Damasceno, who died in April, organized near-constant festivals and parties at West Berkeley’s Casa De Cultura and beyond. BrasArte’s Lavagem festival this Sunday is dedicated to her memory.
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.”
Posted inArts
Deidre McCalla, groundbreaking ’70s singer, returns to East Bay
McCalla will perform at Berkeley’s Back Room Sunday afternoon, celebrating the release of her first new album in two decades, ‘Endless Grace.’
Posted inArts
Famed welder creates menagerie of metal instruments in his West Berkeley workshop
Pete Engelhart has been crafting bells, bangers and clangers with distinct personalities since the mid-’70s. You’ve heard them in the music of the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin and in the soundtracks of ‘Wall-E’ and ‘Tenet.’
Posted inArts
Summer concerts are popping up around Berkeley this weekend
The Outsound New Music Summit has found an unlikely home at the Berkeley Finnish Hall. Plus, Paper Moon Presents at the Bruns amphitheater and other musical picks.
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Farida Nelson’s melodious journey from Baku to Berkeley
Nelson, who has sojourned from Azerbaijan to Turkey to the Bay Area, is debuting her one-woman show Saturday at the Back Room.
Posted inNosh
West Berkeley’s king of kosher wine is blowing his horn once again
Jeff Morgan, co-founder of Covenant Wines, gave up jazz and the tenor sax for kosher winemaking. Now he’s combining his two loves with an outdoor music series.
Posted inArts
Berkeley choro festival spotlights essential Brazilian music style
Also this weekend: The world premiere of Jeff Denson’s ‘World of Possibilities’ and Haitian-American cellist, banjo player, songwriter and vocalist Leyla McCalla performing at the UC Theatre.
Posted inArts
Berkeley guitarist Will Bernard can’t shake the funk
Despite a resume that encompasses klezmer and French cafe music, silent film scores and straight-ahead classical composition, Bernard is inextricably tied to a groove-centric sound.
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Gamelan Sekar Jaya, haven for Indonesian music and dance, gets home of its own in South Berkeley
The 43-year-old Balinese cultural group purchased its Shattuck Avenue headquarters from its landlord for $1.5 million.
Posted inNightlife
Put on your dancing shoes, Ashkenaz is back
After being closed for more than two years due to the pandemic, the nonprofit venue is reopening June 5 with an all-day free event.
Posted inArts
Berkeley filmmaker’s documentary career has covered the saga of Korean adoptees
Deann Borshay Liem began her career exploring the mystery of her own identity. In ‘Geographies of Kinship, her latest film, she’s looking to place personal stories “within a broader historical phenomenon.”
Posted inArts
Filmmaker Jon Else turns an operatic flop into cinematic gold
‘Land of Gold’ is making its West Coast premiere April 28 at the Castro Theatre as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival.
