Featured events- 03/10/2012 - Ton Koopman & The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
- 02/27/2012 - Classical at the Freight: Rossini Birthday Celebration
- 02/23/2012 - Michio Kaku: Physics of the Future, How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
- 02/23/2012 - 2012: a Turning Point? And If So, Which Way?: A Talk by Robert Reich
- 02/19/2012 - Takacs Quartet
Category Archives: Music
Cal frat boy Kyle Crews a hit with Jennifer Lopez & co
American Idol fans know that when a judge says “you’re going to Hollywood”, that’s very good news. These words were spoken by former Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler to UC Berkeley undergraduate Kyle Crews recently when he auditioned for the show in San Diego, which also happens to be his hometown.
Crews, who dedicated his rendition of Monica’s “Angel of Mine” to Tyler’s fellow judge Jennifer Lopez (telling host Ryan Seacrest beforehand that he couldn’t stop thinking of her “voluptuous lips”), made an impression despite his loud plaid shirt (“you’re going to have to lose that shirt,” said Tyler). Third judge Randy Jackson simply whooped and declared: “That’s crazy. You sound nothing like you look.”
The 19-year-old, whois an enthusiastic member of Cal’s Kappa Alpha fraternity, will now go through to the next rounds in Hollywood. … Continue reading »
In Berkeley: Cuban pianist sensation Alfredo Rodríguez
As Cuba’s latest piano sensation, Alfredo Rodríguez knows he’s walking in exalted company. A graduate of the Manuel Saumell Conservatory, the same Havana institution that launched Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Manuel Valera, Rodriguez found out early on that prodigious talent could be a passport to an illustrious musical career.
“Knowing that Gonzalo had gone there, it’s a very big deal,” says Rodríguez, 26, from his home in Los Angeles. “In the school, they just teach classical music. It’s on the street that you play popular music and discover jazz. In my case, I love classical music and jazz too. Improvisation is the most important thing to me in the music. It’s my passion.”
Rodríguez makes his Berkeley debut Sunday when Cal Performances presents his solo recital at Hertz Hall. While he often tours with a trio the pianist is completely at home alone at the keyboard, a setting that allows him to fully explore his virtuosic technique and boundless imagination. … Continue reading »
Out in Berkeley to enjoy live music on New Year’s
Even on a slow night you can find a generous array of live music in Berkeley, but on New Year’s Eve the People’s Republic offers a particularly enticing selection, especially if you’re looking for the chance to dance. Every venue seems to play to its comfort zone, with La Pena delivering Cuban, Ashkenaz offering Balkan, Freight & Salvage bearing bluegrass, and Jupiter getting groovy. Why brave the Bay Bridge when you can dance the night away close to home?
Orquesta La Moderna Tradición @ La Pena
Even in Cuba, bands focusing on the gracious 19th century style known as danzon are rare, but Orquesta La Moderna Tradición breathes new life into this elegant form, which combines Afro-Cuban percussion with flute and violins. Violinist/arranger Tregar Otton, who’s also a key member of the Mexican music ensemble Los Cenzontles, co-directs the band with conguero Michael Spiro, a percussion master who’s been at the center of the Bay Area Latin music scene for more than 25 years. Cuban-born Felix Samuel and Caracas-raised Eduardo Herrera share lead vocals, while flutist Jesus “Chus” Alonso, violinist Sandy Poindexter, pianist Robert Karty, clarinetist Don Gardner, timbalero Carlos Caro, bassist Steve Senft-Herrera and percussionist Sage Baggott (guiro and bongos) round out the ensemble. With a family friendly vibe, this might be the most welcoming New Year’s event in the region. … Continue reading »
Klezmer and latkes and Christmas
One of the more joyous street gatherings on Christmas Day happens in front of Saul’s, the Jewish deli on Shattuck Avenue near Vine.
For the last three years, Klezmer musicians have gathered to play outside the deli, their lively, upbeat music serenading the long line of people waiting to go inside the restaurant or those just wanting to hear a tune.
People wait to buy latkes on Christmas Day. Photo: Emanuah Hauser
This year, the annual Christmas Day concert coincided with Hanukkah, and Saul’s owners’, Peter Levitt and Karen Adelman, sold their famous latkes from a food truck for the first time. Inside, dozens of people gathered around large tables to eat communally.
Mike Perlmutter, a biologist, and Emunah Hauser, a food publicist and host at Saul’s, came up with the idea of the Christmas Day music jam while talking outside the restaurant a few years ago, said Hauser. Since then, Perlmutter, who books klezmer and Jewish folk acts at the Subterranean Arthouse on Bancroft Way, has organized the musicians. (He plays the sax and clarinet.)
“Saul’s is slammed on Dec 25 with a captive audience enjoying the ubiquitous day off together, and it is always fun as a musician to give people the unexpected,” said Hauser. “The beauty of street performance is exposing people to an experience they didn’t plan on, who didn’t buy a ticket to the show – who don’t know they are going to get this raucous treat as they walked the desolate streets towards Saul’s, but are grateful and happy it is there. This is especially true of heritage and traditional music, I think – we forget to listen and recollect in our busy modern lives these shared histories.”
Ira Serkes made the video.
