A MUSICAL TRIPLE THREAT – Natalie Cressman has music in her genes. The jazz trombonist-vocalist-composer is the daughter of Santana trombonist Jeff Cressman and jazz vocalist Sandy Cressman. All that music growing up imbued the younger Cressman with exceptional talent, which is on full display on her just-released debut album, Unfolding. Cressman and her band Secret Garden will perform Friday Aug. 10 at 8 pm at Freight & Salvage. The evening also includes a performance show by Peter Apfelbaum, a Berkeley-bred musician, composer, who has played with many of the greats. He will be joined by drummer Josh Jones. Tickets are $22.50.
RAW, RAGGED, AND REVEALING – Lip Service West got its start in Los Angeles but made its name in Miami where it quickly got known as “the hottest, smartest, most honest literary event in South Florida.” Think gritty, raw writing paired with live performance. Oakland’s San Pablo Arts District fund is sponsoring a Friday night performance of the group – in Berkeley. The founder, Andrea Askowitz, who wrote My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy, will join host Joe Clifford and six other writers at 7:30 pm Aug. 10 at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Avenue. Admission is free.
FROM ONE, MANY – In the 60 minutes it takes Jovelyn Richards to put on her one-woman show, Mrs. Pat’s House, 15 characters cross the stage. There is a woman in her late 90s with no place to go, a light-skinned African-American trying to pass as white, and a prostitute living in a black bordello in the 1930s. “Jovelyn Richards is the kind of mesmerizing storyteller that can draw an audience’s senses into the palm of her hand moments after she steps onstage,” wrote Megan Ma in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Mrs. Pat’s House is directed and designed by Stephanie Anne Johnson. It plays Friday Aug. 10 and Sat. Aug 11 at 8 pm at La Pena Cultural Center and at 7 pm Sunday Aug. 12. Tickets at the door are $15.
BICYCLE TO BARGAINS – College Avenue around Ashby will be hopping on Saturday when the Elmwood Merchants Association celebrates the installation of 30 new bike racks -some made from cast off parking meters – with a block party. There will be a free screening of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure at the Elmwood Theater at noon, Petaluma Pete will perform on the piano from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm, and there will be food, a sidewalk sale, and other special offers at the district’s shops and restaurants. Bicycle to the Elmwood runs from 11 am to 6 pm.
GET HEALTHY – Assembly member Nancy Skinner, Berkeley City Councilmember Darryl Moore and Lifelong Medical Care are co-sponsoring a community health fair and walk at San Pablo Park on Sat. Aug. 11. Dozens of people will be walking from Lifelong’s Over 60 clinic through the city to raise awareness of Lifelong’s community clinic system, which more people will use as the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act become law. There will be diabetes, dental, dental, hypertension and optometry screenings at the park as well as spinal adjustments, health insurance enrollment, and a bouncy house and face painting for children. The walk, which is less than a mile, starts at 10:30 at 3260 Sacramento Avenue. The health fair runs from 11 am to 3 pm. To sign up or get more information, look here.
Don’t forget the Summer Cinema Center Street series, which will show Donovan’s Brain at 7:30 pm Saturday August 11.
Also, check out the newly launched Berkeleyside Radio, which presents music from many bands that will be playing around town in the next two weeks. You can stream it, too. Produced by Deli Radio.
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To find out about more events in Berkeley and nearby, visit Berkeleyside’s Events Calendar. We also encourage you to submit your own events.
