The San Leandro Recreation and Human Services Department will operate pools over the summer at the San Leandro Family Aquatic Center, Boys and Girls Club and Farrelly Pool. Each of the pools offers swim lessons for all ages and levels at a variety of times with American Red Cross certified and trained instructors.  To register [...]

The incomparable Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, perhaps the most acclaimed international ambassador of American culture performing today, returns to the Bay Area. Under the inspired leadership of artistic director Robert Battle, and building upon the “big, big wow” (San Jose Mercury News) of its 2012 appearances, the company’s 2013 Berkeley residency promises wide-ranging programs [...]

By Godfrey Lee John Lam, a dance soloist with the Boston Ballet, returned home to San Rafael to dance in the Marin Ballet 50th Anniversary Reunion Performance Saturday, April 13. Lam trained at the Marin Ballet for more than 10 years before going on to complete his training at the Canada’s National Ballet School. Lam [...]

By Shaveela Raniga The South by Southwest (SXSW) 2013 Spring Music & Film Festivals, an “Artistry Battle” that takes place annually in Austin, Texas, this year featured artists and musicians from the Bay Area and around the world. One attention grabber was JT Tha Bigga Figga from San Francisco, who found a unique way to [...]

The 9th Annual CubaCaribe Dance Festival will present performances, workshops, demonstrations and lectures by master and emerging Caribbean and Latino musicians and choreographers, April 12 through April 28 in San Francisco and Oakland. The theme of this year’s festival is “Tributes to our Teachers.” Among the groups that will perform are the modern dance company [...]

Obama praises Calif. AG’s looks Rich Pedroncelli, AP In this this May 10, 2012 file photo, California Attorney General Kamala Harris appears before an Assembly committee at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. by David Jackson, USA TODAY Published: 04/04/2013 05:40pm We can’t help but wonder what the first lady is going to think of this. [...]

Authorities are offering a reward up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of 31-year-old Isaac Don Burks, who has been accused of intentionally infecting hundreds of men and women in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with HIV. Police say his potential victims could date back as far as 2003. He has had [...]

By Shaveela Raniga Award winning director Damon Jamal and  executive producer Haqq Shabazz of InYoFaceFilm are coming out with “White Boy Faded,” a light hearted comical music video on getting faded by up and coming artist Danny A. The video features an appearance by hip-hop’s Droop-E, the son of the Ambassador of the Bay, E-40. [...]

Berkeley High School’s jazz bands kick off their spring season with two shows at Yoshi’s Oakland on Tuesday, March 26. Both shows will feature the Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble, the program’s flagship big band. The show will also feature one of the program’s smaller combos, made up of students poised to become tomorrow’s jazz stars. [...]

By Ken A. Epstein Businesswoman Darlene Ann Lawson-Scott, 75, who left a lasting impact on Oakland schools during two terms on the Board of Education, died on Jan 13. A fighter for equal education for flatland children and families, she was the first African American woman to be elected to the school board. Known as [...]

By Sandra Varner/ Talk2SV.com Currently running at The San Francisco Playhouse through March 16 is the aggressive and arresting Broadway hit, “The MF with The Hat” from playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (Jesus Hopped the “A” Train). “The Hat” is bold, edgy, powerful and callous with a cast up to the task of parlaying the pathos [...]

High students in Alameda will be showing and discussing a provocative documentary, “More Than a Month,” in which a young man travels across the country, examining what Black History means in “Post-Racial” America. The event will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Ruby Bridges Elementary School, 351 Jack [...]

  By Lee Hubbard Lawrence Beamen was 20 when he learned about legendary singer and political activist Paul Robeson, captivated by stories of the historic struggles Robeson went through and how he used his artistic talents to help fight for Black civil rights and equal opportunity. “I began to immerse myself in the study of [...]

Honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., members of the Care Ministry at Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church gave away food, blankets, and hot chocolate to the homeless on Jan. 20. Led by First Lady Kathi Pinkard and coordinators Georgetta Edwards-Breedlove and Christopher Thomas, members accompanied by Officer Kittrell Carter gave out 100 bags [...]

By Lee Hildebrand Former East Bay resident Dayna Stephens is, at age 34, one of the most gifted jazz tenor saxophonists of his generation. Now living in Patterson, New Jersey, he says he “caught the bug” two decades ago from seeing a local performance by tenor titan Joshua Redman. Because Redman and other jazz greats [...]

