Local Limelighting
by Josef Woodard

MOJO WORKING FOR A CAUSE: To get a flashback of the hot and soul-stirred Santa Barbara music scene of ’80s, head over to Cooney’s (the former Absinthe) on Monday night, for an indisputably good cause. Headlining this all-star lineup of local and formerly local musicians are Mojo and the band known as Barbara Wood and the Moments, bands that haven’t played together for at least a decade, but once ruled local nightclub marquees.

The cause for this rare reunion: a benefit for the ailing original Mojo member James Antunez, for over 20 years a strong heartbeat of the Santa Barbara music scene, a versatile drummer and a vocalist capable of Stevie Wonder-esque splendor. Antunez is grappling with the staggering medical bills from his treatment for aplastic anemia, a bone marrow disorder. Proceeds go to the James Antunez Wellness Fund.

Also joining Mojo on Monday is a concerned cast of many players familiar to anyone with ears open to the club landscape of the past, including Jeff Elliott, Randy Tico, Randy Cobb, Jerry Tietz (not heard out for too long), Tom Fitzgerald, Leslie Lembo and Raw Silk, Morganfield Burnett (a k a Larry Edwards), and Shawn Thies. The list goes on, reading like a tidy who’s who of then and now in town, including Mitch Kashmar, The Pontiax, Craig Thomas, The Tearaways, and on and on. The show, which starts at 7 p.m., promises to be a big night, full of spirits at once charitable and culturally historical.