Author Archives: Angela Shawn-Chi Lu

Slowly, streams of blood-red dye begin to appear in a river, representing the bloodshed of World War II. The redness then transforms into long, flowing pieces of beautiful, red kimono cloth. Some of the most poignant scenes in the upcoming movie adaptation of Arthur Golden’s 1997 best-selling novel “Memoirs of a Geisha,” which previews tonight […]

Of the 18, mostly Chinese, artists whose work is being featured this week in a Kerckhoff Art Gallery exhibit titled “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,” only one currently resides in China. But eerily, the artist’s exact whereabouts are unknown. A biographical description of the artist on a Web site reads, “Sadly, there is no information regarding the […]

At the age of 63, rock “˜n’ roll legend John Cale wants to get funky. The former Velvet Underground creative force has been many things throughout his long career: a child prodigy on classical piano and viola who moved to New York at the age of 21 with the help of composer Aaron Copland; an […]

Talking on his manager’s cell phone from somewhere in Washington, D.C., at noon last Saturday, Afro-Cuban jazz pianist and composer Omar Sosa sounded tired. His voice, worn out and husky with a heavy Cuban accent, made it hard to decipher what he was saying at times. Sosa, who tours nine months of the year, was […]

A group of young hip-hop musicians who call themselves the Renegade Soldiers met last Saturday afternoon in a well-furnished apartment on Selby Avenue off of Little Santa Monica Boulevard. Inside the turntablist’s bedroom, they convened to rehearse for a Hurricane Katrina benefit show that will take place Oct. 8 at 14 Below, a Santa Monica […]

There is evidence now that seems to confirm that Jack White is from another planet. It’s not just about his appearance anymore. (White has put off many with his ghost-white complexion and untamed, wiry black locks ““ think Edward Scissorhands.) At one point during the White Stripes concert on Aug. 18 at the Greek Theatre, […]

Live and on the air early one Friday afternoon, Malik Gaines, keyboardist for the band My Barbarian, instructs listeners on how to make a homemade percussive instrument. “You take two paper plates and place some beans in the middle and take a stapler…” Jerking with laughter, he nonetheless continues. “And then you have your own […]