Weeklong live music is offered free at participating restaurants throughout the week as a warm-up for Saturday’s big awards night.
By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times
While Turnstyle rocked Kristy’s Wood Oven and Wine Bar Monday evening in Malibu, Ileana Burdine cooed softly on acoustic guitar down Pacific Coast Highway at Charlie’s restaurant, and singer/songwriter Jessica Mellott and guitarist Matt Baamonde belted out some pop rock at the ChocolateBox Cafe over at the Lumber Yard.
This cross-occurrence of musical acts is all part of the 2011 Annual Malibu Music Awards and Festival, a coordinated effort to stage concerts at various local restaurants all over town, taking place every night this week and culminating at the Malibu Country Mart on Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m. with the Music Awards ceremony.
As part of the festival, new and veteran musical acts are performing this week at local restaurants throughout Malibu. Some of the participating businesses include Geoffrey’s, Charlie’s, Duke’s, Malibu Inn, Sunset Restaurant and Beach Bar, Kristy’s Bar and Grill, Spruzzo’s, Savory, Guido’s, Beau Rivage, ChocolateBox Cafe, Tra di Noi and Malibu Country Mart. All performances at the restaurants are free.
In addition, a classical music concert will take place this Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Malibu Stage Company, with performances by piano players Robert Estrin and 11-year-old prodigy Benjamin Krasner. The sister act Cimorelli will open the show with a short set of a capella cover songs, a prelude to their “Jackson 5 Family Music Award” acceptance performance on Saturday.
A long list of luminaries-including Lainie Kazan, Frank Stallone, Robert Davi, Shwayze and Cisco Adler-will receive awards at Saturday night’s event.
Tickets to the classical music concert and the awards show cost $25, with $45 tickets granting VIP access to the awards show at the Malibu Country Mart and a gift bag. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Malibu Symphony Association.
“We’re so excited to have the support of the restaurant community and the entire community at large,” said festival founder Terence Davis.
At the ChocolateBox on Monday, couples shared gelato as Mellott and Baamonde, friends who have known each other for six years, performed. The two are both originally from the Virginia area and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. Baamonde played some frisky acoustic guitar.
The band performed after a shaky start due to technical difficulties.
“There was no power,” Mellott said. “We found power as of an hour ago.”
For a while, only the dim lighting of a tubular aquarium display and the lights of the storefront windows illuminated the duo. But with the help of Mellott’s boyfriend, sound engineer Joe Sobalo, the band found its footing and launched into an energetic show.
In shorts with flowing blond hair, the leggy Mellott warmed up with a Maroon 5 cover (“This Love”) before delving into a string of originals, including “Beautiful Broken,” which indulged in a beautifully transcended acoustic-guitar bridge.
“She’s great!” said Joy Sobrepena, taking the concert in from the patio tables.
Nearby, Rick Rand of Arrival Records, home of The Backbeats, took in the concert. Rand will be offering a recording contract for one lucky act at Saturday’s Awards.
Looking sharp and also taking in Mellott and Baamonde’s show with a wide smile, the Music Festival’s Julio Santizo recorded the performance on his camera.
“The lyrics, her voice all sounds really well,” he said.
Over at Charlie’s, West Los Angeles resident Ileana Burdine strummed her guitar softly in the corner of the dining area as she sang “Reckless Energy.”
Burdine, who will also play concerts this Wednesday at Sunset Restaurant and on Friday night at Kristy’s (both shows run 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.), said in between songs that her tunes are “a little bit of country, a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll.” In front of her set-up were copies of her two CDs, both produced by Peter Torsiello, who had a hand, with festival producer Marie Foti, in enlisting her to perform this week.
Her upbeat pop also included “More Than Enough” and “Won’t Wait on When,” an empowering song about giving up an inattentive lover and “Perfect,” celebrating an unnamed person’s unique qualities, which most of the world has overlooked.
“You know you’re a shining star…,” she sang, “…A work of art. You’re perfect just the way you are! It’s the quirks that work…You’re prefect!”
And with that, Burdine capped off a perfect night of live music in the ‘Bu.
More information can be obtained online at malibumusicawards.com and malibusymphony.com.