Around Berkeley
🎶 Veteran Berkeley singer, songwriter and producer Briget Boyle, an expert at decanting quiet epiphanies into telegraphic verse, leads a triple bill with the band Tweezer and singer/songwriter Genesis Fermin, whose 2021 eponymous debut found abundant wonder in gardens, meadows and fields. Thursday, Sept. 21, 8 p.m. The Ivy Room. $10-$12
🦜Violinist/composer Wendy Reid presents “Ambient Bird-Live Oak 2023,” a 44-minute, site-specific fall equinox “interspecies sonic landscape environment” featuring a cast of musicians deploying a variety of improvisational approaches reflecting a philosophy of connecting with all living creatures and the environment. The precise location in Live Oak Park is just north of the recreation/theater building, near the creek under the trees. At 6:15 p.m., preceding the performance, Reid will introduce the musicians and their instruments, including Krys Bobrowski on glisglas, Kanoko Nishi-Smith on koto, Ron Heglin on tuba, Brenda Hutchinson on long tube, vocalist Aurora Josephson, percussionist David Samas, trombonist Brendan Lai-Tong, flutist Diane Grubbe, saxophonist John Ingle, clarinetist Matt Ingalls, and Lulu the African grey parrot. Friday, Sept. 22, 6:15-7:15 p.m. Live Oak Park. FREE
🎞️ As part of a month-long series marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-backed Chilean coup that overthrew Salvador Allende, La Peña presents the West Coast premiere of Roberto Baeza’s 2022 film “Punto de Encuentro,” a film within a film about filmmakers Alfredo García and Paulina Costa attempting to recreate the experience of their fathers’ imprisonment in the notorious detention center Villa Grimaldi. Costa will participate virtually in a post-screening conversation. Friday, Sept. 22, 7-9:30 p.m. La Peña Cultural Center. $5-$20
🎻 The UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is performing Prokofiev’s Fifth, Shostakovich’s underrated Second Cello Concerto (featuring the young Berkeley cellist Emile Serper), and living American composer Cindy Cox’s “Dreaming a world’s edge.” Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23 and 24, 8 p.m. Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley. $30
🎶 Veteran flutist and pianist Rubén Hurtado y Su Descarga host a Latin dance party at Fourth and Delaware as part of Fourth Street’s ongoing weekend al fresco music series. Saturday, Sept. 23, 2-4 p.m. FREE
🛍️ Head West, an outdoor marketplace of 75 booths of makers, merchants, crafters and designers, turns Fourth Street into a Berkeley bazaar. Saturday, Sept. 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 1717 Fourth St. FREE
📚 Looking for something to read? Pegasus Books is clearing out its warehouse with a two-day sale offering paperbacks for $2, hard covers for $4 and oversized books for $5. On Sunday, you can fill a grocery bag for $10. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23 and 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 1223 8th St. FREE
🌳 The city is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony and tree planting to celebrate the completion of two new playgrounds. Saturday, Sept. 23, 9 a.m. (tree planting) and 1:30 p.m. (ribbon cutting), Ohlone Park. FREE
🎨 Curated by Pamela Kruse-Buckingham, the new Calliope exhibition Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat: Creativity in a Covid World, featuring works by Kathy Barnhart, Bill Helsel, Abigail Kim, Marsha Kirschbaum, Alan Krakauer, Jim Stickney, Steve Sweetser, and Kelley Tom, opens with an afternoon reception and refreshments. Sunday, Sept. 24, 4-6 p.m. St. Alban’s Parish Hall. FREE
🎶 Bassist/vocalist Jeff Denson, the California Jazz Conservatory’s dean of instruction, presents the latest iteration of his supple, melodically charged trio with Paris-based guitarist Romain Pilon featuring East Bay-reared, Los Angeles-based drummer Mark Ferber, a consummate accompanist who’s worked with a bevy of jazz giants. Sunday, Sept. 24, 5:30-7 p.m. California Jazz Conservatory. $25
