1717 Lincoln Blvd. $10. in advance, $12. at the door
(SMART TO GET TIX in advance and get there early)
Co-sponsored by The Venice Heritage Museum https://www. veniceheritagemuseum.org/
Poster by Michael Murphy www.SeeMikeRun.com
More IMAGES/STILLS = https://laughtears.com/hi- res-pics.html
Info: Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com and http
“The 2022 Venice Beats event at The Venice West was phenomenal! The best show ever. I’m so thrilled to have experienced the evening with the most talented people – performing. . . the sax player Carol Chaikin, Kahlil Sabbagh, Brad Kay, Pegarty Long, and more. Eric Ahlberg knocked it out of the park! Producer/host Gerry Fialka and singer Suzy Williams outdid themselves. Wow wow wow! They MUST do it again. I was blown away.” – Venice Community activist Linda Lucks
Gerry Fialka host a celebration of the Beats in Venicewith Suzy Williams “LA’s Diva Deluxe” &stellar band. Delve deep into Venice West Cafe & Sponto Gallery history, with great music & live poets, songs by Jack Kerouac, Linda Albertano, Laurence Ferlinghetti, Slim Galliard, John Haig, Diz, Bird, Babs, Monk, Eden Ahbez and all the local cats.
Jack Kerouac, author of ON THE ROAD, introduced the phrase “Beat Generation” in 1948 to characterize a perceived underground, anti-conformist youth movement. Venice West Cafe at 7 Dudley Ave in Venice, California was one of the birthplaces of this free-spirited literature and art movement. The Beats shared themes of spirituality, environmental awareness and political activism.
This year’s stellar band includes:
Kahlil Sabbagh https://www.facebook. com/kahlil.sabbagh/
Carol Chaikin http://carolchaikin. com/
Mike Tempo https://thebonedaddys. com/
Margaux Vranken https://www. margauxvranken.com/ who performed 2-19-23 at RadioVenice = https://www. youtube.com/watch?v= YG6jnztsIKU
Oliver Steinberg – supreme upright bassist
Special Guests: GINGER SMITH, Brad Kay, Michael Jost, Eric Ahlberg, and more (subject to change)
Venice BeachHead Beats article: https://
THE VENICE WEST tour on YouTube – https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=s9vsPk1iSts
Short promo (3 minute version): https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=V8FYPSXzpDo
Camera & Edit by Bruno Kohfield-Galeano https:// broside.wordpress.com/
Camera & Edit by Bruno Kohfield-Galeano https://
Suzy sings PULL MY DAISY – David Amram, Kerouac, Ginsberg= https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=wQMogpi-rDo
Suzy Williams is known for her “enormously amusing, endearing presence … with tough, belting authority” (-John Rockwell, New York Times) as well as her voice that is “vibrant and lusty … great gusto and bold emotion” (-Nat Hentoff, Cosmopolitan) and her “energy must be seen to be believed … “a natural performer” (-Robert Palmer, New York Times). https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Suzy_Williams
Gerry Fialka – An entire subchapter “Pixilated Populism” from the book “Venice, CA: A City State of Mind” (which includes a photograph of Fialka on its cover), is devoted to Gerry, and summarizes his significance to Venice by stating “Gerry’s a master at introducing people and steering the wayward onesomes to action … to spreading awareness … His encyclopedic grasp of Venetian and media history swells the archive that circulates in the heads of citizens.” https://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_ Fialka
“Gerry Fialka is one of the most giving impresarios that ever landed in Venice, California. He continues to fulfill Venice founder Abbott Kinney’s dream of Chautauqua’s influence on people. Fialka is the glue of the Venicessance. ” – Jeffrey Solomon, Historian, Venicebeachwalkingt ours.com
“Gerry Fialka is the Studs Terkel of Venice, California – nurturing active participation for common ground.” – Michele Raven, Writer/Producer
MORE:
Sponto Gallery https://laughtears. com/ItCameFromVenice2014.html
Philomene Long https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Philomene_Long
Stuart Perkoff https://www. virtualvenice.info/poets/ perkoff.htm
Eden Ahbez https://www.edenahbez. com/
Wallace Berman https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Wallace_Berman
Ruth Weiss https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Ruth_Weiss_(beat_ poet)
Sponto Gallery https://laughtears.
Philomene Long https://en.wikipedia.org/
Stuart Perkoff https://www.
Eden Ahbez https://www.edenahbez.
Wallace Berman https://en.wikipedia.
Ruth Weiss https://en.wikipedia.
Lenore Kandel https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Lenore_Kandel
Jazz shaman and influential comedian Lord Buckley held court at the Venice West Cafe. He summarizes our feelings with two quotes:
“People, yes people are the true flowers of life and it has been a most precious pleasure to have temporarily strolled in your garden.”
“People, yes people are the true flowers of life and it has been a most precious pleasure to have temporarily strolled in your garden.”
“Laughter truly is religious. It gives off vibrations from the subconscious. When a person is laughing he’s illuminated, he’s illuminated in the fully beauty of a human being. You’re thinking love, you’re vibrating love. It’s a prayer. It’s a beautiful thing.”
More info: 310-306-7330 https:// laughtears.com/
James Joyce presaged VENICE BEATS in Finnegans Wake (1939)
1= “call her venicey names!” (page 232).
2= “And let me be Los Angeles” (page 154).
3= “Beatsoon” (page 286).
The Wake influenced many Beats including Kerouac, Ferlinghett i, Patti Smith and more.
Categories: Culture, Gerry Fialka, Suzy Williams, Venice Beats
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