You are in: HOME 
Culture Currents Wanda’s Picks July 25, 2007
Culture Currents Wanda’s Picks July 25, 2007
| Wanda’s Picks July 25, 2007 |
|
|
|
| by Wanda Sabir | |
| Wednesday, 25 July 2007 | |
|
‘The Spot’ at The Next Stage During the production of San Francisco Recovery Theatre’s “The Spot” at the St. Boniface Church Theater, Vernon Medearis, a veteran actor, was forced into true homelessness by a series of unfortunate circumstances, which resulted in both he and his young nephew being tossed into the streets of San Francisco. Vernon maintained his role by night and waded through the public service system by day and was so authentic that the audience was left in awe. SF Recovery Theatre is known for representing true life experience but this tugged at the heart strings. He reprises his role as the Homeless Prophet at the Next Stage Theater, 1620 Gough St., San Francisco, Thursday-Friday, July 26 and 27. All shows are at 8 p.m. For information, call (415) 643-6011 or visit www.sfrecoverytheatre.org. Read my review at www.sfbayview.com or www.wandaspicks.com. Christian McBride Situation I don’t know what the situation is this week, July 26-29, but bassist Christian McBride can create one before he plays a note. The brother is awesome and with Patrice Rushen on piano, Dave Ellis on sax and DJ Jahi Sundance, it sounds like edgy on the side of fresh. You tell me. Visit www.yoshis.com or call (510) 238-9200. Portfest World Music and Jazz Festival The Portfest World Music and Jazz Festival, which features musicians from around the world, is Saturday, July 28, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, located at the end of Seventh Street (AC Transit line 13). There will be shuttles from the West Oakland BART Station. The event is free and closes with a fireworks display. Hugh Masekela, the Kenny Garrett Quartet and the Dave Ellis Quintet will be there. Other guests this year are the wonderfully funky Mo-Rockin’ Project with festival organizer Khalil Shaheed and Yassir Chadley, Anthony Blea y tu Charango and Luna Angel. Third Annual AfroFunk Fest The annual opportunity to let it all hang out for a cause returns to the Bay Area Friday-Saturday, July 27-28, at the Independent, 628 Divisadero St., in San Francisco. Sila and his AfroFunk Experience headline the events which are also a benefit for the Children of Dafur. The lineup varies from night to night. Baba Ken and Afro-Groove Connexion opens July 28, while Afrobeat Down and DJ Jeremiah and the Afrobeat Nation open July 29. DJ Emmanuel Nado and DJ Nnamdi will spread the fun over two days during those between-set jams. Visit afrofunk.org for info and ticketweb.com for tickets. The site also includes a short documentary film directed by Peter Jordan of LocalFilms called “Darfur Rising.” The film is about children fleeing the genocide in Darfur and their descriptions of the atrocities they witnessed in their homeland. Now safe in a refugee camp in Sudan, the children learn English in a temporary school, which they hope will bring them peace. On the website, people can contribute directly to the Sudanese relief efforts of Save the Children Fund. Belize and Haiti at Stern Grove  Pip shows the way in “The Gravedigger’s Tango” Visit www.sterngrove,org or call (415) 252-6252. I had a wonderful interview with Andy Palacio. Look for it in the web exclusives at my website, wandaspicks.com. ‘The Gravedigger’s Tango’ A couple of weeks ago I went to see Second Wind’s production of Ian Walker’s “The Gravedigger’s Tango” at the Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida St., San Francisco. It’s up through July 28, Thursday-Saturday, at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. It was really good! I love the dance’s mystery and sensuality — its vocabulary is daring and precise like life and its eventual conclusion. The gravesite groundskeeper treated his residents like folks at a retirement community. They were old friends; he knew their names and often the circumstances of their inevitable abode. The story centers on the life of a woman whose lover bought a plot and a marker for her, although her body is somewhere else. The tale is a tragedy and the groundskeeper tells his helper, Pip (Kathryn Tel), the story, which is actually a metaphor for her and her boyfriend Patrick’s relationship. Pip, or Claire, is pretending to be Patrick while he recuperates from a skateboarding accident. He’s stuck at home while she digs graves during the early morning. He was hired by the contractor, who wants to dig up the graves to sell to a developer, who wants to run a freeway through the graveyard. In the darkness, Pip begins to see her life more clearly as she learns to care about the lives of the men and women who have passed. Jewish Film Festival The JFF continues with great films about the Jewish Diaspora and those whose lives are intricately intertwined with theirs, such as Palestinians. “Lebanon Dream” July 