Today we look back to November 30, 2006…

The String Cheese Incident Holiday Benefit

With future String Cheese Incident shows few and far between, fans should take heart in the addition of a December performance. Moreover, the show will take place in the relatively intimate environs of the Boulder Theater and support a number of worthy organzations. The SCI Holiday Benefit is scheduled for December 21, with tickets on sale this Saturday. Proceeds will be directed to the Save Darfur Coalition, Early Childhood Services at the Mental Health Center in Boulder and the Panjea Foundation. Furthermore, the Conscious Alliance will host a toy drive to benefit the Pine Ridge and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations of South Dakota and Montana with all concertgoers who bring a gift-wrapped toy receiving a free, limited-edition SCI Holiday Benefit poster.

Solo Jojo, Mardi Gras Band Dates

This evening marks the first date of a four show southeast run from Widespread Panic’s John ‘Jojo’ Hermann. The keyboardist will appear at the Orange Peel in Asheville tonight followed by gigs in Charlotte (Visulite Theatre), Atlanta (Smith’s Olde Bar) and Charleston (Music Farm). Opening all of these dates will be Sherman Ewing, who first met Hermann when both musicians were living in New York and gigged together in Sherman and the Bureaucrats. Looking ahead to late February, Hermann will tour quite fittingly with his Mardi Gras Band. On Fat Tuesday proper the group will appear at Mercy Lounge in Nashville, followed by gigs at Vails 8150 Club in Vail (Feb 23) and Denvers Cervante’s Masterpiece (Feb 24).

Santana To Take Year off Road

Carlos Santana has announced that he will not tour in 2007. The guitarist who remains a vibrant, electrifying live performer even if his recent studio efforts have relied a bit too heavily on guest turns from a smorgasbord of pop stars, closed out his current touring slate in September 30 at Chastain Park in Atlanta. That show, like many of his recent performances, drew on material that spanned his career, including takes on Soul Sacrifice and Oye Coma Va. Santana likely will focus on studio recording as well as his Milagro Foundation.

In an unrelated note, Greg Page, the Yellow Wiggle, will retire from his group. Page (who has yet to guest on a Santana disc although the Wiggles were Australia’s top selling act last year) has a heart condition known as orthostatic intolerance, by which the cardiovascular system works harder to maintain blood pressure and blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, altered vision and fatigue.

The Duo Goes Small For Five

After a bit of internal debate, Marco Benevento and Joe Russo have landed on December 27 as the date of their first official performance as the Duo (even if the Slip’s Marc Friedman did join in the action on that evening). This show took place at the Knitting Factory’s Old Office and to mark the Duo’s five year anniversary, Benevento and Russo are returning to the 88 capacity venue this December 27. Merriment is pledged.