6/3 Nicolas Bearde CD Release at Yoshi’s

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.-Kwan

Video: Scrape the Town

A couple hundred bikers taking over the streets of West Oakland? Naw, it’s not the hood version of Critical Mass, it’s Scrape the Town, an event created by San Francisco’s Transparent BMX that went down on April 6. The event brought nearly 200 BMX riders out for a day of riding, tricks, BBQ and mayhem. While BMX riding has been lost some of it’s mainstream popularity over the last few years, these vids prove that there’s still a lot of air left in those tires. Props to Invisible Stripes for the original post.

Some great footage of the event here and here and here.

Video: Kreamy ‘Lectric Santa

From our friends over at Know Productions.

Kreamy ‘Lectric Santa rocking out in West Oakland. Despite not fulfilling the jingle bells holiday promise of their name, KLS still manage to kick major ass while being neither creamy nor dressed in glowing St. Nick gear. Go figure.

Video: The Town Gets Down!!!

The Lovemakers-Shake That Ass

So, check it out-

It’s the holiday season and we’re getting ready for some big announcements so we’re feeling kinda fun and festive. So despite it being cold as yak balls tonight-or maybe because of it-here’s a collection of Oakland vids featuring folks having a good time. From Rollerby to Raider Nations, Fight Nights to House Music and Feather Boas, this is a sampling of how we get down. Enjoy.

-kwan

Oakland Art Murmur