Music
At the Eastside Arts Alliance, historian Robin D. G. Kelley speaks about his new book examining the life of pianist Thelonious Monk, and upends the myth of Monk as a reclusive jazz genius.
Video report: Michael Jackson devotees dressed as zombies and assembled in North Oakland on Saturday as part of Thrill the World, a yearly event when thousands of people around the world dance to the song “Thriller” at the exact same time.
At the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in downtown Oakland, Portsha Jefferson and the Rara Tou Limen Haitian Folkloric Ensemble use dance and performance to educate the Bay Area about Haitian culture. The ensemble is organizing a fundraiser this Wednesday, October 21, at San Francisco’s Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.
Eight choirs. One night. Fifteen thousand fans. Watch the singers of Oakland’s Genesis Worship Center as they take the stage in the “Best Choir in America” competition.
Midway through the rock opera “American Idiot,” the main character Johnny, his rebel girlfriend Whatsername, and an ensemble of urban youth belt out their message of isolation in the city: “My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me, my shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating, sometimes I wish someone out there will find me, till then I walk alone.” The song, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” was written by Oakland-based Green Day, a band that’s succeeded on a global…
Grand/Lake traffic bustled by on a recent sunny Saturday. Parents pushed children in strollers; women carrying yoga mats chatted as they headed home from class; the coffee shops and cafes did a brisk business in iced beverages. But in front of the Lakeshore Ave Peet’s Coffee, there was a small crowd of stillness as passersby stopped to listen to the Hoffman children, a four-sibling string quartet, who were busking to raise money for ballet lessons. Their mother, Jodi Hoffman, hovered…
The Oakland Art Murmur once again drew hundreds to the corner of 23rd and Telegraph Avenue on Friday to sample the art and experience the atmosphere of the many galleries that opened their doors to the public.
Meet Rod Dibble, the 77 year-old pianist who’s been entertaining patrons of the Alley for half a century.
It seems like a tall order. Wanted: fifteen volunteer hip-hop or modern dance performers willing to learn spoken word theater for a Spring show in Oakland and possible national tour. Song, rap, martial arts and aerial dance skills could also come in handy. Oh, yes–and actors must be 12 or younger. The group will be known as “Destiny Junior Company,” and the idea emerged out of Destiny Art Center, a non-profit that runs dance, theater and martial arts classes for…