FEBRUARY 2010

COLM Ó RIAIN: “Violinist Extraordinaire”
Friday, February 5

Irish-born violinist Colm Ó Riain kicks off his yearlong Artist-in-Residence at the Red Poppy with a show combining the sounds of Ireland with the rhythms and melodies of jazz, blues, gypsy music, klezmer and more. Originally a Western classical musician, Colm has performed in numerous concert halls across Europe, including a spell as Concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. Now an accomplished and fiery improviser in many genres, Colm has performed in festivals and venues throughout the world—from Argentina and Brazil to Sweden and Cyprus — while also thrilling audiences across the United States. His CD Bridge Across the Blue, produced with partner-in-crime, poet Pireeni Sundaralingam, features a dazzling array of musicians and poets and was cited by About.com as “one of the Top 7 recordings of poetry and music of all time.” Colm is currently working with his varied band on their debut CD Hy Brassyl, to launch in 2010.

Colm Ó Riain: violin
Burke Trieschmann: guitar, vocals
& special guests

“Ó Riain’s fireworks display of virtuosity easily spans the diverse genres of gypsy, tango, jazz, blues and Irish music all with his characteristic intelligence and pizzazz.”
—The Irish Herald

“A genius fiddler.”
—Mike Scott, The Waterboys

www.colmoriain.com

www.colmoriain.com/colm/video.php?clip=StealthySinners&venue=CafeDuNord

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

MAPP: Mission Arts & Performance Project

Saturday, February 6

The folks at the Red Poppy Art House are proud to participate in the 40th MAPP cultural extravaganza, featuring activities, works, and presentations, by artists and curators spanning India, Ethiopia, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Mali, and the US.

The MAPP is a homegrown bimonthly intercultural multidisciplinary unruly neighborhood cultural happening. It’s not an “art walk” (thank god). Instead, it’s a collage of 10-15 odd spaces transformed into mini-cultural centers, focused on the intimate experiences of culture and people. The charm of the MAPP is that you never know quite what’s going to happen until you get there, so don’t be miffed if you can’t find up-to-date information ahead of time. The point is to arrive, and embrace the adventure. Plus, you’ll get a program (with an actual map) to navigate the event.

Listed below is only the program for the Red Poppy Art House, headed up the Poppy’s 2010 Resident Artists, and the N.I.C.E. Project crew. Be sure to check out all the other spaces in the neighborhood. We don’t even know what they have planned.

By the way, it's FREE.

The Mission Arts & Performance Project:  www.sfmapp.com
The Neighborhood Initiative for Cultural Engagement:  www.theniceproject.com

Poppy MAPP Schedule

Workshops
2:30pm              : Free Salsa Workshop w/ Andrea Cortes-Juarbe
1:00pm-4:00pm  : Free Family Art Activities (Outdoors)
12:30pm-4:30pm: (NICEproject) participatory installation focused on invasive species. Artist: Scott Polach

Exhibition
“El Aeropuerto Arias” : A family of 3 generations of artists from Peru landing together in SF art making. Silkscreens of Luis Arias Vera (b.1932), Photography of Adrian Arias (b.1961) & Prints and Collages of Anais Arias-Aragon (b.1995).

Coversation/Dialog
6:30pm-8:00pm : Join in a discussion on the crossover of art and ecology, hosted by the NICEproject, followed by an informal MAPP tour. (the NICEproject is: Saif Ali, Jayaranjan Anthonypillai, Jen Banta, Michelle K. Lynch, Melita Morales. www.theniceproject.com)

Performances
Hosted by the 2010 Poppy Resident Artists
8:31pm   : On the Griot Trail / Bob Holman and Griot Karamo Susso / Poetry & Kora Music, in English and Manding
9:16pm   : Not Even the San Joaquin / Poetry-Music / Michael Warr, A. Keirbel, T. Brown
9:33pm   : Prasant Radhakrishnan / South Indian Carnatic Solo Performance
10:01pm : Meklit Hadero & Aaron Keirbel / Songs, guitar, drums
10: 37pm: Encuentamiento Story-telling Collective / Bryan Robledo, Pablo Velez
11:07pm : Maria Machetes / Voice, cajon
11:27pm : Johanna Suarez / Voice, guitar, cajon / guest artist: Rosa los Santos & Gary B.

Brunch with KUGELPLEX, featuring JEWLIA EISENBERG and BRUCE BIERMAN: Food! Klezmer! Dancing!
Sunday, February 7

Kugelplex is the West Coast's rockin’est purveyor of klezmer and old-world party music. Formed in 2001, the group plays wild, soulful dance music at concerts and festivals throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Recent highlights include leading the Oakland Symphony and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir in an epic 150-musician nigun (Hebrew for “humming tune”) at the Paramount Theater, as well as a shtetl-blasting 15-piece collaboration with Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Frank London (founder of the Klezmatics).

