This is the Oakland blog for people living out loud. True to the Oakbook philosophy, we’ll tell you where to go, what to do, and what’s really going down in the town and around the Bay. From parties to films, peace protests to flag football, if there's a there there, we'll blog it.
Invite us to things. We're great at parties.
If you've got events, photos, videos, announcements or general news on all the happenings in the Bay, send 'em over to Kwan Booth at kwan (at) theoakbook.com. And don't be afraid to leave a comment. Don't be shy...come over and talk to us. You just might get lucky!
Looking for a way to unwind after a long 1st day after the weekend? Well if you’re a Jazz head you’re in luck. If you’re a Jazz musician then grab your ax and take your pick between two funky jam sessions going down with a host of seasoned players.
First there’s trombonist Angela Wellman’s regular Monday night jam session at the New Earth Artist’s Cafe just around the corner from Lake Merritt. Wellman, founder and Executive Director of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, is a small woman packing a big sound. The Kansas City native has been belting out tunes since she was a kid and cut her teeth in the swinging Chitlin’ Circuit clubs of her home town. Wellman’s a confident band leader and this session should be fast paced with a hint of blues.
And while Wellman’ holding things down over at the New Earth, the Jam session at the Public Conservatory is safe in the musical hands of Glen Pearson, a well respected local pianist. Pearson’s the chair of the music department over at the College of Alameda and has gained a reputation as the man pulling the strings behind the COA Jazz Big Band. He’s joined on the platform by bassist Ron Belcher, drummer Roger Myers and just maybe, you. That’s if you’ve got a musical streak and the chops to jam with the big boys. And if not, well the audience at either one of these venues is a great way to spend a Monday night.-kwanRead the rest of this entry »
Come cure those Monday Blues with a little shimmy shimmy courtesy of Hubba Hubba, the weekly Burlesque review down at the Uptown. Tonight’s show features performances by Randy Johnson, Tricksie Treat, Maple Sugar, Rusty Mahakian, Room For Cream, Calamity Lulu, Bootsy LaRue, Gretl Von Boom Boom, Isabella Minx and Gorilla X, with Kingfish and Eddie holding down the MC duties. Check the footage above of the lovely Ms. Boom Boom and her dancing goat girls for a little preview of the night’s festivities. -kwanRead the rest of this entry »
Anyone who’s ever “missed the loving” of soul great Lou Rawls, or just needs to hear a fine rendition of “God Bless the Child” should head over to Yoshi’s Oakland tonight for the release of “Live at Yoshi’s - A Salute to Lou,” the latest CD by Oakland jazz vocalist Nicolas Bearde. Recorded Live at Yoshi’s, October 2007, the album tips a hat to the great bluesman with covers of standards including “God Bless the Child”, “You’re Gonna Miss my Loving” and “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” alongside Bearde’s renditions of work by Bill Withers, Max Roach and Abby Lincoln.
Bearde, a professional singer, actor and voice-over artist, has been performing in the Bay Area jazz and blues scene for almost 30 years, cutting his teeth first at San Francisco’s infamous Pasand nightclub and later with Bobby McFerrin’s world renowned “Voicestra” vocal ensemble in the 80’s. He’s released two albums-1998’s “Crossing the Line”, and the 2004 follow-up “All About Love” while touring the world from Tokyo to the Bay. Check out his performance of “Never Let Me Go” in the clip above and head to Yoshi’s tonight for more.-KwanRead the rest of this entry »
Town love? You know we’ve got it. And so do Zita and DMadness. The two Oaktown DJ’s threw down this past Friday at the latest installment of their “We Love the Town” parties- a celebration of all things soulfully musical-from the Toni’s to the Too $hort to Mistah FAB and everything in between. Kick yourself if you missed it and check back here for updates on the next party. Until then check the picks, throw on some Pointer Sisters and vibe out.-kwan
If funky jazz with a hint of poetry sound like the ideal way to spend a Sunday afternoon, then you can’t do much better than the Backstreet Sunday Jazz Series, going down today at the Oakland Public Conservatory in downtown Oakland.
