Guitarist and Cal grad Owen Chen plays Jupiter Friday. And get ready to dance at a Cuban new year’s eve party at the Freight, also in downtown Berkeley.
Jupiter
Posted inNosh
February is Pizza Lovers Month in Berkeley
Berkeley dedicates a whole month — and creates a local pizza crawl — to the cheesy, carby comfort food.
Posted inBusiness, Nightlife, Nosh
Here’s where we’re headed for SF Beer Week events in the East Bay
SF Beer Week starts Friday Feb. 10, and with it come countless parties, tap takeovers and other over-the-top events. Here’s what we think is the best of what’s on tap.
Posted inArts, Community, Events
DIY in Berkeley, with pianist Caili O’Doherty Trio and The Miscreants
New York City pianist Caili O’Doherty has found cool blue waters in the Bay Area, while Berkeley clarinetist Ben Goldberg has plunged into the roiling New York rapids. What these two very different musicians share is a commitment to making their own gigs happen. At 24, O’Doherty is already a familiar face in the Bay […]
Posted inArts, Events
Traveling to Jupiter with Planet Loop
For the average patron the music at Jupiter might seem like an afterthought. Most people show up to dine and drink with no foreknowledge of who’ll be performing underneath the towering redwood at the back of the patio. But the restaurant’s longtime music policy provides an essential anchor for many East Bay musicians, giving them […]
Posted inArts, Events
Guitarist George Cotsirilos: A nighthawk flies in Berkeley
Chicago-reared George Cotsirilos arrived in Berkeley in 1969 as an aspiring young guitarist deeply under the sway of the three blues Kings (B.B., Albert, and Freddie). In the midst of his undergrad studies at Cal he took some time off to play with a blues band in Ann Arbor, and when he re-enrolled to continue […]
Posted inArts, Events
Exploring the round world with Ramon and Jessica
To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, song is a song is a song is a song. The Oakland-raised writer’s elliptical verse serves as the source of inspiration for the latest project by Ramon and Jessica, the singer/songwriter duo of Dina Maccabee and Jesse Olsen Bay. They present Roses are Blue, a suite for vocal ensemble inspired by […]
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Howard Alden: Seven strings, will travel
Howard Alden makes a powerful impression, even when you can’t see him. In Woody Allen’s great 1999 film Sweet and Lowdown the veteran jazz guitarist supplied the beautiful fretwork delivered by Sean Penn’s fictional Emmet Ray, a tormented musician who describes himself as “the second greatest guitarist in the world” (topped only by the very […]
Posted inArts, Events
Alive! in Berkeley: All-women jazz combo comes to town
Alive! wasn’t the first top-flight all-women combo in jazz. Going back to at least the 1940s, when the International Sweethearts of Rhythm earned the respect of their male peers and discerning audiences, excellent female musicians have come together to swing and improvise. But the women in Alive!, who mark the 40th anniversary of the band’s […]
Posted inArts, Events
Audrey Martin: A dream fulfilled, plus more Berkeley gigs
On her 40th birthday Audrey Martin decided to sing. As a marriage and family therapist, she had spent years helping other people work through traumas, resolve deep-seated conflicts, and discover their true selves. Along the way she had set aside her adolescent ambition for a life in music, a sublimated dream that resurfaced with her […]
Posted inArts, Events, Schools
Amendola Vs. Blades play Berkeley — more great gigs
Berkeley fans of the Hammond B-3 organ don’t get many opportunities to experience the mighty instrument close to home. It’s a sad state of affairs for funk and soul jazz aficionados, especially considering that Wil Blades, the Bay Area’s most prodigious mid-career B-3 player, has long called Berkeley home. He returns to Jupiter on Friday […]