Kugelplex will be joined by old-world vocalist diva Jewlia Eisenberg and Yiddish-dance maven Bruce Bierman for a wild afternoon of dancing and East-coast-style brunch!

Dan Cantrell: accordion
Marguerite Ostro: violin
David Rosenfeld: mandolin
Eugene Warren: bass
Michael Pinkham: percussion
Jason Ditzian: clarinet

With:

Jewlia Eisenberg: vocals
Bruce Bierman: dance leader
 

www.kugelplex.com

www.youtube.com/kugelplex52

$10 - $20 admission ($20 suggested with meal). Performance/brunch from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

CLASSICAL REVOLUTION Presents: THE MUSICAL ART QUINTET

Thursday, February 11

Comprised of some of San Francisco's finest young string players, The Musical Art Quintet performs a broad range of music - from classical to contemporary to world music - including pieces written or arranged by members of the Quintet. Performances often feature guest artists and incorporate electronics. Tonight's concert will include original Latin-inspired music by Sascha Jacobsen and other selections from the contemporary and classical literature. The group has performed at San Francisco venues Revolution Cafe and Cafe du Nord.

Anthony Blea: violin
Philip Brezina: violin
Charith Premawardhana: viola
Shain Carrasco: cello
Sascha Jacobsen: bass
Special guest: Javier Navarrette, congas / cajon

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjewkeJzk84

More than an ensemble, more than a presenting organization, Classical Revolution is a global phenomenon, revolutionizing the way live classical music is programmed and heard. The idea which took shape in November of 2006 at Revolution Cafe in San Francisco’s Mission District is now represented in more than a dozen cities on three continents. (In the Bay Area alone, they present an average of 15-20 performance events each month.) Residencies are held at Revolution Cafe, SoCha Cafe, Amnesia, Caffe Divino (Sausalito), Bazaar Cafe, and Musical Offering Cafe (Berkeley). Classical Revolution has been featured in publications including San Francisco Classical Voice, SF Weekly, SF Chronicle, Sunset Magazine, SOMA Magazine, Strings Magazine, and The New York Times.
 

www.classicalrevolution.org

$8 - $20 admission. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show at 7:00 pm.

WIL BLADES: A Rare Solo Performance
Friday, February 12

Wil Blades (Hammond B-3 organ), a native Chicagoan, has become the Bay Area’s first call organist and is rapidly gaining momentum throughout the world as a top-rate musician. For the past three years, he has been named a “Rising Star” organist in the Downbeat critics poll. While keeping the traditional sounds of Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, and “Groove” Holmes alive, Wil creates a personal, modern sound. He has performed and recorded with John Lee Hooker, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad, Joe Louis Walker, Don Braden, Donald Harrison, Karl Denson, Will Bernard, Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore, Betty Joplin, Eddie Marshall, Herbie Lewis, and many others.

For this appearance at the Red Poppy, Wil will perform solo on the Hammond B-3 organ. Much of the performance will be improvised, though it will also include original pieces, songs from the American Songbook, and hymns.

“While B-3 players are already precious few these days, Bay Area jazz fans are lucky to have one as special as Wil Blades.”
—SFJAZZ

"A serious, deeply musical performer who shows considerable promise. A musician who knows what he wants to say and chooses not to overstate it, Blades offered one gleaming solo after another. The organist clearly has a great doing going for him, including a fluid technique and a palpable love for the instrument."
—Chicago Tribune

www.wilblades.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd_EObrPOvQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu4uokcqe3Q

$10 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

KANE MATHIS, ROWAN STORM, PHAEDON SINIS: From West Africa to the Middle East
Saturday, February 13

Tonight’s performance journeys from West Africa to the Middle East with traditional songs, melodies and dazzling improvisation. Rooted in the ancient traditions of Middle Eastern philosophy and poetry, the members of this trio have traveled far and wide in pursuit of their musical ideals.
 
