In November, we wrote about the music video urban pop songstress Netta B was filming in South Berkeley. She said at the time that the video was in part a response to the violence in the neighborhood. Now the video is out (above), and Netta B has written on her blog about why she made […]
Music
Famed Balinese music troupe to move to Berkeley
Photos courtesy of Gamelan Sekar Jaya. An internationally respected Balinese music and dance troupe that was founded in Berkeley 32 years ago is hoping to return to the city. Gamelan Sekar Jaya, a 65-member ensemble of musicians and dancers, is planning to move its headquarters into a vacant building at 3023 Shattuck Avenue, site of […]
Coverlettes bring ’60s nostalgia fest to the Freight
The Coverlettes. Photo: David Allen Studio. If you’re looking to inject some upbeat holiday spirit into these rainy days before Christmas, you might want to meet Ella, Bella, and Stella Duvet, aka The Coverlettes, who will be playing Berkeley Wednesday and Thursday this week. The “Coverlettes Cover Christmas” was a hit at the Aurora Theatre […]
Birdland Jazz and Multi Culti Grill: Update
Michael Parayno of Birdland. Photo: Eric Arnold. Many Berkeleyside readers have weighed in on the fate of the Multi Culti Grill and Birdland Jazz evenings hosted by Michael Parayno out of his garage at 1733 Sacramento Street, across from North Berkeley BART. Here’s an update: Last Thursday, December 8, Parayno received a Notice of Violation […]
A holiday greeting to the new Apple store
Well, we know Berkeley city officials are happy that Apple is opening a store on Fourth Street. They can’t wait to see some of that sales tax revenue. Other people are apparently excited as well. Kate Harper, a Berkeley artist who licenses greeting cards, and the Art Licensing Group, which has an office near the […]
What next for the Multi Culti Grill and Birdland Jazz club?
Birdland Jazz Logo/Eric Arnold: EKAphotography So Berkeley finally gets a not-so-secret supper club, a down-home version of guerrilla gourmet hipster hangouts in Oakland and San Francisco, but now its future is uncertain. At press time, the Multi Culti Grill and Birdland Jazz, the city’s only underground BBQ and jazz joint is retreating from its street-front […]
Song honors Berkeley grads in Iranian jail
Sarah Shourd, one of the UC Berkeley graduates who was arrested while hiking by Iranian officials and charged with spying, has written and recorded a song in honor of her two companions, Josh Fattall and Shane Bauer, who remained imprisoned. Shourd wrote the song, Piece of Time, while in solitary confinement in Evin Prison in […]
Urban pop singer films video in South Berkeley
Netta B and her film and music crew, Photo by Jenne King Netta B, who calls herself an urban pop songstress (and who was known as Netta Brielle while growing up in Berkeley) filmed a music video on Wednesday in an area of Berkeley that has seen a lot of violence. Brielle and her film […]
Berkeley boys’ video paean to Giants goes viral
Those Berkeley boys whose creative antics are the brains behind the successful web-TV reality show, White Collar Brawlers, have scored another success. Their video honoring the Giants’ playoff games has gone more than viral in the last few days. It was uploaded on October 10 and since then has gotten 843,000 views on YouTube – […]
Magnes collections get new downtown Berkeley home
Construction on a new facility to hold the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft Library will start in a week. UC Berkeley held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday night for the collection, which will be housed in a building at 2121 Allston Way, near Oxford Street. UC President Mark Yudof, UC Berkeley […]
Maroon 5’s Adam Levine: TMI?
Maroon 5's Adam Levine/Photo: The Sierra Club When Los Angeles-based band Maroon 5 played the Greek this weekend, its many fans expected to enjoy the music, certainly. What they might have been surprised about, however, were the Berkeley connections of vocalist and lead guitarist Adam Levine. Levine’s Twitter followers (all 101,757 of them) were first […]
Berkeley’s Jazzschool gets star treatment
A student performance at the Jazzschool The San Francisco Chronicle gave Berkeley’s Jazzschool the star treatment on Sunday, devoting the cover of its pink arts section and seven articles to the 13-year old institution founded by pianist Susan Muscarella. The Jazzschool, located in the basement of the old Kress dime store on Addison near Shattuck, […]