The Bay Area is a hub of artistic expression, attracting artists, writers and musicians from around the globe to live, work and create. We highlight some of the offerings here.
Pickin’ and grinnin’: Besides being one cool-looking dude whose appearance and artistry seemed to be in perfect sync, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) remains among the most influential guitarists in jazz and pop music history. His nimble riffs and phrasing, often delivered in collaboration with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, essentially defined the genre known as gypsy jazz and to this day he remains one of those artists whose sound is recognizable almost from the second you hear it. Gypsy jazz, a foundation of popular culture in Paris in the 1920s, is as popular as ever, and the Bay Area is blessed with one of the best bands going: Le Jazz Hot (also known as the Hot Club of San Francisco). The band is front and center this weekend as the Django Reinhardt Birthday Celebration unfolds at Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage Coffee House Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The three shows, delivering fun music and talent so impressive it’ll make your head spin, also feature such bands as Hot Club of Cowtown, Christine Tassan et les Imposteures, the Rhythm Future Quartet, San Lyon, Debi Botos and Hot Club of Los Angeles. Concerts are at 7 p.m.; tickets are $54-$59 at thefreight.org.
The San Jose Museum of Art will offer free Lunar New Year activities on Jan. 25, 2025 as part of Community Day. (Courtesy Frederick Liangfer/San Jose Museum of Art via Bay City News)
Freebie of the week: The Lunar New Year doesn’t officially arrive until Jan. 29, but since it is recognized by billions of people around the world, celebrations arrive early and often. This weekend, for example, there are several options to get a jump start on welcoming the year of the green snake (or wood snake, if that is your preference). A few are free. Get a taste of festivities in San Francisco’s Chinatown this weekend, even though the big Lunar New Year parade there is a couple of weeks off, by catching the awesome Flower Market Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, on Grant Avenue between Clay Street and Broadway, with some 120 vendors selling flowers and fruits and more, as well as performances by magicians, dancers and acrobats. The San Jose Museum of Art, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (sjmusart.org) is offering free activities tied to the Lunar New Year, including art-making activities, live performances and more. Millbrae is presenting its Lunar New Year festival, with more than 100 vendors selling arts, crafts and merchandise and live entertainment including traditional lion dancing, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the 200-400 blocks of Broadway.
Four plus one: And in this case, the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts. It’s always a notable event when the Colorado-based Takács Quartet shows up on the University of California, Berkeley campus for a Cal Performances-sponsored recital. They are frequently a sell-out, having grown in popularity over many years of engagements here. But there is an amazing added attraction to this weekend’s performances, which take place during the celebrated ensemble’s 50th anniversary year. The superbly gifted and keenly intelligent pianist Jeremy Denk joins Takács in performance of the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, a four-movement work from 1864 that is widely regarded as one of the finest of the composer’s chamber pieces. Also on the program are Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Opus 18, No. 1 and Janáček’s String Quartet No 1, the “Kreutzer Sonata.” Sunday’s 3 p.m. performance in Hertz Hall quickly sold out, and an 8 p.m. Saturday recital in the same venue has been added, for which some tickets, $105-$110, are still available. Find them at calperformances.org or call (510) 642-9988.
Orchestral colors on full display: “The Firebird” takes kaleidoscopic flight on the California Theatre stage in San Jose this weekend, as Argentinian conductor Carlos Vieu leads Symphony San Jose through a rousing performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Suite from the 1910 Ballet Russes work that helped establish the Russian composer’s international career. The story, gleaned from Russian folktales, tells of a noble prince who defeats an arch villain with the assistance of the magical bird of the title. Also on the program, which takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, is Jean Sibelius’ famous nationalistic work “Finlandia,” Johannes Brahms’ “Variations on a Theme by Haydn” and “Bullanguera,” a short and spirited work by Argentinian composer Sonia Possetti. Tickets, $24 to $121.50, are available at symphonysanjose.org or by calling (408) 286-2600.
The right ‘Choice’: There’s no more versatile musical talent in the Bay Area than Oakland’s Kev Choice. The man can do it all. He’s a classically trained pianist who’s more than comfortable in jazz, hip-hop, blues, R&B, soul and funk. He is a songwriter and M.C. and vocalist who’s received acclaim for his lyrics tackling a variety of social issues while favoring positive and inspirational themes. He’s also a producer and bandleader as well as teacher and community activist. When it comes to musical styles, Choice’s key inspirations range from Prince to Rakim to A Tribe Called Quest to Stevie Wonder to McCoy Tyner to Chopin and Ravel. In short, audiences might hear just about anything and everything when Kev Choice brings his Trio to Stanford’s The Studio as part the Stanford Live concert series on Friday. He says on his website, “I grew up in the hip-hop era, I had love for hip-hop before I even knew what classical music really was.” But he adds, “Classical music gave me a broader understanding and appreciation for music beyond hip-hop.” On Jan. 18, Kev Choice was director and a performer at a 16-musician tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., featuring the music of Aretha Franklin. On Friday, he and his Trio take the stage at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15-$45 at live.stanford.edu.
The post Best Bets: Lunar New Year events, Takács Quartet, Symphony San Jose, Django Reinhard fest, Kev Choice appeared first on Local News Matters.