Kane Mathis (21-string African harp, kora, and oud) has spent the last twelve years studying the music of West Africa and the Middle East. Kane has made several trips to the Gambia, West Africa, and Istanbul, Turkey, to study with various musical masters.

http://kanemathis.com

Phaedon Sinis (kanun, kemence) specializes in the performance of Ottoman music. He has traveled extensively in Greece and Turkey to study modal theory and performance with maestros Sokratis Sinopoulos and Dr. Münir Nurettin Beken.

http://amansaki.org
 
Rowan Storm (frame drums, vocals) researches, teaches and performs throughout the Middle East. For six years, Rowan collaborated with Iranian master musician Mohammad Reza Lotfi. Rowan's signature Dayereh Frame Drum is produced by Cooperman Drum Company.

http://rowanstorm.com

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

THE ROADOILERS & MT. DIABLO STRING BAND: San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival presents an Old-Time Show
Friday, February 19

The San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, in it's 11th year, is pleased to present an evening of old-time southern mountain music. 

www.sfbluegrass.org

The Roadoilers is an old-time string band whose members have been playing together in one form or another for more than twenty-five years. Old-time songs and fiddle tunes along with rags, jigs, cakewalks and reels make up an exciting and varied repertoire. Members’ past bands include The Arkansas Sheiks, High Country, BonnyDoon Stringband, Fennig’s Allstars, Styx River Ferry, Phantoms of the Opry, Highballers from the Planet Hell, and Boise Deluxe. The Roadoilers also supplied music for the documentary film Klunkerz.

John Pedersen: banjo, fiddle, banjo-mandolin, Irish pipes, vocals
Mike Drayton: fiddle, vocals
Perry Fly: guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals
Chuck Wiley: bass, guitar, mandolin, vocals

www.sonic.net/~mdrayton/roadoilers

Bay Area-locals the Mt. Diablo String Band performs energetic old-time music, featuring inspired fiddle tunes and vocal numbers.

Carl Pagter: vocals, clawhammer banjo

Harry Liedstrand: fiddle

Cindy Liedstrand: guitar

Corbin Pagter: vocals, mandolin

Matt Dudman: string bass

www.myspace.com/mtdiablostringband 

http://pleasantvalleymusic.com/Diablo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgRI0ikfz2E

$10 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

INDRE VISKONTAS, ZOLTAN LUNDY  & ALLISON LOVEJOY: Post-Valentine’s Day Cabaret
Saturday, February 20

Classically-trained soprano Indre Viskontas joins classical pianist,
cabaret performer and composer Allison Lovejoy and Tango sensation Zoltan Lundy for an intimate evening of song and music. The program features selections from the cabaret canon, French cafe conc' delights and American composer William Bolcom's sexy, funny and smart songs, and Lovejoy's own compositions. Low on pretension, high on humor, Indre, Zoltan and Allison are the perfect antidote to the late-winter blues.

Indre Viskontas (soprano) is a versatile and powerful performer, equally at home in contemporary and classical opera. Her stately presence and rich vocal colors are particularly suited for the leading noblewomen in operas from the 18th and 19th centuries, while her intellect, dramatic intensity, curiosity and nuanced acting add depth to contemporary operatic roles. Miss Viskontas performs regularly with opera companies in the Bay Area, and is passionate about making opera accessible and relevant to contemporary audiences. 

www.indreviskontas.com

Zoltan Lundy (tenor) has spent a decade performing up and down the West Coast of the United States as a jazz singer and a song-basedcomedian. In January of 2008 he put the microphone down and applied himself whole-heartedly to a long-time dream of becoming an opera singer. Zoltan made his debut as a professional opera singer in May 2009, with San Francisco’s Goat Hall Productions, playing the villain in the contemporary opera Roxane de Boveda. He is currently preparing the role of Shaunard for the Virago Theatre Company’s production of La Boheme, opening in Alameda this March (viragotheatre.org). In other musical arenas, he is currently the featured vocalist for San Francisco’s much-beloved tango ensemble, Tango Number Nine (tangonumber9.com), and was recently a guest vocalist for the internationally-acclaimed Tin Hat Trio (tinhattrio.com)

Allison Lovejoy (piano) has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist. Her insightful and passionate performances have received wide acclaim, and her varied repertoire highlights virtuoso works of the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Miss Lovejoy is a faculty member at the Academy of Art University and the Community Music Center, and has held positions at the College of Notre Dame and Foothill College. She has led master classes in the United States, Europe, and Nicaragua, and is dedicated to making music education and live performance available to everyone.

www.allisonlovejoy.com

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

Prayer Songs Project Presents LIOR TSARFATY & JOSEH GARCIA: Middle Eastern Bossa Nova

Sunday, February 21

Join Lior Tsarfaty and Joseh Garcia for a special musical collaboration where Hebrew poetry, bossa nova, prayer, song and medicine melodies intertwine in the sacred space of art and community.

Including: Michael Knapp, April Taylor, and Naima Grace Shalhoub, Duane Frybarger (piano), Lizae Reyes (harp)

www.myspace.com/josehgarcia

www.myspace.com/liortsar

$20 admission. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show at 7:00 pm.

