The Artists Guild of San Francisco is the oldest outdoor art collective in the country. Guild artists speak directly with the public about their artwork, explaining technical details, creative decisions, and other aspects of producing a painting or sculpture.
Bay Area soul with visceral beats! The Seshen is devoted to exploring new sonic territory, featuring mesmerizing rhythms and captivating singers. Fronted by captivating Haitian-American vocalist Lalin St. Juste, The Seshen is a seven-piece San Francisco combo that laces hip-hop, R&B, and West African influences with a heady dose of psychedelia. https://youtu.be/TK2rIV9m9ms?list=PL_C6KeCoAO6PjlrIJHD20m3iADoIM6E9f
This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. Using finger snaps, tight slaps, chest thumps, foot drags, hand rubs, and percussive dance steps, Crosspulse Ensemble performances are designed to enchant children with an international array of rhythms, instruments, and obscure musical practices. With five extraordinary artists versed in body percussion and a diverse array of traditions, the ensemble features […]
In collaboration with Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, AfroSolo Arts Festival presents its 16th annual free concert in Yerba Buena Gardens. Dedicated to nurturing, promoting, and presenting African-American and African diaspora art and culture through solo performance and the visual arts, AfroSolo showcases some of the most trenchant, vibrant and soul-stirring artists around. Tammy L. Hall […]
Lines and lyrics from Litquake Nation! Enjoy line breaks during your lunch break, as some of the Bay Area’s best poets and musicians share their work in the great outdoors. Chiyuma Elliott is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Her first book of poems, California Winter League, was […]
Hailing from the colorful and gritty La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the Blue Tango Project is a groundbreaking investigation into the treacherous emotional and musical crossroads where tango and the blues embrace. A collaboration between Argentine-born Latin Grammy nominee María Volonté and California harmonica player Kevin Carrel Footer, this globe-trotting duo celebrates the deep […]
This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. A beloved Bay Area institution, the Unique Derique is a prince among clowns, an internationally esteemed performer who has honed a singular blend of physical comedy and hambone body percussion. Derique (aka Lance McGee) started clowning in Berkeley at 15 with Circus A La Mode and later joined San […]
Celebrating Filipino and Filipino-American arts and culture, the 23rd annual Pistahan features 2 days of art pavilions and stages highlighting contemporary and traditional music, dance, art, crafts, cuisine, and artifacts. A trade expo offers products unique to the Philippines, including foods, books, jewelry, clothes and products for the home created from mother of pearl, bamboo, […]
Celebrating Filipino and Filipino-American arts and culture, the 23rd annual Pistahan features 2 days of art pavilions and stages highlighting contemporary and traditional music, dance, art, crafts, cuisine, and artifacts. A trade expo offers products unique to the Philippines, including foods, books, jewelry, clothes and products for the home created from mother of pearl, bamboo, […]
When timbales master Louie Romero launched the salsa dura band Mazacote in 1994, his status as a salsa legend had been in place for nearly three decades. Born in Brooklyn, he was at the center of the action at Fania Records in the late 1960s, renowned for his work with beloved salsero Hector “El Cantante” […]
This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. Even in South America, Venezuela’s musical riches tend to be overshadowed by the styles of neighboring Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. But in the Bay Area, the nation’s fabulous cultural wealth, with its fertile intermingling of indigenous, European and African influences, has found bountiful expression through the tireless efforts of […]
Over the past two decades no North American musician has done more to showcase the extraordinary array of jazz talent flowing from Cuba than Canadian soprano saxophonist/flutist Jane Bunnett. She scored her fifth Juno, the Canadian Grammy, with her latest album Jane Bunnett & Maqueque (Justin Time), featuring an extraordinary all-female Cuban sextet. Maqueque brings […]
The luminous singer/songwriter Naima Shaloub went looking for her Lebanese roots and found an ongoing calling for turning music into a vehicle for social justice, inspiration and healing. Her Lebanese parents were born in Sierra Leone and raised in Beirut, and she absorbed a rich array of culture growing up in the US. Devoted to […]
This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. Led by New Orleans-native Michelle Jacques, a soul-steeped vocalist with a big, bold voice, Chelle! & Friends bring to the Gardens a family-friendly taste of the Crescent City, the cradle of so much essential American music. Chelle! & Friends is made up of some of the most distinguished and […]
Aireene is a singer/songwriter based in Oakland, CA, playing mostly original songs accompanied by latin/african rhythms, folk, bluegrass pickings and inspirations from gospel music - a mix of stompin', swayin', and timeless Americana. She was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States at 10 years old, growing up in the third culture: […]
Non Stop BhangraA pioneering eight-piece band from Brooklyn, Red Baraat combines the ecstatic, hard-driving North Indian tradition of bhangra with elements of go-go, rock and jazz. Conceived by Sunny Jain, a master of bhangra’s signature dhol drum, the group has drawn worldwide praise with a singular sound featuring muscular horns, raucous electric guitar, and a […]
Following in the footsteps of jazz harp master Dorothy Ashby (who recorded with everyone from Freddie Hubbard and Frank Wess to Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder), the Destiny Muhammad Jazz Trio is a sleek and soulful ensemble designed to showcase Muhammad’s soaring vocals and transporting string work. Whether interpreting jazz standards or her original tunes, […]
Jazz for Dancing: From New Orleans to Swing & The Birth of Rhythm & Blues. With her playfully lascivious stage persona and sultry blues-inflected vocals, Lavay Smith emerged as the most swinging and deeply informed vocalist of the 1990s swing dance vogue. Backed by her stellar Red Hot Skillet Lickers and directed by pianist Chris […]