Guitar Nights is a genre-busting feast of performances by legendary guitarists as well as emerging artists. Past performers include Nashville’s Richard Smith; jazz guitarist, John Storie; bluegrass band, Vin Fiz Flyer; flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte; classical guitarist, Scott Tennant & Bolero musicians, Trio Casablanca. Music in comfy theater seating with food and drinks delivered straight to you!
Presented on the third Monday of each month at LOOK Dine-in Cinemas in Monrovia, CA.
$10 admission
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Grand Kick-Off, Tons of Guitar!
February 20, 2023 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
$5 – $20
Choose your seat: Reserve seating $5-20
Hear an amazing lineup of eclectic performers on the first big show of the year! Our test run last month showed what a great place the movie theater is for live music. Everyone enjoyed ordering food & drinks while listening in their comfy seats. Now you can choose where you sit just like in the movies. All the performers on this show have played on Guitar Nights in the past to rave receptions. Enjoy and support these great local musicians who have national careers!
Trio Casablanca, Boleros
Trio Casablanca has been known as one of the best Trios in the United States for their romantic interpretations of the Bolero, and as the original and traditional style of the romantic Trio. Pedro Lopez is mainly known for his unique style of playing the Requinto and accompanying many well known artists in recordings and productions such as Selena, Miguel Aceves Mejia, Aida Cuevas, Gilberto Valenzuela, Pedro Fernandez, Guadalupe Pineda, Graciela Beltran, Anacani, Yesenia Flores, Paloma San Basilio, Alvaro Torres, Francisco Madrigal, Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez, and Mariachi International de Mexico. He has also performed in various Mariachi Festivals held at the Hollywood Bowl.
Teresa James, Blues
Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps are on quite a roll.
Her persuasive pipes slathered in honey and soaked in Texas-bred sass, keyboardist Teresa James and her band, the Rhythm Tramps, have long reigned as one of Los Angeles’ leading contemporary blues outfits, even though their uncommonly imaginative repertoire, much of it supplied by Terry Wilson, James’ husband, producer, and bassist, is by no means strictly limited to the 12-bar form. Their 2019 CD Here in Babylon was nominated for a Grammy in the Contemporary Blues Album category.
Celia Liu, Chinese pipa
Celia Liu, well known professional pipa player who can be heard on the Hollywood sound track of Kung Fu Panda
Stephen Dick, Flamenco
Composer and guitarist Stephen Dick studied composition with two Pulitzer prize-winning composers – William Thomas McKinley at the New England Conservatory of Music, and Wayne Peterson at San Francisco State.
He has received numerous awards for his compositions including the L.A. Treasures Award, the Frampton Award for Excellence in Contemporary Music and the Paulo Barsacchi award for guitar composition, and grants from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Meet the Composer, among others. He studied flamenco guitar in Spain and the U.S. with a wide range of teachers including Manolo Sanlucar, El Carbonero, Paco Arroyo, Manolo Franco, and others.
Stephen leads Mojácar Flamenco, a contemporary flamenco music and dance company based in Monrovia with his partner, Katerina Tomás www.mojacarflamenco.com. They also teach flamenco through www.studioflamenco.com
Korey Simeone, Folk
Korey has also been a professional musician for over 15 years. His first professional touring job was with the internationally renowned neo-vaudeville act, The Asylum Street Spankers. With them, he recorded 6 albums, 2 DVD Live Concerts and played innumerable concerts and radio stations all over North America, Europe and Japan. But he wasn’t done there!
Next he joined The Austin Lounge Lizards, America’s premiere comedy bluegrass band. Not only did he tour extensively with them for 5 years but also co-wrote many songs with them. With the Lounge Lizards, Korey opened for Earl Scruggs, Dolly Parton, Ralph Stanley and Bela Fleck among many others.
Also a teacher, Korey most enjoys instructing beginners and young students but is comfortable teaching all levels of students, regardless of age. He is at home informing students about musical theory, arrangement and songwriting as well. Korey believes that teaching is an extension of his own thoughts which meld with the thoughts of his students. He and his students are a team, united in the goal of furthering their musical education as well as his own. Korey encourages students to ask probing questions about the nature of their studies and to never be completely satisfied. There is always more to learn!
Mini-Festival is an all-day workshop & rehearsal. Students work in groups with their current teacher along with visiting guest artists to refine their musical strengths & stretch to build new skills. Ensemble playing, improv, chord playing, rhythm building and singing all come together around a “Song of the Festival” which have included “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “Apple Pie Blues” and “Happy Birthday.” The day’s activities culminate in an afternoon public recital showcasing solos from each student, small ensembles, and a big group jam at the end on the “Song of the Festival.”