THE PICKPOCKET ENSEMBLE: Café Music for Dreamers

Friday, February 26

The pickPocket Ensemble makes music at the crossroads. Inspired by global folk and instrumental traditions—from Eastern Europe and the Balkans, from klezmer music to French musette, swing, and even contemporary classical—the pickPocket Ensemble creates haunting, invigorating tunes.

The music of the pickPocket ensemble has been called “soul-wrenching” for its evocative and passionate expressiveness. For its ability to communicate across cultures, they have been called “una banda del pueblo para el pueblo” (Javier Moreno-Pollarolo, San Francisco Tribune).

For this show, the pickPocket Ensemble is presenting music from their recently recorded project Memory, as well as a special set of desert-inspired melodies to move body and soul.

Alisa Rose: violin

Rick Corrigan: accordion and composition

Tim Fox: guitar

Greg Kehret: double bass

Michaelle Goerlitz: percussion

Myra Joy: cello

“Their combined talents generate vivid imagery and infectious tunes that will instantly transport you to Europe’s sidewalk cafés. This group specializes in playful, timeless arrangements that blend the grace and sophistication of the chamber with the colors of the street.”

—World Pulse

“A sublime and nuanced, hip acoustic band!”

—West Coast Live Radio

www.pickpocketensemble.com

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS: Soulful Blues-Groove Party     

Saturday, February 27

NOTE: Tickets are available online at brownpapertickets.com. There will be TWO SHOWS this evening. Please see below.

The California Honeydrops are proud to have won the 2009 SF Weekly award for Best R&B/Soul Band in San Francisco. The group has developed a tremendous following in California, selling out shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland and the Lindy Groove in LA, and performing at the Rawa Blues Festival in Poland to exceptional response. They were also recently nominated by The Blues Foundation for a Blues Music Award for “Best New Artist.”

Formed in November 2007, the California Honeydrops first performed on the streets and in the subways stations in Oakland. Playfully crossing genres from roots and blues to soul and R&B, The California Honeydrops’ sound is tied together by soulful vocal harmonies, colorful shouts from brass and horns, and a funky, good-times New Orleans rhythm section. 

Lech Wierzynski: vocals, guitar, trumpet

Chris Burns: piano

Ben Malament: drums, vocals

Seth Ford-Young: bass, vocals

Johnny Bones: saxophones

Born in Warsaw, Poland, bandleader and front man Lech Wierzynski began playing blues and jazz as a teenager at after-hours jam sessions in Washington, D.C. After studying trumpet with Marcus Belgrave (Ray Charles), Lech continued to develop his career after moving to Oakland. Honing his craft with some of the biggest names in American music—such as Maria Muldaur, Dan Hicks, and Jackie Payne—Lech has grown equally as a trumpeter, singer and guitarist.

The vibrant rhythm section of The California Honeydrops is fueled by piano veteran Chris Burns (Albert Collins, Freddie Hughes, Maria Muldaur), drummer Ben Malament (Terry Reid, The Marvelettes, The Jelly Roll Souls), and bassist Seth Ford-Young (Tom Waits, Sean Hayes, Beats Antique). Adding an unprecedented energy is saxophonist Johnny Bones (Eddie Palmiere, Nell Carter, Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums).

“We were lucky enough to host The California Honeydrops in July. We were astonished by their amazing performance, not to mention attendance. It was a rocking house!”

—Erik Siebert, Yoshi's Jazz Club, Oakland

www.myspace.com/thecaliforniahoneydrops

Tickets are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com

$10 - $15 admission. TWO SHOWS: 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7:00 p.m.) and 9:00 p.m.

HEATHER KLEIN’S INEXTINGUISHABLE TRIO: A Classical Yiddish Trio
Sunday, February 28

Heather Klein’s Inextinguishable Trio brings to life Yiddish art songs still relevant today in their focus on compassion, hardship, food, hunger, and humanity. These new and old Yiddish pieces send a vibrant message—whether it relates to a Jewish ghetto or the hardship befallen on today’s hungry and homeless. The Trio will donate 70% of tonight’s proceeds to the San Francisco Food Bank.

Heather Lauren Klein: soprano

Emily Packard; Violinist

Alla Gladysheva: pianist

With guest Marisa Binder: soprano
 

Su-yin Mah’s photographs of San Francisco’s homeless and hungry will be on display throughout the evening.

