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Gary Singh on February 27, 2019
In 1981, when downtown San Jose resembled a cracked mosaic of dying retail and skid row environs, Ted Gehrke conspired to launch a blues festival on the campus of San Jose State University. Thirty-eight years later, that festival is still held every summer. Gehrke, who passed away last weekend at 79, was…
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Wallace Baine on February 20, 2019
Let’s hope that sci-fi and fantasy novelist Charlie Jane Anders has plenty of shelf space at home, because otherwise she’s got a storage unit somewhere jammed with awards. The San Francisco writer, podcaster and literary troublemaker has already won a Hugo, a Nebula, a Crawford, a Sturgeon, a Locus and a Lambda…
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Wallace Baine on February 20, 2019
Bay Area artist Sofie Ramos really loves familiar household objects—pillows, chairs, stools, whatever. But she also likes to reimagine the context of such things in her installations. In STUFF(ed), she creates walk-in art spaces in which bold colors bleed and bounce all over the place, and violate the natural boundaries between wall,…
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Metro Staff on February 20, 2019
After a highly successful run, Jessica Lang Dance is hanging up its slippers. This isn’t the end of the line for the celebrated choreographer, as Lang will continue to work on new projects and collaborations. The New York-based troupe is disbanding after seven years. In that time, the Bessie Award-winning Lang worked…
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Wallace Baine on February 20, 2019
The Polynesian reggae artist George Veikoso, who performs as Fiji, was born in his namesake country but moved to Hawaii as a teen, which explains the title of his latest project 50th State of Mind. The jam-packed two-disc collection is a kind of retrospective, looking back at his 25-year career and sprinkled…
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Metro Staff on February 20, 2019
The Sunnyvale Community Players have been sticking to the classics this year, and their forthcoming show is no exception. The local theater company’s annual junior production is Bye Bye Birdie. The musical follows a group of local high schoolers, their families, a soon-to-be-enlisted rock & roll star and his management team in…
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Metro Staff on February 20, 2019
Local indie rockers Bylines officially release their debut album this Friday. Summit Road is a seven-song set of laid-back grooves, echoing open chords and intertwining guitar leads. The record’s lead single, “Easy To Do,” vaults over the kind of self-absorption posturing as sassy self-awareness in the standard down-and-out rock & roll ballad—as…
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Wallace Baine on February 20, 2019
Shakespeare’s tale of the high-stakes love affair between a Roman general and an Egyptian queen comes to the big screen via one of the world’s biggest stages. National Theater Live specializes in filmed versions of staged theater productions—all shot in front of live audiences in London. Their latest offering, Antony & Cleopatra,…
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Metro Staff on February 20, 2019
The Bay Area’s powerhouse dance company Smuin Ballet kicks off its 25th season with a performance of several new works by a variety of choreographers. This year’s Dance Series 01 includes a tribute to the late diva Etta James; founder Michael Smuin’s piece inspired by the iconic work of the sculptor Rodin,…
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by
Bill Kopp on February 20, 2019
More than a dozen musicians have been members of jazz fusion band the Yellowjackets since the group launched in 1977. But keyboardist and founding member Russell Ferrante says there are common threads woven throughout the band’s ouvre.
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