Los Gatos Weekly-Times


Photograph courtesy of Adina Sara	Photograph by Russel D. Curtis
Adina Sara describes her music as soulful, jazzy, melodic and bluesy.	Steve Kritzer accompanies his songs on both the guitar and mandolin.

Local favorites play Woodhaven West

By Bob Aldrich

Two Bay Area singer-songwriters popular with Los Gatos audiences for their original and traditional music will return for an April 13 concert at First United Methodist Church, 19 High School Court.

Presented by Woodhaven West, a nonprofit group whose events are sponsored by the church, Steve Kritzer and Adina Sara will entertain at 7:30 p.m. with a mix of traditional, folk and country music and their original songs.

Kritzer, a Campbell resident well known for his guitar and mandolin playing and singing in South Bay clubs, will offer his own songs with traditional and folk numbers. Kritzer has three albums to his credit, the most recent being traditional Christmas music titled Mandolin Christmas. He laces his performances with humor and inter-action with his audience.

Adina Sara, whose home is in Oakland, returns for her second Woodhaven performance after playing here two years ago. An entertainer for more than 20 years, Sara will round out the evening with selections of her original music, which has been described as "soulful, jazzy, melodic and bluesy." Joining her on guitar will be Michael Rosloff.

Sara has produced three albums, Feel a Change, Love Song to Myself, and her latest, Just for the Song.

"I started singing when I was a student at Berkeley in the 1960s," Sara said. "I did lots of singing and guitar at student parties and cafes. It was a very turbulent time. It's only been in the last five or six years that I've taken my music really seriously.

"My songs are based on my own experiences, all that happens to me," she added. "Although some might be considered sad, I prefer to think of them as inspirational, suggesting how we can face up to life."

Marriage and the raising of two sons interrupted her music for a while, she said. Inspiration can come from any experience that has touched her deeply.

"I might think of something that sets me to writing while I'm working in my garden. All my songs are personal," she said. "They are drawn directly from my life. But I like to think that they reflect experiences common to all of us, even if they are personal to me."

She describes them as folk ballads. "Each song tells a story. They are about loss and separation, for instance."

Tickets for the Woodhaven West concert are $8 for adults; $6 for seniors and youth 12 to 18; and $2 for children under 12.