Heather Lauren Klein (soprano) performs regularly around the Bay Area singing Yiddish classical music and opera. She has performed with Yiddish Folksbine (NYC), The Three Yiddish Divas (Canada), National Jewish Theatre (San Jose), West Bay Opera (Palo Alto), and many festivals locally and internationally. Heather is currently working on her next project, which focuses on Yiddish art songs.

Alla Gladysheva (piano) received her masters degree from the Leningrad Conservatory and then moved to the U.S. in 1995. She is a pianist for the San Francisco Ballet School and is a professor of music theory at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Emily Packard; Violinist, plays in many musical styles including classical, new music, Arabic, folk/ rock and klezmer.  She enjoys collaborating with composers, singers, dancers and multi-media artists.  She is currently a member of experimental folk band Jack O' The Clock, and Arabic Orchestra .
 
The Inextinguishable Trio debut CD Mayn Yiddishe Velt is now available at cdbaby.com.

www.HeatherLKlein.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwReM1eyCFo&feature=PlayList&p=BF73592AB073A66E&index=4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjkbpzi6Vng

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show at 7:00 pm.

MARCH 2010

ROUND MOUNTAIN: Folk Meets World
Thursday, March 4

Round Mountain—aka brothers Char and Robby Rothschild—have been playing music together for most of their lives. Based in Santa Fe, their musical backgrounds range from Balkan and West African styles to traditional Appalachian music, from Irish ballads to klezmer. While they have played extensively together and separately in many ensembles and projects—including Ottmar Liebert, Thomas Mapfumo, Prince Diabate, Panjea, and the Old Moscow Circus—this configuration marks the crystallization of their own music using the traditions that have inspired them. Expect beautiful acoustic numbers, wild bagpipes, trumpet, accordion, Bulgarian zydeco, klezmer, Malian rhythms and original songwriting.

Char Rothschild: trumpet, accordion, guitar, dobro, bagpipes, vocals
Robby Rothschild: cajon, djembe, kora, bouzouki, vocals.

Round Mountain is a lively mixture of ceremony and irreverence, exuberance and reflection. Beneath these unlikely couplings, a certain warmth remains to unify their sound and message. Char and Robby Rothschild have a quirky eccentricity and immediate rapport with their audience. In a world in which physical and cultural distance means less and less, they are asking questions that most need to be asked: How do we as Americans fit into the melting pot of the world? How can we connect to our roots while remaining true to ourselves? These two brothers (both fathers) have come up with powerful musical and emotional answers to those questions.

“Round Mountain serves as a touchstone for any world musician.”
—Songlines magazine

“I thought I was going into a Cuban/Czechoslovakian trance.”
—Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, singer for The Mammals, on listening to a Round Mountain live show

“Round Mountain was the most enjoyable evening of music I've heard for a long time.” —Andy Irvine, Irish music legend

www.roundmountainmusic.com

www.myspace.com/roundmountainmusic

www.youtube.com/roundmountainmusic

$10 - $15 donation. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show at 7:00 pm

Prasant Radhakrishnan’s VIDYA: South Indian Classical Meets Jazz
Friday, March 5

VidyA is an adventurous new group that merges the virtuosity of jazz with the melodic and rhythmic nuance of South Indian classical (Carnatic) music. Led by critically acclaimed saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan along with David Ewell (bass) and Sameer Gupta (drums), VidyA has emerged with a soulful, penetrating sound that pushes the labels of “fusion” and “world music.” VidyA has been featured at venues such as SFJazz, San Jose Jazz, Yoshi’s, and Artwallah Festival.

Prasant Radhakrishnan, David Ewell and Sameer Gupta have an almost telepathic interplay, incorporating the forward motion of both Indian classical and jazz rhythms while elaborating Carnatic ragas infused with melodic richness. The group weaves in and out of the two genres, translating the language of Carnatic music into the idiom of jazz.

“A style that's madly percussive and sparkling … combines jazz’s sweet dreaminess with the Indian form’s insistent rhythmic and tonal changes.”
—SF Weekly

“Pioneering trans-cultural terrain.”
—SF Chronicle

http://vidyamusic.com

http://prasantmusic.com

http://music.prasantmusic.com/album/vidya

$15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

THE QADIM ENSEMBLE: Mystical & Folkloric Music of the Near East
Saturday, March 6

“Qadim” is a word found in both Arabic and Hebrew meaning “ancient” as well as “that which will come.” The group’s repertoire includes Arabic, Jewish, Turkish Sufi, Hebrew-Yemenite, Armenian, Greek and Moroccan music, and celebrates the common musical and spiritual heritage of each region’s cultures while honoring the great diversity found within them.

