. [CHECK AUDIO].
CAVANAUGH: One thing to point out, I think, it's not just pictures of flowers with the same kind of floral arrangement in front of it, they try to match the essence, the theme of the working; is that right?
KROTH: Yeah, and [CHECK AUDIO] it's portraits it's landscapes, it's architecture, and that's where the really interesting part comes in is how are they gonna make this portrait of a sixteenth century aristocrat, how are they gonna get that vibe interest a flower arrangement? And when it's on, when it hits, you just really feel the artistry there.
CAVANAUGH: Now, the rotunda designer is back again this year. Tell us about him.
KROTH: Renee van Rems is a big wig in the world of flowers, and he happens to be based right here in San Diego. Which is lucky for us of he's originally from Amsterdam. And he's kind of known for his European style bouquets, I think if I was looking at his website, any women who are out there planning a wedding right now would just kind of drop their jaw at the stuff he does. But the rotunda part of [CHECK AUDIO] and the last few years it's just been such a wow factor. It smells amazing. [CHECK AUDIO] with little twinkling white lights. It was so magical.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Kind of tell it is you why it's such a popular event.
KROTH: Yeah, and the fact that you're walking true the galleries, and you see -- [CHECK AUDIO] there's something kind of great about being part of an ephemeral experience like that.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Very right. The art alive reception opens tonight at the San Diego Museum of art. Chris, the Adams avenue roots festival is happening this could with am tell us about it.
CANTORE: Yes, ma'am, it's the free music festival, [CHECK AUDIO] normal heights right there, I live right there in Kensington. So it's a nice walk over with the family, it's the best. Been going for years. Got the street vendors there, healing arts fest, a farmer's market, beer garden, carnival ride for the kiddies, [CHECK AUDIO].
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: What's rooties about this music?
CANTORE: Actually, it's more of an eclectic mix of musing. You get your traditional [CHECK AUDIO] Cajun, rockabilly, a lot light on the elec. But otherwise --
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Yes, I've noticed that.
CANTORE: Yeah, oaf the years, the electron catent didn't really go over well. So they pulled that out, I think last year.
CAVANAUGH: Well, let's listen to a song by one of the performers, [CHECK AUDIO] "I don't know it." It's from the album of the same name.
(Audio Recording Played).
CAVANAUGH: That's Nathan James, I don't know it, from the album of the same nail. That's a local artist, right Chris?
CANTORE: Yes, he's from Fallbrook, the avocado capital of the world.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Ah, thaw for that. Fallbrook thanks you.
CANTORE: And actually [CHECK AUDIO] or found something productive to do. So he picked up the guitar the 13, [CHECK AUDIO].
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Fabulous. Can you tell us about the music swap stage at lestat's?
CANTORE: Absolutely. It's a great [CHECK AUDIO] pairings are usually unusual combinations, heavily involved this year, Gregory page, Lisa sappeders, Dave Humphreys, and they're involved in a lot of the sessions, it's a really cool thing they do.
CAVANAUGH: And I would imagine, [CHECK AUDIO] car at home?
CANTORE: Absolutely. The parking there is needless to say, a nightmare, and I wouldn't recommend parking. If you do want to try to get the neighborhood park, get there early, if you want a spot, otherwise public transit, get dropped off, [CHECK AUDIO] whatever it takes.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Now, we have to take a short break. When we return issue we'll continue talking approximate the weekend preview, things to do this weekend. And you're listening to These Days on KPBS.
Welcome back, I'm Maureen Cavanaugh, we're still talking weekend preview here on These Days. My guests, Maya croft, and Chris Cantore. Let me go to you, Maya, about a project art show that's coming up at the library lost, tell us about it.
KROTH: I'm so excited about this kind of event, because it seems like it's happening more and more in San Diego These Days, where we have these [CHECK AUDIO] and jewelry makers, and they're not sitting around and waiting for somebody to notice them, or waiting for a gallery to give them a show, they're just turning their own art studio into an art gallery and throwing their own show.
CANTORE: Love it.
KROTH: Yeah, so M. Dot art studio is a [CHECK AUDIO] library losts, and [CHECK AUDIO] also has a base there, so they're just teaming up, and they're opening their studios to the public for a night, to showcase what they're doing.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Now, does anybody curate these shows.
KROTH: They do, yeah, there's one art show calmed suspension that is being held in one of the lofts turned gallery spaces issue and it's being curated by a woman named Laura pop, [CHECK AUDIO] MCSD, and the Marshall gallery. This is a new show that she's doing, she's selected seven artists who all sort of play with the notion of suspension of disbelief. Not necessarily visually, they're not trying to create things that look like real things, but something about the art [CHECK AUDIO] and buy into whatever the artist is trying to say. So sort of an experiment to see how the viewers relate to that art.
