Top Five Reasons Dana Cooper Travels with His Tunes
Singer/songwriter Dana Cooper played the intimate setting of the Trinity Backstage concert series Saturday night, April 22, and performed a selection of songs from his 33-year recording career. The audience, 100-people strong, kept calling for more, and would have stayed all night if he kept playing. Trinity Backstage continues to bring interesting, provocative, and talented musicians to Santa Barbara monthly, so see trinitybackstage.com. For more information about Dana Cooper, see danacoopermusic.com.
At a passing glance, the whole concept seems naively idealistic: a for-profit, Internet-based company dedicated to discovering then establishing hand-selected original musicians, writers, and artists while simultaneously-via online song/art/book sales and concerts-raising dough for nonprofit charities engaged in environmental and social justice work. But then you look at the educational and professional credentials of ARIA Global’s founding “mastermind” Brandi Bennitt-which include a completed novel, a master’s degree in business from Antioch, and stints at some of the more impressive marketing firms on the planet-and it’s hard to find the concept whose motto is “You Download, We Donate” anything short of brilliant.
Anoushka Shankar’s lilting voice and accent-with alternating hints of London, SoCal, and the ringing melody of India-reveal her diverse upbringing across three continents as well as her current life as a world-class wandering minstrel. That life began a little more than 10 years ago when, at the tender age of 13, Anoushka Shankar leapt onto the world’s stage as the sitar-playing daughter of famous sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.