Acclaimed for their passionate performances, Qadim is comprised of an ensemble of accomplished musicians. The Bay Area-based group has attracted a growing global audience who are responding to their authentic musicianship and timely message. This will be their first performance in the Americas since the newly married Eliyahu and Rachel V. Sills returned from their travels and musical studies in Morocco, Sinai, and Israel.

Qadim’s latest CD, Eastern Wind, recently reached #7 on Billboard’s World Music Charts after being featured on NPR’s All Things Considered.

“Beautifully presented, the players bring superb musicianship and palpable enthusiasm to each performance. Eliyahu’s ney flute along with Rachel’s succulent vocals are stars … creating a sense of human communication with the divine.”
—All Things Considered, NPR

“Visionary … achingly beautiful.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Their songs flow like ancient poetry.”
—East Bay Express

“Rooted in history but infused with a hope for a brighter, more unified tomorrow, Qadim with take you on a beautiful musical journey.”
—Portland Tribune

www.QadimMusic.com

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/PK51174H57.DTL

www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=105098816&m=105438552

$15 - $20 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

LUIS ARIAS: Paintings Auction
Sunday, March 7

Award-winning Peruvian painter Luis Arias Vera presents a series of drawings and silkscreens on canvas, paper and wood which explore the myths and rituals of his ancestors and his own vision about the Andean cosmogony.

This auction is a great opportunity to purchase a piece of Luis Arias Vera’s artwork. Prices range from $250 to $1,200.

http://luisariasvera.blogspot.com/

$5 admission (includes tapas, ceviche and tortilla española). Silent auction at 11:30 am. Live auction at 1:11 pm (thus so).

CLASSICAL REVOLUTION Presents: DUO REVIRADO
Thursday, March 11

In 2005, Thomas Yee and Jose Rodriguez created Duo Revirado, a dynamic ensemble that explores classical, Latin, tango, jazz, folk, as well as their own arrangements. Audiences experience music of a wide spectrum that includes extended techniques and improvisation. Duo Revirado aims to branch out to a broad audience, with a vision of creating music that will excite, inspire, and communicate positively with everyone.

Duo Revirado has been performing to wide acclaim throughout California and Mexico. Highlights have included two projects with the Santa Rosa Symphony’s Latin Waves Festival, where they collaborated with tango dancers and symphony chamber players to create a multi-media performance.

Thomas Yee: violin
Jose Rodriguez: guitar

“Yee and Rodriguez grasped the audience's attention at the SB International Guitar Festival through their musical prowess and communicative abilities.”
—Miwa Gofuku, Director, Artistic Planning at Santa Barbara Symphony

“Duo Revirado is a fine, mature ensemble. … Their concerts are fun and exciting.”
—David Tanenbaum, Renowned Guitar Collaborator & San Francisco Conservatory of Music Professor

More than an ensemble, more than a presenting organization, Classical Revolution is a global phenomenon, revolutionizing the way live classical music is programmed and heard. The idea which took shape in November of 2006 at Revolution Café in San Francisco's Mission District is now represented in more than a dozen cities on three continents. (In the Bay Area alone, they present an average of 15-20 performances each month.) Residencies are held at Revolution Café, SoCha Café, Amnesia, Caffe Divino (Sausalito), Bazaar Café, and Musical Offering Café (Berkeley). Classical Revolution has been featured in publications including San Francisco Classical Voice, SF Weekly, SF Chronicle, Sunset Magazine, SOMA Magazine, Strings Magazine, and The New York Times.

www.classicalrevolution.org

$10 - $20 admission. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show at 7:00 pm.

ENCUENTAMIENTO Presents: EncuentaMujer
Friday, March 12

“Mujer, te amo con la palabra de mi mente. Te anelo con la palabra de mi cuerpo. Te Encuento con la palabra de mi espiritu. Cuentos en honor al Dia Internacional de la Mujer.”

“Woman, I love you with the words of my mind. I desire you with the word of my body, with the word of my spirit. Stories in honor of the International Women’s Day.”

NOTE: Los cuentos seran en español. / Tonight’s performance will be in Spanish.

(For English version of this text, please see below.)
Encuentamiento es una mezcla de historias, cuentos, y anécdotas. Un espacio para disfrutar la tradición oral latinoamericana de los cuenteros, y la riqueza de la imaginación cuando se vuelve palabra, cancion y movimiento. El grupo se ha presentado en lugares como Bollywood Café, y el Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. Cada miembro del colectivo explora sus cuentos de una manera personal e incorpora diferentes formas como canto, poesia, teatro, danza, video, y musica. Todos los miembros de Encuentamiento trabajan con jóvenes y estan comprometidos a manter viva esta tradicion oral. El grupo invita a la comunidad a que participle y crea oportunidades para cuenteros invitados que nunca hayan estado en escena, pero que esten ansiosos por compartir sus historias.

