The Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble playing Yoshi's earlier this year. Photo: BHS Jazz Living in Berkeley, it’s easy to take the Berkeley High jazz program for granted. Every few years, a new generation of ambitious students emerges from the jazz ensemble and heads off to music programs in New York, Boston and Los Angeles. Since […]
Music
Posted inArts
Out in Berkeley: Phillip Greenlief’s Lost Trio, and more
Phillip Greenlief and the Lost Trio: performing at Berkeley Arts Festival Friday Few bands in jazz find musical pay dirt as consistently as Phillip Greenlief’s Lost Trio. Launched about 17 years ago with bassist Dan Seamans and drummer Tom Hassett, the group brings the same gruff, unfussy eloquence to tunes by Hank Williams and Herbie […]
Posted inArts
Has the Edible Schoolyard been in a rap song before?
Look what the dueling Whole Foods parking lot videos has spawned. The original, by Berkeley-raised David Wittman, aka DJDave (now in LA), inspired local LaeCharles’ Berkeley remix. (It also prompted Berkeley-born Delia Brown to make “Revenge of the Black Prius“). Now, in fine style, DJDave has come back with DJDave, U Not BERKELEY Enough, featuring LaeCharles. […]
Posted inEvents
Berkeley’s Summer Cinema event kicks off on Center St
Movie-goers at the inaugural Summer Cinema event. Photo (with a Georges Seurat effect): Ira Serkes The night was less than balmy, but that didn’t deter around 250 people making their way to Center Street Saturday evening for the first of four Summer Cinema free outdoor screenings. Some participants brought their own chairs and blankets, others rented fold-up […]
Posted inArts
Out in Berkeley: Disappear Incompletely plays Jupiter
Rob Ewing belongs to a long, honorable and frustrating lineage of Bay Area musicians whose consistently inspired creative output is matched by a seeming indifference to self-promotion. A passionately expressive trombonist, skilled bassist, effective drummer and often brilliant arranger, Ewing has forged enduring ties with a fascinating community of musicians, artists steeped in jazz, but […]
Posted inArts
Dazzling young musicians offer series of free concerts
Melissa Angulo sings "The Girl in 14G" at Hertz Hall. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel On Friday July 29, Melissa Angulo, 17, stepped onto the stage of Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, followed by James Meredith, her piano accompanist. She turned toward the audience, and, without any prelude, launched into a performance of “C” an […]
Posted inArts
Rocking once a day keeps the doctor away
A passerby joins Will Crum and Danny Hodge on harmonica outside Beads & Rocks on Telegraph Photo: Jean McCloskey By Robert Mills Will Crum refuses to stop rocking – at least for a year anyway. The Berkeley guitarist and rock singer pledged to play one guerrilla rock show per day for 365 days. Twenty-five days in, […]
Posted inArts
Out in Berkeley: Lavay Smith is crazy about Patsy Cline
Lavay Smith: paying tribute to a country legend By Andrew Gilbert Jazz and country music are often cast as antithetical cultural forces, signifying a blue state/red state divide. The former is black, urban, and sophisticated, while the later is white, rural (or suburban), and populist. The truth is that jazz and country music have been […]
Posted inArts
Local musician responds to that Whole Foods music video
Last month we brought you news of a Berkeley boy, now living in L.A., whose clever music video about shopping at Whole Foods went viral — our story about “getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot” garnered 400 Facebook Likes alone and the video itself has notched up more than 2.3 million views on […]
Posted inArts
Out in Berkeley: Claudia Gómez at La Peňa
Claudia Gomez: making a rare return to the Bay Area this weekend By Andrew Gilbert For Bay Area lovers of Latin American music who’ve been in the region for a while, the name Claudia Gómez should set hearts a flutter. From the mid-1980s through the mid-90s, the Medellin-born vocalist was an essential part of the […]
Posted inArts
Ashkenaz provides music, ‘living room’ for activists
Ashkenaz’s building on San Pablo, modeled after eastern European synagogues. Photo: Jeremy Brooks Ashkenaz’s building on San Pablo, modeled after eastern European synagogues. Photo: Jeremy Brooks By Robert Mills Berkeley newbies may have trouble finding a cold beer and clog-dancing lesson on a Friday night. Bay Area long-timers, however, know the old brown building on San […]
Posted inArts
In Berkeley: Thousands of free songs just a click away
With a Berkeley Public Library card you can enjoy listening to a huge selection of free music. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel It may be one of Berkeley’s best-kept secrets: Residents can access 500,000 classical, blues, rockabilly, rock, world beat, opera and jazz songs through their computers or smart phones. All anyone needs is a Berkeley Public […]
