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.
Music
Top Stories
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.
Recent stories
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.
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.
Musicians transform store lines into mini-concerts during the pandemic
The performances are a collaboration between Commotion West Berkeley and several local artists.
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.
Playing the long game with Ellen Fullman
Fullman, who plays her self-invented Long String Instrument in her West Berkeley studio, was recently awarded a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship for musical composition.