CAVANAUGH: That sonneds fascinating, check check and DMZA project art show, it takes place at the library lofts downtown on Saturday. Chris, we move to an act TV on the radio, it was supposed to be playing forth and B.
CANTORE: Correct.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Next Monday. What -- tell us about them, and tell us why the show has been postponed.
CANTORE: Yeah, actually, it was post owned as of late last night, the word got out, and Friday May [CHECK AUDIO] thirteenth, I believe some are still available as far as the band is concerned, critically acclaimed, progressive art rock band issue been around ten years, [CHECK AUDIO] Brooklyn, now based in Los Angeles.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And they have had a bit of really tragic news lately.
CANTORE: So awful. They recently lost, April 20th, [[]] lung cancer at the age of 36, which absolutely breaks my heart. And I would imagine it -- it forced the cancellation of five shows, and I would imagine this postponement is related to the tragedy. I would imagine the band is still healing of it's so awful.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: It is awful. Their album, nine types of light was just released. [CHECK AUDIO].
CANTORE: It's ironic that the band is surrounded by such sadness right now, because the record is actually very positive, and about love. And it's their 50 recorded in Los Angeles. It doesn't have, really, the darkerem of more recent albums. Reminds me a lot of their early are work. It's a beautiful piece.
CAVANAUGH: Well, here's a track from the album. It's called new cannon ball blues.
(Audio Recording Played).
CAVANAUGH: That is television on the radio, from their flew album, nine types of right, and the track is called new cannon ball blues of so I guess we're hoping that they get over this tragedy, and come back and sell this great new album.
CANTORE: Oh, absolutely, they're a wonderful band, fun, energetic live show, a lot of soul, thick harmony, live brass sections, horns, they're tremendous. One of my favorite bands on the planet.
CAVANAUGH: TV on the radio plays forth and B, new date, Friday [CHECK AUDIO].
KROTH: It's called ambulante, and I went to this last year, [CHECK AUDIO] literally means traveling or also something temporary like a street cart or a street vendor, something like that, basically it's a documentary, that spent the last thee months check check documentaries to audiences throughout the country of it's really exciting.
CAVANAUGH: Now, not all the films, not all of these documentaries are from Latin America, right?
KROTH: No, they have documentaries from all over the world, this cycle they have a whole retrospective on the work of Vietnamese feminist film maker, Tren Minh Ha, [CHECK AUDIO] called catfish.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Yes, oh, yeah.
KROTH: So they're gonna be screening those. So if you missed a lot of the more higher profile documentaries from around the world. You might have a chance to see them.
CAVANAUGH: Well, how many films are included in this festival.
KROTH: There's 50.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Argue.
KROTH: 50 films, over 11 venues, mostly in Tijuana, but there's also Ensenada, Rosarito, Mexicali. [CHECK AUDIO].
CAVANAUGH:
KROTH: On May 4th, they're gonna be screening the Colombian film, the two escobars, [CHECK AUDIO] Andres escobar who was the former captain of the Colombian national soccer team.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So ambulante, the film festival, [CHECK AUDIO] and the 27th art walk is this weekend. Remind us about this, Chris.
CANTORE: Yay!
CAVANAUGH: What is this?
CANTORE: One of my favorite annual events here in San Diego. Next to beer week, it's the best. It's a free event, 11 to 6:00 PM, Saturday, Sunday, art walk features more than 400 artists, including over 30 Mexican artists this year, the largest number of participants in the events, 27-year history, [CHECK AUDIO].
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH:
CANTORE: Oh, absolutely, great local talent, Kevin Martin from get back loreta, [CHECK AUDIO] we the San Diego youth symphony, the Malashok dance Studio. It's a great event.
CAVANAUGH: I would imagine you could find some kids' face painting at this event.
CANTORE: Kids' walk, are you kidding me? [CHECK AUDIO] they team up with art walk every year to offer a creative interactive zone with the kids throughout the weekend. It's at Amici park, and [CHECK AUDIO].
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Yeah, yeah.
CANTORE: Great way for the kids to get in there and do some artwork.
CAVANAUGH: Now, will parking again, [CHECK AUDIO].
CANTORE: As far as the parking, same deal, just leave the cars at home, walk, rollerblade, razor scooter, whatever it takes just get down there, and enjoy. It's just the greatest community event. I'm such a fan of art walk.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Art walk San Diego takes place in [CHECK AUDIO] thank you so much.
CANTORE: Thank you.
KROTH: I think thats.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And we are -- please stay with us next week for These Days here on KPBS.