26 and 28, “Three Mothers” Aug. 4 and 6, “The Longing: Forgotten Jews of South America” Aug. 4 and 5, “I Am You Are” (seven short films by youth), July 28 and 29, and “The Chosen Ones,” in which Wendla Nolle travels to Manhattan in search of young Jewish music. On her journey, she meets an African American Jew who is a rap artist. It screens July 30 at the Berkeley Rep Roda Theatre and Aug. 2 at the Aquarius. Lastly, “My Fuehrer: The Truly Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler,” July 31 and Aug. 5. Visit www.sfjff.org or call (925) 275-9490 for information about the locations and times of films. ‘Golden Gulag’ Author Ruthie Gilmore reads from her book “Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis and Opposition in Globalizing California” on Thursday, July 26, 7 p.m., at Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St., San Francisco. It’s a free event, part of Labor Fest 2007. I Scream Against Prison Expansion It really is “ice cream” as well as “I scream,” but why not have your treats and protest too? Get the scoop on the largest prison construction plan in history at I Scream Against Prison Expansion, Sunday, July 29, 2-4 p.m., at Mosswood Park, Broadway at 40th Street, Oakland. The event features Micia Moseley as MC. Visit www.curbprisonspending.org. International Working Class Film & Video Festival and Concerts “USA vs. Al-Arian” is a part of the closing weekend program of this film festival sponsored by Labor Fest 2007. Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian-American, has been imprisoned on charges which have yet to be proved. Visit www.usvsalarian.com. Other films shorts are “Suicide Jumpers” and “The Alley.” Visit www.laborfest.net for complete descriptions on events or call (415) 642-8066. The festival continues through July 31. Folk This! Folk This! and friends bring you an evening of radical protest music and theatre: “Wasn’t There a Time, a People’s Songbook,” at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, Sunday, July 29, 7 p.m. It looks really good. Tickets are $10. Call (415) 431-8485 or visit www.folkthis.org. ‘War Made Easy’ I haven’t seen it yet, but the film titled “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” premieres Thursday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m., at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. It sounds good enough to put my reputation on the line. Look for a review soon. The film, narrated by Sean Penn, is a benefit for Making Contact National Radio Project. Visit www.warmadeeasythemovie.org. Legally Blynd at Kimball’s Carnival Dynamic guitarist Jubu takes a break from his busy touring schedule on Wednesday, July 25, with Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly, Roberta Flack and Lalah Hathaway to lead his band Legally Blynd on the stage of Kimball’s Carnival, 522 Second St., in Oakland’s Jack London Square. Visit www.LegallyBlynd.com. or call (510) 444-6979. Ninth Annual Collard Greens Festival The Collard Greens Festival is held in East Palo Alto at Bell Street Park, Saturday, July 28, 12-7 p.m. There will be live music, including blues, jazz and zydeco, plus a cook-off contest. Call (650) 323-5861. The event is sponsored by the Shule Mandela Academy and School of Wisdom and Knowledge College Preparatory Academy. Nawal is back! On tour with a new CD, Nawal, the voice from the Comoros Islands, is back in the Bay for one evening at Ashkenaz Music and Dance Club, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, Friday, July 27, at 9 p.m. At Ashkenaz she is accompanied by her brother and Marg on percussions. Visit www.nawali.com. She will also be at the Cayuga Vault in Santa Cruz., 1100 Soquel Avenue, (831) 421-9471. Visit www.cayugavault.com. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Les Blancs at Stanford Summer Theater Lorraine Hansberry’s “Les Blancs” continues Thursday-Sunday, 8 p.m., at Pigott Theater, Memorial Hall, Stanford University, through Aug. 5. Visit http://summertheatre.stanford.edu or call (650) 725-5838. Tickets are $20. Directed by Harry J. Elam, Jr., the play is as thought provoking as is it relevant to current international issues. “Les Blancs” provides a framework for the blatant disregard for life that fuels the presidential policies in Washington, D.C. There is a review in my web exclusives at wandaspicks.com, plus more information about other aesthetic treats, some free, at Stanford this summer. Bay Area Playwrights Festival The 30th anniversary of the Bay Area Playwrights Festival is Friday-Sunday, Aug. 3-12, at the Magic Theatre in Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. If you reserve your Festival Bouquet Pass by July 27 you will receive an additional 15 percent off! See all 10 plays for just $72. