School of Music

Apart from the regular flow of jazz blowing into California 66 in Ventura and the trusty airwave representation on Thousand Oaks-based KCLU-FM, jazz doesn’t come around Ventura County often enough.

Still, hope springs eternal, as does a local audience. Something good is cooking up at Happy Valley School in Ojai. A few months back, noted saxophonist Red Holloway played a concert there to a full house. This weekend, the Northwest-based jazz singer Edmonia Jarrett will perform Saturday and Sunday nights.

Joining her are local stalwarts pianist Jim Calire, drummer Kenny Dixon and bassist Eddie Guthman (also the music director at Happy Valley). Jarrett is a late bloomer, having launched into a singing career in the early ‘90s after a career in education.

She has two CDs out, “Live, Live, Live!” and a new one, “Legal at Any Age,” which includes a duet with singer Freddie Cole, brother of Nat. Sounds like a fine excuse to head to the fringes of Ojai.

DETAILS

Edmonia Jarrett at the Zalk Theater at Happy Valley School, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road, Ojai. Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun., 8 p.m. Cost: $15. Call 677-5450.

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Chamber Music Niche: For those in search of live chamber music, one of the best-kept secret venues in the county is at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where faculty artists and guests perform. Usually, the performances take place in the acoustically friendly, architecturally intriguing Samuelson Chapel.

Another plus: free admission. On Sunday clarinetist Daniel Greenberg, a Cal Lutheran faculty member, will give a French-accented recital along with pianist Robert Sage. On the menu are works by Debussy, Saint-Seans, as well as music by composers influenced by the French tradition, such as Copland and Stravinsky.

DETAILS

Daniel Greenberg recital Sun., 4 p.m., at Cal Lutheran University, Samuelson Chapel, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. Cost: free. Call 493-3151.

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This Just In: The chamber concert series “Musics Alive!,” the most adventurous niche of the New West Symphony annual season, arrives in the spring and details tend to come at the last minute. But who’s complaining?

This series’ blend of ethnic musical traditions and contemporary work has always been a refreshing variation from the theme of conventional classical fare in Ventura County. The 2000 program is out, and as usual, looks enticing, with an ear for lesser-traveled paths of repertoire. This year’s focus is on Latin-oriented music, from Spain and Cuba, corralled into a weekend-long festival format, March 24-26, at various locales in Ventura.

Starting off the weekend, choreographer/dancer Yaelisa will be the featured performer at the Pierpont Inn on March 24 for a “Flamenco Party.” A “Families Alive” concert takes place al fresco on March 25 at the Harriet Henson Gazebo in Plaza Park. Saturday night’s “Spain Alive!” settles into the new Mission Theater--behind the San Buenaventura Mission--and includes members of the New West Symphony, Yaelisa and soprano Anne Marie Ketchum.

Closing the festival with “Cuba Alive!” at the Church of Religious Science, the famed pianists Gloria Cheng and Vicki Ray will perform Cuban works, and composer-in-residence Tania Leon will premiere a piece. Mark those calendars.