6/1: Soul Sauce-Jazz-n-Funk-Fusion ft/Tarika Lewis

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.-kwan

Oakland AIDS Awareness Week Events

 

December 1 is World AIDS Day and while a recent announcement from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization reported that the percentage of people living with the disease is leveling off, make no mistake, HIV/AIDS is still a very serious worldwide epidemic.

According to the Global Steering Committee of the World AIDS Campaign, over 5700 people died each day from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007. Over 6800 people are still being infected with HIV daily, about 1200 of whom are children under 15 and about 2900 are women 15 years and older.

The city of Oakland has declared this to be AIDS Awareness Week and is sponsoring a series of free events, testings, film screenings and fundraisers through the weekend.

Being safe and getting regular tests play a big part in staying safe.

Below is a list of events and testing centers throughout the town.

-kwan

 

 

Oakland World Aids Week Events

 

Wednesday Nov. 28

HIV and Gospel Music Workshop

During this four-day workshop not only will we learn new music but we will also train members of the community of faith during about the impact of HIV on the church. The leader for the Gospel Music segment of the workshop will be Pastor Jeffrey Williams. We look forward to working with you. We are hopeful that your schedule will allow you to be involved in changing the way HIV education and information gets presented to our community of faith.

$25

5-9pm

Olivet Institutional Missionary Baptist Church

807 27th Street, Oakland CA 94601

 

Get Screened Oakland and East Bay AIDS Walk Community Awards Reception

6-9pm

City Hall

1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

http://www.getscreenedoakland.org/wedrecp.html

 

Prayer Circle

8pm

City Hall Square

1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

11/16 Novoscene Weekend

Break out your Doc Martins and your dancing shoes this weekend. Tonight a little bit of the dirty dirty is making a joyful noise over at the Lower Bottoms followed by a spliff skankin good time as we say goodbye to an Oakland favorite on Saturday. Then for Sunday, get ready to see some art in its natural habitat during a touring show of the city’s out of the way art sites. -kwan

Hood Games 8: The Pictures

Last Sunday young skaters from hood to the hills took over 9th st. for the 8th installment of Hood Games, Oakland’s urban answer to the X Games . Kids, parents, hip hop artists, graff writers and members of the local skating community all came together for a day of kick flips, rail slides and 360’s. Check the pics by Novometro writer Ellen Mulholland.