Musicians outside Saul's Deli. Photo: Emunah Hauser
Rapper’s Berkeley bona fides questioned in new video
DJ Dave, aka Dave Wittman, has all the Berkeley bona fides: he played at Adventure Playground as a kid, loves the Edible Schoolyard, and graduated from Berkeley High in 1992.
But after living in Los Angeles for 20 years, can he really still claim he is from Berkeley?
The question is even more relevant after DJ Dave’s video, “Whole Foods Parking Lot,” went viral. It has now been viewed more than 3.2 million times on You Tube.
When the video came out, performer LaeCharles Lawrence filmed a Berkeley remix rebuttal video. Now LaeCharles has taken his challenge one step further and called into question DJ Dave’s Berkeleyishness. The two go back and forth on the question in Fog and Smog Film’s latest video, “Berkeley Enough.”
Well, does DJ Dave pass the test?
Berkeley’s Pinderhughes siblings make music magic
Samora Pinderhughes was two and a half years old when a teacher at the Centro Vida preschool in Berkeley noticed his musical talent. What his parents thought was just a fascination with making noise by banging on the table, the teacher determined was an uncanny musical ability.
Samora was three and a half when his sister, Elena, was born. From the time she was an infant, her mother Raquel brought her along to Samora’s private music lessons. Soon, she too started to show signs of musical genius. The brother and sister then started to play music together, he on the piano and she on the flute.
Years later, they made their first professional album together at La Peña. Samora was almost 13. Elena was nine.
“They are a very dynamic duo and have been for many years,” said Bennie Maupin, a bass clarinet player who has recorded with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. … Continue reading »
Get off: Old Friends at the Berkeley Arts Festival
In these belt-tightening times, it’s edifying to recall just how little gold it takes to create a golden age. On Friday and Saturday the Old Friends Festival brings together more than two-dozen musicians active on the Bay Area creative music scene in the 1990s. While high tech was booming, the scene thrived on a shoestring, with a handful of venues serving as sonic petrie dishes for some truly inspired musical experiments.
Presented by the Berkeley Arts Festival, an ongoing concert series produced by Bonnie Hughes at a downtown Berkeley storefront at 2133 University Avenue, OFF is curated by bassist/composer Steve Horowitz, who recently returned to the Bay Area after years in the Netherlands and New York City. Recalling the roiling creative energy of the Bay Area scene at the time of his departure, Horowitz decided to round up as many of his former comrads as possible.
Friday’s show features three sets. The Ralph Carney/Randy Odell Duo brings together the irrepressibly brilliant multi-instrumentalist Carney, a regular contributor to Tom Waits projects, and drummer Odell, whose resume includes the bands The Impalers, The GG Amos Band, and the recently convened Ralph Carney Serious Jass Project. … Continue reading »
Berkeley-raised rapper goes commercial with Hyundai
David Wittman, aka DJ Dave, had a viral hit in June with his rap about the Whole Foods parking lot (although many Berkeleyans preferred the localized version by Lae Charles). Innocean, the ad agency for Korean car manufacturer Hyundai seems to have taken note, because Wittman and his creative collective, Fog and Smog, are the stars of the latest commercial for the Hyundai Elantra (shown above). … Continue reading »
Tagged David Wittman, DJDave, Fog and Smog, Hyundai, Lae Charles
Myra Melford’s alluring melodies and lapidary textures
When pianist/composer Myra Melford left New York City for Berkeley in 2004, she was in thick of the jazz action, a mid-career master with a tangled skein of creative relationships linking her to at least a dozen of the Downtown scene’s most formidable improvisers. For many jazz musicians, relocating to the West Coast from the Big Apple would put a serious crimp in their career, but, coaxed to Cal by a tenure-track position in the music department, Melford hasn’t missed a beat.
Rather than diminishing her visibility, the pianist’s Bay Area move has coincided with a burst of activity confirming her status as a visionary bandleader with a singularly expansive sound embracing a global array of influences. While she’s known for her percussive attack and roiling keyboard technique, Melford is also a deeply soulful player with a passion for Afro-Caribbean grooves, the blues and classical Hindustani music. … Continue reading »
Skippin’ and flyin’ with Berkeley fiddler Laurie Lewis
Berkeley’s musical blessings are bountiful, but I’m going to start this holiday season by giving thanks for Laurie Lewis.
Creatively ambitious and utterly unpretentious, steeped in tradition but doggedly progressive, Lewis is a gifted fiddler, deft guitarist, inspired songwriter and powerfully evocative singer. A creative force on the Bay Area bluegrass scene for decades, the long-time Berkeley resident has mentored several generations of brilliant young string players, while also honing an impressive body of evocative original songs (projects that she releases on her own label, Spruce and Maple Music).
Lewis showcases both sides of her musical life on her new album “Skippin’ and Flyin’,” a loving tribute to bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe on the 100th anniversary of his birth. She celebrates the album’s release Saturday at Freight & Salvage, where she’ll be joined by most of the album’s cast, including her long-time musical partner Tom Rozum on mandolin and vocals, fiddler Chad Manning, bassist Todd Phillips and Patrick Sauber on banjo. … Continue reading »
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