A free public performance of the Rotunda Dance Series will be held at noon, Friday, March 1 at San Francisco City Hall. The performance is hosted by a partnership between Dancers’ Group and World Arts West with San Francisco’s Grants for the Arts and San Francisco City Hall. The first performance of the 2013 season [...]

Attorney General Kamala Harris has filed a civil lawsuit on1 against BP West Coast Products, BP Products North America, Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Company for allegedly violating state laws governing hazardous materials and hazardous waste by failing to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale at more than 780 [...]

Point Richmond’s resident singer Claudia Russell will bring her eclectic blend of folk, blues and pop to Point Richmond Acoustic, Friday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. Russell will perform with her band, the Folk Unlimited Orchestra, with husband Bruce Kaplan on guitar Tom Tally on viola and violin. The concert is at the First Methodist [...]

The Picklewater Clown Cabaret will host a fundraiser for Prescott Circus Theatre, featuring some of the Bay Area’s finest circus and variety stars and local and international professional circus artists, comedians, and Clown Conservatory alumni, 8 p.m., Monday, Feb. 4 at  NEW Stage Werx Theatre location, 446 Valencia St. in San Francisco. In an original [...]

About 50 middle school students from the East Oakland Leadership Academy had the opportunity last week to hear a performance by classical violinist and violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama, who the L.A. Times called, “A Face to Watch,” hosted by Four Seasons Arts. Ngwenyama played pieces for the students, discussed the viola and violin and answered questions [...]

The award-winning Oakland Youth Orchestra is opening its season with a winter concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27 at Holy Names University in Oakland. The free winter concert follows on the heels of the orchestra’s participation in the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival, known as the “Bay of Hope,” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, [...]

By Lee Hildebrand There are two types of jazz jam sessions: the ones where the host calls out tunes in uncommon keys with difficult chord changes and tempos faster than a speeding bullet, the purpose being to discourage less-experienced players unable to rise to the challenge, and others where the host actually encourages newcomers. Guitarist [...]

By Lee Hildebrand Versatility is one of Jennifer Holliday’s hallmarks. The Riverside, Texas-born, Atlanta-based singer has performed gospel music, R&B, jazz, pop and, of course, songs from the musical theater. Her 1982 tour de force treatment of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from the original Broadway production of “Dreamgirls,” in which she [...]

CBS Channel 5 Anchor Dana King will present the City of Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award to Gladys Green for her outstanding work on behalf of the Oakland community at the “In the Name of Love” Musical Tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jan. 19, 7 p.m., at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. The 11th [...]

Marva Whitney, a fiery-voiced funk singer who toured and collaborated with James Brown — along the way earning the nickname “Soul Sister #1” — died Saturday at 68, Whitney died from complications of pneumonia. She is best known for her version of “It’s My Thing,” which cracked the Hot 100 in 1969, and for the [...]

By Lee Hildebrand The blues community is mourning the passing of bluesman Jimmy McCracklin, who diedThursday, Dec. 20, at Creekside Health Center in San Pablo. The prolific singer, pianist and songwriter, a longtime Richmond resident, was 91. “He had a style that was completely his own,” singer-guitarist Sonny Rhodes said of his late friend.  “It [...]

By Danielle Savage Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission is proposing an ordinance to make the City of Berkeley a No Drone Zone. The proposed ban is on the agenda for next Tuesday’s City Council meeting. If the ordinance passes, flying of a drone in the airspace of Berkeley will be regarded as a misdemeanor with [...]

Dave Brubeck, the pianist and composer who helped make jazz popular again in the 1950s and 1960s with recordings like “Time Out,” the first jazz album to sell a million copies, died Dec. 5 in Norwalk, Conn. He was 91. Born in Concord, Contra Costa County, he grew up in farm country. His father, Pete, [...]

(Reuters) – Late disco queen Donna Summer and hip hop pioneers Public Enemy headed a list of eight new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. The late blues guitarist Albert King was also inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame, which pays [...]

During the month of December, Oakland’s Mormon Temple Hill will host many Bay Area faith traditions. The Voices of the Miraculous music ensemble will perform African-American toe-tapping gospel gems on Dec. 22, directed by Emperess Hall with lead vocalist, Majesty Scott at 7 p.m., with a repeat program at 8 p.m. The next night is [...]

