When Dionne Warwick final graced a stage within the 805, it was just about — on-screen on the Arlington Theatre, the place the Dave Wooley–directed documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over had its premiere within the closing-night slot of the 2022 Santa Barbara Worldwide Movie Pageant. The pop royal and activist didn’t present up that night time, however her exceptional story and presence through the affectionate doc made her a palpable heroine in the home.
For the true factor in actual time, head over to Ojai’s Libbey Bowl subsequent Friday, September 1, when Warwick makes a uncommon local-ish look as a part of a wealthy roster of reveals within the out of doors splendor of the Libbey Bowl.
Warwick’s assortment of accolades and awards contains a number of Grammy Awards (together with a Lifetime Achievement Award) and Kennedy Middle Honors simply this 12 months. However the proof of her indelible stamp on American musical tradition is within the listening to. Crank her up on Spotify, precise vinyl, CDs, or your portal of selection, and the move of hits over a long time — by the handfuls — and we sink right into a Warwick reverie.
Though the New Jersey native, born in 1940, grew up in a gospel music household, Warwick’s stylistic path was much less in regards to the pure transition from gospel to R&B than a pathway by means of pop and soul-tinged pop. Of her later work, her 1985 track “That’s What Associates Are For” was an all-star anthem and a rallying name for AIDS activism.
Nevertheless it was her ’60s legacy because the signature voice and muse for Burt Bacharach and Hal David that runs deeper within the annals of popular culture. Earlier than their relationship succumbed to authorized {and professional} battle, the triumvirate managed to repeatedly courtroom pop-charting stardust, with touches of musical sophistication tucked into the hooks, a success checklist together with “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Technique to San Jose,” “What the World Wants Now,” “The Look of Love,” and a private favourite, “Anybody Who Had a Coronary heart.”
An opportunity to be granted a close-up musical viewers with Warwick is effectively price a visit to Ojai.
See libbeybowl.org.
