TonaLaura hasn’t seen the inside of a venue in months, but that hasn’t stopped their music
Pianist Laura Klein and guitarist Tony Corman’s repertoire encompasses bossa nova standards, American songbook gems, bebop anthems and original compositions.
Andrew Gilbert
Freelancer Andrew Gilbert writes a weekly music column for Berkeleyside. Andy, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, covers a wide range of musical cultures, from Brazil and Mali to India and Ireland. A Berkeley-based writer, he contributes features on jazz and international music to numerous publications, including the San Jose Mercury News, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times and Los Angeles Times. His column covering the Bay Area dance scene, Dance Card, runs monthly in the Contra Costa Times. And his CD reviews air regularly on KQED’s “California Report.”
Articles by Andrew
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Dorothea Lange’s legacy lives on through a fellowship at UC Berkeley
On Feb. 22 the Cal J-School presents, “Photographer Dorothea Lange and the Berkeley Connection: 40 Years of Lange Fellowship Winners.”
Hot jazz from Berkeley’s Cal Performances with the very cool trumpeter Bria Skonberg
She delivers jazz standards, vintage pop songs, finely wrought originals, and alchemical jazz renditions of songs by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Queen.
Distance learning can’t defeat Berkeley High Jazz
Not being able to play music together this year has proved tough, but lockdown has also left BHS’s young musicians more deeply versed in jazz than perhaps any previous class.
Stimulus bill includes funds for arts venues. Which Berkeley ones will be eligible?
The Save Our Stages act makes about $15 billion available to independent music venues, theaters and cultural organizations.
Guitarist Robbie Basho, a rare bird in Berkeley
A new Robbie Basho box set offers a window into the music of a brilliant and troubled artist. Plus: Catch a livestream of soul singer Destini Wolf tonight.
House Call Soul delivers socially distanced live music for our times
Berkeley saxophonist Chris Hoog is behind House Call Soul, a collective that has found work for musicians in COVID-19-friendly backyards, driveways and streets.
Teenage keyboardist Matthew Whitaker, a man’s soul
The 19-year-old brought his quartet into New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and recorded a rip-snorting set for Cal Performances at Home, a concert that premieres tonight at 7 p.m.
How to keep the music playing? Berkeley sends mixed messages about outdoor concerts
The city is shutting down some outdoor concerts while allowing others. Struggling venue owners are asking for clarity and more support.
Nathalie Joachim’s world of Haitian women
The Juilliard-trained flutist makes her virtual Berkeley debut on Oct. 14 as a headliner in Cal Performances pandemic-accommodating At Home series.
Kai Mort Shuman, a Berkeley bohemian who took iconic photos of musicians, dies at 85
Shuman spent the decade from 1960-1970 documenting New York City’s cultural ferment, and photographed Odetta, Nina Simone and the Beatles, among others.
After six months of no gigs, ‘front porch’ music returns to Berkeley’s Back Room
Live music is returning downtown with regular, socially-distanced performances at The UC Theatre, Bobby G’s, and a planned Freight & Salvage ‘tour’ of downtown parklets.
Berkeley Old-Time Music Convention is an acoustic, unplugged, raw, twangy – and virtual – delight
Running Sept. 24-27 online, the Convention features all the usual gatherings, including concerts, jam sessions, song swaps, workshops and special programming for children and their families
The vibrant SF Brazilian Day and Lavagem at Berkeley’s BrasArte moves online
The Sept. 6 event features Bay Area acts like SambaDá and the forró combo Dona Francisca and some of Brazil’s greatest musicians performing from the northeastern states of Pernambuco and Bahia.
Give it up for 92-year-old jazz master Richard Hadlock
The longtime Berkeley resident and key presence on the Bay Area airwaves since 1959 has been honored with a McPartland-Conover Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Jazz Journalists Association.
How do you keep (live) music playing in the age of social distancing?
What does the future hold for live music? We checked in with cherished music venues like Ashkenaz, Cal Performances and the Freight to see how they’re feeling and what they’re planning.