By George and Linda Livingston The Paramount Theater recently was filled with two legends gracing the stage. The Whispers and Gladys Knight had the crowd entertained with classic tunes that mostly have not been on the music charts in 30 years. The Whispers, who the Bay Area has embraced as a local group, has obtained [...]

The 11th annual tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  will be held at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, The program will feature Jennifer Holliday; Tuck and Patti, renowned guitar and vocal duo; the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, directed by Terrance Kelly; and the Oaktown Jazz Workshops. Tickets [...]

By Conway Jones Much has been said about Gustavo Dudamel, the 31-year-old Venezuelan who ranks among the world’s top orchestral conductors.  Undoubtedly, more will be spoken about him as he continues his meteoric rise. Dudamel completed a four-day residency with Cal Performances on the UC Berkeley campus conducting the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela [...]

R&B vocalist Chanté Moore will sing Monday, Dec. 3 at Pink Access Foundation’s “Pink Access and Lavender Live Too Winter Wonderland and Survivors Celebration” in the Meritage at the Claremont Hotel. Moore will be the featured musical guest at the fourth annual event, which is a fundraiser for organizations such as Carrie’s Touch that helps [...]

By Lee Hildebrand The title of Marlena Shaw’s debut album, “Out of Different Bags,” released in 1967 by Chess Records, proved prophetic. Throughout her long career, she’s been tagged with various stylistic bags: soul, jazz, even disco. “I just consider myself a singer,” Shaw, 70, says by phone from Las Vegas, her home for the [...]

The San Leandro Public Library will host the city’s conservatory of ballet performing excerpts from the “Nutcracker Ballet” on Saturday, Dec. 15, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. The student showcase will display the talents of the conservatory’s students, who range from 10-years-old to adults. The showcase will be held in the San Leandro Main [...]

Slack key guitarist Patrick Landeza will start off the holiday season at the 11th Annual Hawaiian Holiday Celebration, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 1, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, l300 Estudillo Ave. in San Leandro. NÃ HÕKÚ Hanohano, award-finalist and Hawaiian music award-winner Patrick Kahakauwila Kamaholelani Landeza, [...]

More than 100 Northern California dance companies representing dance traditions from around the world will perform hoping for a spot in the 2013 San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival during auditions scheduled for Jan. 12 and 13 at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, and Jan. 19 and 20 at Lam Research Theater at Yerba Buena Center for [...]

Allen Lee Weathersby, Jr., born May 16, 1948, passed away on Oct. 31. He was a military veteran who retired from Todd Shipyard. He will be missed by his daughter Ayanna Weathersby, family and friends. Funeral services were held at Evangelistic Outreach Center, 1743 Foothill Blvd. in Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

By Camryn Crump Bay Area gospel musician, singer and songwriter Charlene Moore celebrated her 61rst birthday on Friday, Nov. 2 by treating family, friends and fans to a night of her sultry, soulful storytelling voice and skilled piano playing. Appearing at Floyd Pellom’s 57th Street Gallery in Oakland, Moore quickly had the crowd, hand clapping, [...]

By Lee Hildebrand Some might call Quinn DeVeaux’s music retro R&B, but ultra-retro is more like it. Born 36 years ago in Gary, Indiana, and based in the East Bay for the past dozen years, the singing guitarist delivers seven rhythm-and-blues songs from the 1950s and ‘60s, plus a couple church songs of earlier origin, [...]

By Lee Hildebrand “We’re havin’ a great carnival here ‘cause the Giants are slammin’,” vocalist Michelle Jacques, leader of the band Celle! and Friends told the festive crowd at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco while introducing “Down at the Carnival Ball,” an original composition in the tradition of Professor Longhair’s “Mardi Gras in New [...]

By Ashley Chambers With a kickoff that combined a fashion show and live music, Zuggol (pronounced zug-gle) celebrated the beta launch of its goal-oriented iPhone app at its Do Anything Expo on Saturday, Oct. 13. Sponsored by Lamborghini, Velvety Wine and Fusion Soul SF, the upscale event was held at British Motors in San Francisco, [...]

Filmmaker Susheel Bibbs will introduce the history making Hyers Sisters to San Francisco audiences in “An Offering in Word and Song:  The Hyers Sisters – Voices for Freedom,” at 2 p.m. on Nov. 4 at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. In 1871 Anna and Emma Hyers of Sacramento became the first [...]