🍻 Gilman Brewing Company and 924 Gilman St. come together to host a day-long, all-ages festival featuring two stages of live music, an enclosed beer garden, local vendors and exhibitors, and food offerings by Joyride Pizza and Dos Raicez. The lineup includes headliners Neverlyn and Sad Snack supported by Rymodee, The Helens, Said Sara, Strange Light, Plush Palace, Red Wood, and Hard Party, with Gilman Brewing Company’s employee-staffed house band kicking off the event. Sunday, Sept. 24, noon-7 p.m. The lot behind the brewery at 912 Gilman St. $8-$10 (FREE for kids 12 and under)
🎶 Led by soul-steeped Syrian-American vocalist Bassel Almadani, Bassel & The Supernaturals deploy Black American musical forms to explore the plight of his war-torn ancestral homeland and the ongoing diaspora that has scattered Syrians around the world. A significant portion of concert proceeds go to the Karam Foundation, a nonprofit focused on building a better future for Syria. Sunday, Sept. 24, 7 p.m. The Back Room. $13-$18
👽 Profs and Pints, a social enterprise that stages scholarly talks in bars, restaurants, and other welcoming venues, presents its first Berkeley event, Are We Alone? a talk by UC Berkeley astronomer Steve Croft, who’s deeply involved in the search for extraterrestrial life. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 5:30 p.m. Henry’s Bar & Restaurant. $13.50-$17
🧘🏿Raising kids requires a good deal of flexibility, and Bay Area author Sarah Erzin provides some useful poses in new book, The Yoga of Parenting: Ten Yoga-Based Practices to Help You Stay Grounded, Connect with Your Kids, and Be Kind to Yourself, which she discusses at Mrs. Dalloway’s in conversation with Katie Hintz-Zambrano. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 7-8:30 p.m. FREE (reservations required)
🎶 Berkeley electric bass maestro Kai Eckhardt is back on the road with Garaj Mahal, the world-jazz jam combo he launched back in 2000 with guitar and sitar virtuoso Fareed Haque. They’re joined by Egyptian-American keyboardist Oz Ezzeldine and The Coup drummer Hassan Hurd. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 8 p.m. Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley $24
📚Alan Tansman will give a “very short introduction” to the history of Japanese Literature in the latest installation of the Townsend Center for Humanity’s Berkeley Book Chats. He will be joined by English professor Dorothy Hale. Wednesday, Sept. 27, 12 p.m. 220 Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley. FREE
☀️Pack a lunch and head to the Lawrence Hall of Science for a family-friendly talk about the seasons and the equinox led by planetarium director Bryan Mendez. The talk will be held next to the museum’s outdoor Sun Stones II exhibit, a sculpture that offers “unique viewing opportunities of a variety of astronomical events and phenomena,” and after the talk, you’ll get to observe the 1:03 p.m. fall equinox. Saturday, Sept. 23, 12:30 p.m. Lawrence Hall of Science. Included with admission
Beyond Berkeley
📚 Booksmith, Berkeley Arts & Letters, and JCC East Bay present the launch event for No. 1 New York Times bestselling Berkeley author (Go the F**k to Sleep) Adam Mansbach and his new novel The Golem of Brooklyn in conversation with Emmy Award-winning comedian and author W. Kamau Bell. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m. First Presbyterian Church of Oakland. $10
🕺 If you like dance music and are looking for a place to go, CryBaby in downtown Oakland has a new Thursday-night party with DJ sets by San Leandro twins Beto and Carlos (who go by OtebNSolrac) and Bodega Jay. Get ready for some deep house, techno, Latin house, and everything in between. Thursday, Sept. 21, 9 p.m. 1928 Telegraph Ave. FREE before 10 p.m. with RSVP, or $10
📚 Author and former head of Oakland Public Library’s History Center, Dorothy Lazard, will be hosting a conversation with fellow writers Andrew Alden and Jenny Odell, about their recent books and their experiences as Oakland residents. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m. 125 14th Street, Oakland. FREE
If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at the-scene@berkeleyside.org. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed reporting to this story.
