The Growth of González

When COVID crushed live entertainment in March 2020 for more than a year, Gilberto González turned to working in the studio environment. González, a guitarist who was raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, but has spent just shy of a quarter-century in Ventura County, began recording regularly at Emmet Sargent’s Beagle Studios, making video recordings with a core band of local luminaries plus a couple of singers captured separately in the studio and professionally mixed together along with shots of scenery. 

The core band consisted of longtime colleagues Randy Tico, the versatile bassist-composer who had produced a handful of González’s albums; pianist Jorge Estrada, a colleague from Guadalajara who has supported Mexican superstar Alejandro Fernández for decades; percussionist Pete Korpela, the L.A.-based studio and touring percussionist who has collaborated with everyone from Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer and Rickie Lee Jones to Al Di Meola and appeared on dozens of film soundtracks, including the blockbuster Avatar sequel; and drummer Kevin Winard, whose long list of credits range from Paul Anka and Sérgio Mendes to Rosemary Clooney and Steve Tyrell. 

“I’ve been spending four hours or so every week for two years working on the videos as hard as anything I’ve ever done because I want it to sound great, like it was coming out of Capitol Records,” González said. 

Early on, the guitarist asked local favorite Lois Mahalia, the versatile singer who has toured with Joe Walsh and Kenny Loggins and performed in jazz bands and nightclub settings as well as a singer-songwriter, to join him as the vocalist for one of the videos. 

“It was just so beautiful, just amazing,” he recalled. “Since then, we’ve made five videos together and each one is more beautiful than the last.” 

Mahalia has recorded González’s arrangements of Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” and the Johnny Mathis standard “Misty” among her selections, while also standing out in the 18-song video series is singer Téka, the transplanted Brazilian guitarist, vocalist, and a Santa Barbara stalwart, who shines on tracks such as “This Masquerade,” the Leon Russell song, arranged by González (as are all of them). 

Meanwhile, once venues began reopening, González also returned to performing live, almost exclusively as a solo guitar player as he’d already left his pre-pandemic mainstay of backing the exuberant nouveau flamenco guitarist Roni Benise in the latter’s self-named band. Gonzales spent a dozen years with Benise, appearing at the Arlington Theatre plus elsewhere in town, and all over the country, as well as on every PBS TV special and other videos. 

“I played everywhere with him, from the street fairs to the big theaters and arenas for almost 14 years,” he recalled. “But it was right for me to spend more time at home and work on my own thing.” 

So while the guitarist had held down a two-year gig greeting guests with his music in the lobby of the Bacara Resort and also appeared regularly at the Four Seasons Biltmore as well as at such restaurants as Carlito’s and Cava in Montecito, instead he secured one of the coveted guitar slots at Montecito’s venerable San Ysidro Ranch, performing several times a month. 

“I’ve just been working really hard on getting gigs, focusing on playing my music live as much as I can,” González said. “Christmas, which was the last time I was at the Ranch, I played for eight hours straight. It was great, but that was the longest gig of my life.” 

Now, this weekend for the first time, the two aspects of González’ recent career are coming together as the guitarist-arranger has created a concert at Alcazar Theatre, the intimate Art Deco-style theater in Carpinteria. Not only will all of the instrumentalists from the videos be on hand, but both Mahalia and Téka are also appearing, a rare opportunity to see them both on the same stage. 

“I have been dreaming about doing this concert but I had to wait until we had enough material to present to the people,” González said. “Now is the time because Jorge is moving back to Mexico soon.” 

The show is very much meant to be a showcase concert for the band, the singers, and González’ Brazilian and Cuban style arrangements of a lot of standards along with one of his originals and a couple of compositions from Mahalia, a total of about 18 songs or so. 

“I do all kinds of stuff like weddings, private events, corporate gigs, hotels, and I play a little bit of everything, but I’m so looking forward to this concert because it’s our first time to be able to perform together live. It’s my dream to have people want to book this show for bigger things, maybe corporate events or opening for someone like Michael McDonald. It’s really going to be a great night.”  

The Gilberto González-led quintet featuring singers Lois Mahalia and Téka performs 7-9 pm Saturday, January 7, at the Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door; $40 VIP tickets include preferred seating and one drink. Call 805-684-6380 or visit
www.thealcazar.org.