Best Bets: Navarro Trio, Lisa Lisa ‘Take You Home’ tour, Cyrus Chestnut, Ravel concert, Fiddle Summit  

Violinist Tammie Dyer, pianist Marilyn Thompson and cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel comprise the Navarro Trio, which plays a free concert in Walnut Creek on Sunday. (Navarro Trio via Bay City News)

Freebie of the week: On the theory that 30 flying fingers might be more powerful than the usual 10 when it comes to chamber music, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walnut Creek hired the 26-year-old ensemble the Navarro Trio, resident artists at Sonoma State University, to give a recital Sunday afternoon in its sanctuary, rendered acoustically fine by its predominance of glass, stone and redwood. Co-founded by pianist Marilyn Thompson and cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel, and joined by pianist Tammie Dyer, the ensemble has mastered a lot of familiar repertoire but also likes to bring works by new or relatively unsung composers to the fore. To that end, its 3 p.m. program in St. Paul’s features a work by local composer Martin Rokeach along with pieces by Beethoven and Brahms. The concert is free, but a suggested donation of $20 is gratefully accepted to help defray costs. The church is at 1924 Trinity Ave. in Walnut Creek, and there is free parking across the street. Find more information and a link to a livestream at stpaulswc.org.


Lisa Velez, of Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam fame, performs in The Lisa Lisa 40th Anniversary “Take You Home Tour” at the San Jose Civic on Saturday. (Guy Guido via Bay City News)

All about the ‘80s: If you were (and still are) a 1980s R&B fan, the San Jose Civic on Saturday night is the place you’ll want to be: A lineup of once-iconic music acts led by Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam appear in the 40th anniversary “Take You Home” Tour. Lisa Lisa, led by New York singer Lisa Velez, scored with such singles as “I Wonder if I Take You Home,” “All Cried Out” and more, and was a force to be reckoned with on radio and MTV in the ‘80s. Her headband even was iconic. Velez is making new music these days—she’s signed with Snoop Dogg’s label—but this tour is all about the four-decade anniversary of Lisa Lisa’s biggest hit and the era’s music. Also on the lineup are Expose, whose big hit was the No. 1 charting “Seasons Change”; The Jets, whose hits included “Crush on You” and “You Got it All”; the Mary Jane Girls (featuring the original lineup), whose “In My House” was an ‘80s radio earworm, and more. So, yeah, there’s a lot of Memory Lane music on tap Saturday; shoulder pads and jelly shoes not included! The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $80-$182 (subject to change); go to sanjosetheaters.org.


Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut performs concerts in Oakland on Aug. 22 and Walnut Creek on Aug. 24. (Cyrus Chestnut via Bay City News)

Piano prowess: Pianist Cyrus Chestnut is a technical wizard on the keyboard with a deep understanding of music and a passion for performing. His charm onstage just adds to the fun. Chestnut, who started piano at age 7, played gospel at church; studied classical at the Peabody Institute and jazz at the Berklee College of Music. Time magazine said: “What makes Chestnut the best jazz pianist of his generation is a willingness to abandon notes and play space.” Chestnut has collaborated with saxophonists Donald Harrison and Joe Lovano; trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Freddie Hubbard; pianist Chick Corea, not to mention vocalists Vanessa Williams, Anita Baker, Bette Midler, Isaac Hayes and opera singer Kathleen Battle. He also performed with improvisational jazz singer Betty Carter, whom he credits with urging him to take chances and stay faithful to his musical instincts. With a deep discography steeped in hard bop, flavored by his early love of gospel and blues, there’s no telling what Chestnut will play during his two stops in the East Bay this week. He performs solo shows at 5:30 and 8 p.m. at Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland on Friday. Tickets are $40-$45 at piedmontpiano.com. There also are two shows with his trio at 4:15 and 7:15 p.m. Sunday at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek Tickets are $75 at  www.lesherartscenter.org, but the early show is listed as sold out.


Pianist Gwendolyn Mok appears on Friday at Old First Church in a San Francisco International Piano Festival program of music that re-creates a concert that composer Maurice Ravel played when he visited San Francisco in 1928. (Guy Collier via Bay City News)

Ravel redux: It was 97 years ago that Maurice Ravel, the great 20th-century pianist and composer from France, made his triumphant grand tour of the United States, and in honor of his 150th birthday, the San Francisco International Piano Festival will re-create the concert he gave in San Francisco as the opening event in its own eighth annual celebration. On Friday night, festival founder Jeffrey LaDeur and fellow pianist Gwendolyn Mok, joined by mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich, soprano Heidi Moss Erickson and violinist Chili Ekman will gather onstage at Old First Church in San Francisco for a program that kicks off with his entrancing song cycle “Shéhérazade.” Also in the lineup are the composer’s jazz-inflected Violin Sonata, the “Histoires Naturelles,” the “Pavane for a Dead Infant,” “La Vallée des cloches,” “Habanera,” “Chansons Grecques” and selections from the “Tombeau de Couperin.” Performance time is 8 p.m. at 1751 Sacramento St. Find tickets, a link to a livestream and information on the rest of the festival programs at www.sfpiano.org. Tickets range from free for those under 12 to $30, with a suggested donation of $20 for the livestream.


The Hot Club of San Francisco performs with vocalist Isabelle Fontaine at The Freight in Berkeley on Aug. 21. (Hot Club of San Francisco via Bay City News)

Fiddling around: Fans of Scottish fiddling already may have Labor Day weekend circled on their calendar; it’s when the music-rich Scottish Games return to the Alameda Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. But on Thursday night, The Freight in Berkeley hosts its annual Fiddle Summit featuring two popular local sources of fine fiddling: headliner Alasdair Fraser, considered one of the top Scottish fiddlers on the planet, and the phenomenal Hot Club of San Francisco, revivalists of the so-called “gypsy jazz” music made famous by guitarist Django Reinhardt and fiddler Stephane Grappelli. Hot Club features plenty of fiddle and fretboard fireworks of its own, not to mention the wonderful singing of Isabelle Fontaine. The Pine Tree Flyers, a renowned Americana band from Maine, and acclaimed dancer Nic Gareiss round out the lineup. It’s always wonderful when sheer talent and absolute fun share the stage, and that is in the offing at this show, which starts at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $37-$39 at thefreight.org.

The post Best Bets: Navarro Trio, Lisa Lisa ‘Take You Home’ tour, Cyrus Chestnut, Ravel concert, Fiddle Summit   appeared first on Local News Matters.

Leave a Reply

The Exedra comments section is an essential part of the site. The goal of our comments policy is to help ensure it is a vibrant yet civil space. To participate, we ask that Exedra commenters please provide a first and last name. Please note that comments expressing congratulations or condolences may be published without full names. (View our full Comments Policy.)

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *