Recently in the Arts & Music Department

An unequivocal standing ovation erupted tonight for Marc Bamuthi Joseph and the Living Word Project's 'red, black and GREEN: a blues (rbGb)' at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. rbGB is an inspiring example of the amazing multimedia work that can be done to bring communities into the Green, and the conversations that should happen with people of all colors to help humanity survive and thrive. Bamuthi Joseph captivates his audience from the moment they step into the room to find the performers at home in and on unique, colorful installations. The first section of the performance thus begins with the audience mere inches from the artists. At such close range, we are reminded that we are not mere onlookers of the performance nor of life. Such an introduction creatively sets a precedent for the whole evening, where audience members are consistently connected as participants of a critical discussion in new light: how do we sustain the human race? What role do cultural roots and history play? And who is responsible for this task? We find our way to our seats only to fall into a whirlwind of true stories and fictionalized memoirs; snatches of conversations and breathtaking dance...

Last Friday night, young adults from around the Bay Area converged on San Francisco's Curran Theater to see the puppet-based improv show "Stuffed and Unstrung." But this performance was special - patrons between 21 and 35 received discounted tickets, and access to an exclusive reception before the show. That reception, the latest in SHNSF's 21ThirtyFive series, included free drinks and plenty of schmoozing. The program happens regularly at SHNSF's shows, according to house photographer Damien Miller, and he said that it's always a great crowd. "At a lot of the arts and culture events here in San Francisco, you've got a lot of tourists, and you've got a lot of socialites," Miller said. "The fact that you can just hone down the demographic to 21-35 is really awesome because you can just mingle with people from all around the Bay." Some 21ThirtyFive attendees came from farther away, like Noelle Bell-Copley of Santa Cruz, who received an e-mail before the show. "Their e-mail was very funny," she said, "and who doesn't love muppets and puppeteers?" Bell-Copley came with seven friends, and said that the addition of the 21ThirtyFive event to the show helped "seal the deal" as they decided whether to...

Today's outdoor SF Symphony concert in Justin Herman Plaza was fun and exciting, but for vastly different reasons than their usual concerts. The amplified sound quality was impeccable, and the playing was great, but - most importantly - the Symphony got to share their music with a much wider audience than they normally access. The concert was markedly informal, even for famously-lax conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and its outdoor nature added a fresh flavor of unpredictability. At one point, Tilson Thomas held a particular note for 15 seconds when the wind flipped a page in his score. A few moments later, he continued conducting with his right hand, while reaching over and grabbing a binder clip from the concertmaster's music stand. The general atmosphere of the concert was also dramatically unpredictable. Sirens and horns mixed periodically with Beethoven and Berlioz, and bells from the Ferry Building delayed the start of two separate pieces (at the hour and half-hour). Add that to the mixed audience of families, businesspeople on their lunch breaks, schoolchildren, homeless people, and one guy in a baseball cap tap-dancing along to the music, and you've got yourself a cross-section of San Francisco's population. Still, the best part...

Tuesday's show, Matisyahu Unplugged, was an acoustic performance for an audience of over 400 people, sponsored by Chabad of the Tri-Valley. Matisyahu headlined on vocals, accompanied by D.P. Holmes of Dub Trio on guitar, with an opening performance by Josh Cohen, at Livermore's Bankhead Theater. The atmosphere was full of Chabadniks and other local Jews together for a chill evening. As Matisyahu improvised, receiving thunderous applause upon his arrival, he gave an impression of the mood by saying into the microphone "Hey Rabbi, you told me this was going to be a low-key evening!" Low key it might not have been, but it was a unique opportunity to meet a contemporary musician and a practicing Orthodox Jew. Advertised at local congregations around the East Bay and beyond, one major draw of this performance was the fact that the Jewish community had the chance to find out what's inside the head of a practicing Jew who is simultaneously following his dream performing music. The mood was light and "playful," according to Margaret Sawyer, an avid arts enthusiast. Matisyahu's demeanor with the audience between songs showed a side of him that few get to see.  In-between some of the songs, Matisyahu had Q&A sessions, asking...

Imagine clothed figure drawing and painting from eight artists, many of them using the same models, and it's unlikely you'd envision the diversity of East Bay Figure Painting Group's first show, currently running at Berkeley's Firehouse North Gallery. The surprisingly simple theme of "Work From the Model" brings us everything from Diana Blackwell's life-size, colorful, bold acrylics to Deborah Rogin's small, subtle pencil drawings, highlighting each artist's style and skill. Some models, such as Bob and Edna, appear in three different artists' work and look original in each. But it's not just the range of mediums and approaches that's interesting. The East Bay Figure Painting Group itself is unique in its focus on re-emerging artists. The question of how to sustain oneself as an artist of any kind is a difficult one. Get a non-demanding, probably low-paying day job and do art in the evenings? Squeeze in art while pursuing another career? Find work that allows you to use your creative skills in a profitable way? Artists can get burned out just trying to navigate it all. One of the East Bay Figure Painting Group's founders says, "Sustaining a lifetime of creative work is an art in itself." The...

A good rave has many key elements. There is the sharing. Sharing space, sharing body heat, and sharing germs. Sharing lights, feelings, emotions and energy. Another element of a good rave is giving. Whether it's high fives to the people in their seats, or a good massage to someone who looks a little in need. Giving is the spice of the party at a techno concert, and the more you give, as the old adage goes, the more you get. Alongside the actions of sharing and giving, there is the acceptance of our fellow human beings that is so lacking in the modern world, and is so taken for granted in its abundance in these scenes. Last Saturday's etdPOP 2010 event was not missing any of these essentials. From the beginning of the evening around 3:00 pm, until late into the night when the walls started sweating, there was sharing, giving and acceptance in plenty. The night was different from modern rave-scenes because the event organizers decided to do something different - they brought the style and feel back to its original roots, housing the entire eleven-hour concert in a single room, with one stage, and one band performing at...