Alvas Showroom, Adam Del Monte

By Garrick Rawlings, Music Writer

Mid-20th century vibrations, neon signs and old-school working-class storefronts still exist within Weymouth Corners, aka Weymouth Corner Shopping Center/Mall, a somewhat tucked-away San Pedro neighborhood gem. Although some of the classic businesses have disappeared, it is still a very much alive locale revered by in-the-know locals and especially live music fans who religiously attend concerts at Alvas Showroom. This 99-seat venue is at once intimate and also feels comfortably spacious, has great acoustics and sound system. 

    A fascinating part of San Pedro’s history, the Showroom space is a familial natural incarnation of what was once part of the Rosalie and Alva School of Ballet and Allied Arts ballet school/theater facility born out of a love affair between Rosalie (nee Figge, Booneville, Missouri) and Alva (Vis, Croatia) Lincir. They met while dancing at the legendary Miramar Hotel in 1940, becoming a dance team and along the way Alva built the dance studio and theater in 1952 to enable them to raise their three sons (Thomas, Matt, Mark) and to teach. Rosalie, a highly regarded and accomplished ballet dancer, also worked in commercial productions at the Greek Theater, Hollywood Bowl and Shrine Auditorium; as well as in films with George Murphy and Frank Sinatra, and on television. Allen Kaufman produced and directed a terrific video on their history and careers, Dancing Hearts: The Rosalie & Alva Story.

The whole family lived in the apartment above the studio until eventually purchasing a home in Rancho Palos Verdes. Some 30 years ago, upon retiring, Alva handed over the reins to his son Matt Lincir, who continues to run the various Alva family companies. I attended a spectacular solo concert by flamenco/classical guitarist, Adam Del Monte, more on that in a minute, and also had a chance to speak with Matt about the latest news on Alvas. He decided to close down the long-running and beloved Alvas Music Store, right next door to the Showroom and reflected on that, “COVID was really a blessing because I would not have shut down the retail and now I think we’re going to rent it to another guy and have a music store again. I got to stop, I had to stop and it turned out to be a good thing. Since day one, my parents built this as a ballet school and theater and that is more my main focus. With all the modern technology we’ve installed, we’re also renting the room out for various recording projects and people can make their albums here now.”

Israeli-born Del Monte grew up with the gypsies in the caves of Sacromonte in Granada, Spain as well as traversing the Netherlands, Germany and England. He is an exquisite performer, this night he played both flamenco and classical guitars, switching between both throughout the concert, to great effect. Both guitars were built by in-demand luthier Erez Perelman, whose guitars are played by amazing artists all over the world including David Tanenbaum, Marcelo Nami, Angel Romero, Marzenna Weicaszek and the late Paco de Lucia. 

It was very enjoyable and informative to see how Del Monte’s approach to each instrument varied in both the way they were physically played, and in tone and style as he chose the guitar that best matched the spirit and style of the respective material. Many classical/flamenco-style guitarists are amazing in precision, technique and speed and others more so in emotion and stylistic feel. Del Monte brings all those things together and is a more fluid and complete guitarist, musician and performer than I’ve ever witnessed. 

Lincir concurs, “He’s got individuality, which is probably the best compliment you can give an artist. You can’t deny his incredible technique, feel, his touch and consistency — he’s got it all.” 

Supplementary to Del Monte’s virtuoso instrumental skills, he also provides educating and illuminating oratory on both the compositions he’s about to perform as well as enlightening information on the history of where the different styles of music originate. He explained how the Soleá is the ‘pilar’ of Flamenco style, one of the oldest and most sober palos [musical form in flamenco], and that perhaps there are more compositions in this style than any other. He delineated how cantes libres is simply a free form of playing any form of flamenco and proceeded to delve into a sad minera, a tradition of songs of and by poor mine workers composed by Ramón Montoya. Del Monte mentioned that Montoya is the Segovia of flamenco guitar (Andrés Segovia — the Spanish virtuoso widely regarded as the father of all classical guitar).

The whole night’s repertoire was an expansive lesson including Alegrías style flamencos and classical folk songs of leaving and returning, such as Spanish sailors suffering in the shipment of sugar cane. Along with traditional pieces, he mixed in his own compositions and concluded the night with a piece he wrote in tribute to, and in the spirit of his heroes J.S. Bach and John McLaughlin. It was titled Django, honoring the great gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. My favorite quote of his from the night was one of his favorite quotes, “I don’t now remember if it was from Segovia or my dad but it goes, ‘There is no such thing as a small piece, only a small artist.’”

Del Monte has been on faculty at USC since 2000, where he teaches flamenco and classical guitar in the studio guitar department. His accomplishments are one long impressive list and  next up is his flamenco opera Llantos 1492 which will premiere in February of 2025 at Opera South West in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Details: https://www.adamdelmonte.com; https://alvasshowroom.com