2010 Red Poppy resident artists Encuentamiento create a space to enjoy the Latin-American tradition of storytelling, and to witness imagination become words, songs, and movement. Each member of this collective explores storytelling in a personal manner, and incorporates different forms—such as singing, poetry, theater, dance, video and music. Each member also works with youth in their commitment to maintain this oral tradition. Encuentamiento encourages community participation and creates opportunities for guest storytellers that have never been on stage but that are eager to share their stories. The group has performed in places such as Bollywood Café and Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.

Storytellers/Cuenteros: Pablo Velez, Johanna Suarez, Claudia Cuentas, Mayra Madriz, Maria Machetes
With Special Guest: high school student Bryan Robledo

$8 - $12 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

JUAN CUBA: Boleros, Tangos & More!
Saturday, March 13

No stranger to the Red Poppy, composer, songwriter and lead singer of the well-known Los Nadies group Juan Cuba explores a variety of styles of music, from Latin rhythms to rhumba, flamenco, reggae, funk and rock. This evening he gathers a diverse ensemble of musicians to perform music from the ’30 to present, including boleros, tangos and French songs.

Francisco Rosal: piano
Evelio Roque : Sax
Jose Vergelin: percussion
And special guests!

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

ZOYRES EASTERN EUROPEAN WILD FERMENT: Reunion Show and Sauerkraut Sampling
Friday, March 19

Zoyres Eastern European Wild Ferment has been delighting Bay Area audiences since 2004 with their inventive take on klezmer and Balkan music and their home-brewed and fermented pickles, krauts, kimchees, beers, and wines (which often accompany Zoyres performances). Over the years, Zoyres has developed a dynamic collective sound that’s complex and catchy, down-home and danceable. Drawing on Eastern European folk music, free improvisation, jazz, rock, and drum-n-bass, the Zoyres recipe is a fusion nonpareil—an exciting new taste based on Old World flavors!

Mike Perlmutter: alto and baritone saxophones, clarinet
Liam Staskawicz: trombone
Jonathan Russell: clarinet, bass clarinet
Josh Sirotiak: tuba
Eddie Pollard: drums

From Zoyres: “The name ‘Zoyres’ derives from the Yiddish term for fermented vegetables, ‘zoyers.’ These foods have been transformed by culture and community (of the microbial sort) through incredible biochemical fermentation processes. These ‘cultural’ transformations underlie our own cultural development, as humans have relied and reveled in fermented foods for millennia. Zoyres’s music represents the geo-social analogue to the biochemical ferment. Our music, of Eastern European origin, brined in the contemporary cultural milieu, is akin to the pickle, still evident in its cucumbral origin, but with a taste and texture transformed.”

“Set up as a folk band but equally influenced by jazz, Zoyres offers fascinating interpretations of ancient Balkan and klezmer songs, plus some original material that adds weird meters and jazzy horn solos to the old song structures. Zoyres advertises itself as a dance band, partly because of the tautness of its rhythms, and partly because it sounds a lot bigger than it actually is. But the band’s real selling point is that its members have real chops.”
—Rachel Swan, East Bay Express

www.zoyres.com

www.myspace.com/zoyres

www.youtube.com/zoyres

$10 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

MARK LEVINE & THE LATIN TINGE: Havana Meets Rio
Saturday, March 20

Mark Levine & The Latin Tinge have recorded four CDs in the past ten years, including Isla, which was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for “Best Latin Jazz Recording.” With their latest release, Off & On, the Music of Moacir Santos, they honor the music of Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist maestro Moacir Santos. The music of Mark Levine & The Latin Tinge is a rare mélange of jazz, Brazilian and Cuban influences. Tonight they combine Moacir’s tuneful melodies and beautiful harmonies with the soul of jazz.

Off and On was included among the “Top Ten Latin Jazz Recordings of 2009” by Latin Beat magazine. It was also listed among the top five jazz albums of 2009 in the Village Voice’s Critics Poll.