The once a month series has been serving up sets by some Bay Area jazz and blues heavyweights since it’s creation earlier this year and today’s performance with electric violin player J. Tarika Lewis promises to bring a bit of genre hopping to the normally cool series. Lewis, a respected live performer and studio musician, has been mixing musical styles for over two decades-from the post Bop and jazz standards of 1989’s “Class”, recorded with John Handy, to her recent spiritual sets with Destiny “The Harpist from the Hood” and the blues, rock and R&B inspired collabs with The Bobby Young Project. Today Lewis is joined today by Lynn Bryant on keyboards, David Daniel playing bass. And be sure to check out the vintage jazz films screenings during intermission and after the show.-kwanRead the rest of this entry »
The ability to manipulate form and color in order to blend into your surroundings is one of nature’s true wonders and a time honored tool for hunting and basic survival. Whether it’s a frog turning itself all types of rust colors to snag that tasty fly, or a fish that blends into the background whenever the big bad eel comes along, or the short skinny kid from middle school who strikes a ninja pose and vanishes into the crowd to avoid that weekly ass kicking, in certain situations, the ability to fade and mimic have proven to be crucial skills.
Along these same lines, certain industries have been known to use visual deceptions to their advantage in several, sometime shiesty ways. From passing counterfeit twenties to packaging a generic product to look just like the New! Improved! Tide! sitting right next to it, media and marketing especially have been using mimicry,camouflage and decoys to get over for years.
Tonight a group of artists are giving the technique a try. Decoy, the new show at Lobot Gallery is a group exhibition of sculpture, painting, video, and works on paper featuring recent work by Patrick Blaeser, Robert Burden, Ross Campbell, Diane Derr, Robert Jackson Harrington, Claire Jackel, Whitney Lynn, Jana Rumberger and Brian Stinemetz. The show attempts to engage the political and psychological aspects of deception, perception, cognition and abstraction.
There’ll be music by The Tea Set, MNDR and Family Tree, and Lobot Resident Artist Patrick Blaeser will open his studio for viewing.
Decoy
Friday May 23
Free
8:30
Lobot Gallery
1800 Campbell St. Oakland www.lobotgallery.com
Kaladrios is a Berkeley based group focusing on Greek, Armenian, Turkish, and Albanian traditional folk and dance music from the Eastern Mediterranean. The lineup includes violinist, oud player, and singer Aya Davidson; clarinetist Greg Jenkins; Dennis Demakos on laouto and vocals; percussionist-singer Sandy Hollister; and singer Lily Storm.
Don’t know much about the band, but the tracks on their myspace are a cool departure from the usual art galleries, hip hop, spoken word, random parties etc. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, but when’s the last time you heard a Bay Area 5 piece w/o at least one MC and not even a whiff of guitar. And they’ve got an oud and a laouto in the same band. The night promises to be a musical education for those used to hearing their music chopped, screwed and remixed. I’m going and I’m taking notes people. I just might learn somethin’-kwan
Those among us lucky enough, or unfortunate enough (depending on your circumstances), to have logged time in the marching band while in school have a particular view of all those after school games, concerts and weekend parades that the rest of you lucky people will never know: spending hours in a hot ass band room, practicing the same tired score over and over (Flight of the Bumble Bee? I mean come on…); trying unsuccessfully to sneak into the Color Guard and Cheerleader cabin during Band Camp; playing horn in a sweltering military gettup while sweat drips down your face and into your reed; waking up at the butt crack of dawn on those frigid fall mornings, lacing up the spats for that long parade march (if you were lucky enough to march Core Style you got some reprieve, Big 10-my heart goes out to you).