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , visit www.playwrightsfoundation.org or call (415) 626 0453, ext 105. Festival plays this year are “Tree” by Julie Hebert, in which a letters left by her white father sends a woman in search of a Black half brother she never knew, and “Mr. Fujiyama’s Electric Beach” by Kevin Oakes, where a detective follows a string of murders that lead him deep into the underground dens and sex clubs of a utopian counter-culture. Other plays include “Sweet Maladies” by Zakiyyah Alexander, “Body Awareness Week” by Annie Baker, “I am Montana” by Samuel D. Hunter and “Into the Numbers” by Christopher Chen. Music at the Oakland Museum The first Friday of every month takes on a whole new groove at the Oakland Museum of California! Enjoy performances by Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of All Stars next Friday, Aug. 3, 5-9 p.m. There is a full cash bar, and light dining in the OM cafe. Take a break from music and galleries to learn about scientific illustration and hear stories of Chinese labor in the early days of Yosemite. Now you can shuttle between the museum and Oakland’s Art Murmur, courtesy of the city’s free shuttle bus. Visit www.museumca.org/ffaf/index2.html for additional information. Music is included with museum admission. Trumpeter Mack Rucks Thursday, July 26, the Mack Rucks jazz ensemble is at Anna’s Jazz Island. When I first heard Mack Rucks, I thought he was an angel; with white locks framing his face, he was playing all kinds of instruments. He was with E.W. Wainwright’s band. At this gig he performs mostly originals joined by Mark Wright also on trumpet. Wright can really hit those stars too. Babatunde Lea Quartet, Con Alma Voicetet Babatunde Lea, multi-percussionist, arranger and band leader, will be at Anna’s Jazz Island Saturday, July 28, at 8 p.m. Con Alma Voicetet, a rich harmonic blend of swing, blues, bossa nova, and ballads, will also perform. Vocalist and piano player-arranger Richard Kalman will perform Sunday, July 29, 8 p.m. Anna’s is at 2120 Allston Way, Downtown Berkeley. For recommended reservations, call (510) 841-5299 after 5 p.m. Visit www.AnnasJazzIsland.com for the complete calendar.  Andy Bey The legendary pianist and vocalist Andy Bey has a short run at Jazz at Pearl’s Friday-Sunday, Aug. 3-5, at Jazz at Pearl’s, 256 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. Visit www.jazzatpearls.com or call (415) 291-8255. Tickets are $25, Sunday $20-$25. Showtimes vary; call for details. Andy Bey’s silky bass-baritone voice has been called “one of the finest instruments in jazz.” He has a unique way of mixing lyrics and melody to tell a story, and after more than five decades of making music, the 64-year-old musician has a growing legion of fans worldwide. When he was just 12, Bey was performing with Louis Jordan at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Bey has also gained notoriety for speaking out about being a gay man and HIV positive. Rally for Universal Healthcare You saw Michael Moore’s film “Sicko,” where people who are betrayed by their insurance companies and the indigent are dumped in alleys by HMOs with IVs still attached to their arms. The Rally for Universal Healthcare and single-payer coverage in Senate Bill 840 is Saturday, Aug. 4, 1:30 p.m., at Frank Ogawa Plaza at Oakland City Hall, between 14th and 15th streets, near the 12th Street BART. Get Your Passport to Poetry! Don’t forget the San Francisco International Poetry Festival this weekend, July 27–29. The festival will showcase 15 poets from around the world, including current San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman and past poet laureates, including devorah major. The three-day extravaganza kicks off with a North Beach block party on July 26. Evening programs will take place at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre on July 27 and 28, beginning at 7 p.m. There will also be readings at San Francisco branch libraries on Saturday afternoon, July 28. I suggest hearing Anna Lombardo and Marc Bamuthi Joseph at 2:30-4:30 p.m., Bernal Heights Branch, 500 Cortland St. near Moultrie, and the Main Reading at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 7-9:30 p.m., with Hanan Awwad, Miguel Mendoza Barreto, Ferruccio Brugnaro and others. The festival will close with a series of readings on Sunday afternoon at various North Beach locales. Jack Hirschman will read at 8 p.m. on July 29 at the Live Worms Gallery at 1345 Grant Ave. Visit www.friendssfpl.org or www.sfinternationalpoetryfestival.org. Best of the Bay 2007 Party The San Francisco Bay Guardian 2007 Best of the Bay party is Friday, Aug. 3, 5-8:45 p.m., at the de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. Visit www.deyoungmuseum.org. I remember fondly the year the San Francisco Bay View was honored at the old Kezar football stadium. Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Visit her website, www.wandaspicks.com, for an expanded version of Wanda’s Picks and for exciting “web exclusives.” |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