Mark Levine: piano
Mary Fettig: flute, saxophone
Michael Spiro: percussion
Dan Feiszly: bass
Paul van Wageningen: drums

“I’m sure that Moacir has that same smile depicted on the cover’s inner sleeve as a result of this fitting tribute. Mark, te la comiste!”
—George Rivera, five time Emmy Award-winner, and founder of Latinmusiconline.com

marklevine.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0sgZDuvRbo

$10 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

FILM NIGHT: Marína of the Zabbaleen: Portrait of a Child Recycler
Sunday, March 21

Marína of the Zabbaleen, by Egyptian filmmaker Engi Wassef, is a documentary film that explores the world of seven-year-old Marína in the Muqqattam garbage recycling village in Cairo, Egypt. An impressionistic portrait of childhood and family, Marína also tells the story of the Zabbaleen, a Coptic Christian community of recyclers whose entrepreneurial waste management system produces one of the highest recycling rates in the world. As reported in The New York Times, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal, in the spring and fall of 2009, in reaction to the recent swine flu outbreak, the Egyptian government ordered the slaughter of all of the country’s pigs—the vast majority of which were raised by the Coptic Christian Zabbaleen and used integrally in the first phase of the recycling process. For almost a century, the Zabbaleen had raised pigs to consume the thousands of tons of organic waste generated daily by Cairo’s residents. The ramifications of the pig cull were far-reaching, devastating the livelihood of this minority community and imperiling Cairo’s entire system of waste management. (Cairo is the largest producer of waste on the African continent.) Yet the reasons for the pig cull were based at least as much on Egypt’s religious and political life as on scientific reasoning.

Marína premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, where artistic director Peter Scarlet called it one of his favorite films of the festival. The film went on to win a Muhr Award at the Dubai International Film Festival.

“Filled with glancing light and happy faces, Marina of the Zabbaleen … fights hard to sweeten the misery of its surroundings. Its success is due in no small part to Rob Hauer’s eloquent cinematography, which creeps inside the mind of a child. … The film never loses its admiration for human resilience and childish imagination. Or for the tenacity of faith among those who seem most abandoned by their God.”
—The New York Times

“The principal strength of Wassef's debut is its delicate, revealing look at Marina's life. … A portrait of the few who live off the rubbish of the affluent, Wassef's Zabbaleen is richly observed and poignant.”
—Slant Magazine

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/movies/09marina.html
www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=4498
www.tribecafilm.com/festival/news-views/Watch_Marina_of_the_Zabbaleen.html
www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/film-preview-marina-of-the-zabbaleen-a-young-girl-garbage-collector.php
www.tribecafilm.com/mailings/2569037.html

http://www.marina.torchfilms.com

$8 - $12 admission. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Show at 7:00 pm.

PASIÓN HABANERA: Traditional Salon Music from Cuba
Friday, March 26

Pasión Habanera’s music evokes the classical melodies one might have heard from a colonial terrace in Old Havana circa 1950, including boleros and trovas cubanas. Also on display tonight will be filing, a Cuban vocal genre which has had a noteworthy influence on North American music. As its name reveals, the music is permeated by a soulful intimacy which swept through mid-century Cuban music.

Antonio Cortada: baby bass
Alex Conde: piano
Ivan Camblor: guitar, minor percussion
Sulkary Valverd: vocals

$12 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.

THE NICE GUY TRIO: Songs from the Bay
Saturday, March 27

The award-winning Nice Guy Trio is Darren Johnston on trumpet, Rob Reich on accordion, and Daniel Fabricant on bass. With an emphasis on spontaneity, the Trio creates a sound that is both intimate and reflective of their contrasting yet complimentary musical backgrounds. In the last two years, the Nice Guys have become synonymous with collaboration, having performed with everyone from chamber musicians to country swingers, Hindustani tabla masters to Syrian percussionists, and singer-songwriters to jazz innovators.

For this concert the Nice Guys will play a diverse program of music by some of the best compositional minds the Bay Area has to offer, such as the ever-swinging Marcus Shelby, the soulful and poetic songstress Meklit Hadero, the genre-bending Aaron Novik, and many others.

The Nice Guy Trio was voted “Best Jazz/Blues Band” in the 2008 SF Weekly Music Awards!

“It's not often you hear a horn player with as much emotional range as Darren Johnston. … His songs are full of every type of intonation that exists in the horn world.”
—East Bay Express, “Best Music of 2009”

“[The Nice Guy Trio] makes the simple complex, and the impenetrable accessible. Extended techniques are palatable and pleasing and all things are right in the world.”
—Mark Corroto, AllAboutJazz.com

“I am a fan of percussion. Upon first seeing the Nice Guy Trio … the music was driven, exciting, and held my attention with every changing genre and song. I found myself bobbing my head, and tapping my feet as if there was a kickin’ percussion set leading the band. These guys are wonderful! I was pleased to have worked with them at Yoshi’s SF, and look forward to having them back again!”
—Shamilah Ivory, Yoshi’s SF

www.portofrancorecords.com/niceguytriopress

www.myspace.com/niceguytrio

$10 - $15 admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Show at 8:00 pm.