But of course, those are just the blisters talking. Because when you get right down to it, there’s really nothing like the sound of a couple hundred strong, human music machine making it’s way down Main St. And when the band is really cranking-when the corps is lucky enough to get a director that shrugs off conventional standards and dips into the real funky stuff-well, let’s just say that the reason football games like the Bayou Classic sell out every year has very little to do with touchdowns.
And that’s where the Extra Action Marching Band hits the sweet spot. For the last 10 years the 35 plus member band has been foregoing the sports arenas and bringing the psychadelic marching band funk straight to the people-with as much raunch and sweat as you can cram into their customarily crowded shows.
By combining Vaudeville like performances, Lousiana Brass Band chops and Burning Man freakishness with a commitment to create as much chaos and manic dancing as possible, Extra Action is pure Bay Area music. Led be a polysexual color guard of nearly naked flag wavers and cheerleaders, the band of horn players, drummers and barkers is known for slinking off the stage and through the crowd and will just as soon break into a rendition of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” as they will a Black Sabbath tune, lacing everything with a sheen of glitter, beer and sweat. Extra emphasis on the sweat.
They’re joined Saturday night at the Uptown by the “Sophisticated Country Funk” of Apple Pie Hopes and Michael Musika for what should be a packed and over the top show; with just enough sex appeal to make up for those lonely nights at band camp.-Kwan
The Bay Area Rock & Roll Coalition was formed with the noble mission of “reviving the excitement and ingenuity of the local rock scene.” The coalition is made up of bands that have thumbed their noses at conventional labels and musical genres while still developing a rep for delivering kick ass, blow your wig back rock shows at the drop of a hat. Or the drop of a speaker, as tonight’s show at Mama Buzz is a strictly acoustic set. So for tonight, at least, your wig should stay in place.
SuperfinosVTO
Catch SuperfinosVTO, Disgust of Us and Raised by Robots as they turn down the volume and serenade all the hip young latte drinkers with a basket of sounds that stretch all the way from Led Zepellin to Chuck Berry, Weezer to Kelly Clarkson. Yeah, that’s right-Kelly Clarkson. No labels, remember? Just some good ol’ rock & roll. Read the rest of this entry »
Tonight 21 Grand welcomes Avant Garde Tuba player Carl Ludwig Hubsch for a night of improvised play and experimentation with San Francisco’s experimental music ensemble, sfSoundgroup.
Following an improvised duo with local percussionist virtuoso Gino Robair, Mr. Hübsch will lead sfSound in two of his compositions for large ensemble.The sfSoundGroup has been presenting innovative and challenging concerts throughout the Bay Area since 1999. A true 21st century ensemble, the group has an extraordinary roster of Bay Area composers and performers whose virtuosic and “extended” instrumental abilities are equally balanced with their involvement in composition, electronic sound, performance art, computer audio programming, and experimental instrument making.
The group also frequently presents existing work in highly creative “radical transcriptions” blurring the lines between performance, composition, interpretation, and improvisation. Performing as sfSound are: Heather Frasch - flute, Kyle Bruckmann - oboe, Matt Ingalls - clarinets, Jacob Lindsay -clarinets, John Ingle - alto saxophone, Tom Dambly - trumpet, John Shiurba - guitar, Kjell Nordeson - vibraphone, Gino Robair - percussion, Alexa Beattie - viola, Jorge Boehringer - viola, Monica Scott - cello, and Richard Worn - contrabass. Read the rest of this entry »
If funky jazz with a hint of poetry sound like the ideal way to spend a Sunday afternoon, then you can’t do much better than the Backstreet Sunday Jazz Series, going down today at the Oakland Public Conservatory in downtown Oakland.
Kaladrios is a Berkeley based group focusing on Greek, Armenian, Turkish, and Albanian traditional folk and dance music from the Eastern Mediterranean. The lineup includes violinist, oud player, and singer Aya Davidson; clarinetist Greg Jenkins; Dennis Demakos on laouto and vocals; percussionist-singer Sandy Hollister; and singer Lily Storm.
