.Calendar Picks: Week of Mar. 28-Apr. 3

music in the park, psychedelic furs

THURSDAY

JAZZ

THE CHARLIE HUNTER & SCOTT AMENDOLA DUO

Musical sparring partners for three decades, Berkeley-reared and North Carolina-based guitar wizard Charlie Hunter and Berkeley drummer Scott Amendola regrouped for their latest groove-centric musical dialogue. The show is sold out, but their creative communion is well worth an attempt to procure an unused ticket at the door or, at worst, catching it from the sidewalk. It’s been a decade since they released new music, but their duo book encompasses Duke Ellington and Hank Williams, Cole Porter and the Cars, and dozens of originals. This is one partnership that adds up to a lot more than two. – ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: 8pm, The Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $30. 510.526.5888.

THURSDAY

PUNK

MOVEMENTS

Movements signed a three-album contract with popular indie punk label Fearless Records in 2015 after playing only one show. They were that good. They wrote some singles, recorded an EP and toured a lot—including the entirety of Warped Tour 2017—before finally releasing their debut, Feel Something. It’s a passionate blend of post-hardcore, emo and heartfelt spoken word, fitting right in with all the genre-blending happening in the late ’10s and ’20s. Last year they released their third record, the dynamic Ruckus! It’s safe to say the group is here to stay, and Fearless was smart to scoop them up when they did. – AARON CARNES

INFO: 7:30pm, UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $30. 510.356.4000.

FRIDAY

INDIE

MADI DIAZ 

Madi Diaz’s star is rising, and it’s so great to see. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter has been in the game for over two decades, but it wasn’t until the 2021 release of History of a Feeling that a broader audience began to take notice. Since then she’s toured with kindred spirits Waxahatchee, Angel Olsen and Harry Styles. Her latest album, Weird Faith, finds her duetting with none other than Kacey Musgraves for the country rock-tinged ballad “Don’t Do Me Good.” In it, she chronicles the fluttery, slightly insane start of a new relationship with impeccable nuance. – ADDIE MAHMASSANI  

INFO: 9pm, The New Parish, 1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. $25. 510.227.8177.

FRIDAY

BRAZILIAN 

CAETANO VELOSO

Caetano Veloso is a legendary Brazilian singer, musician, poet and political activist whose life reads like a myth. He was one of the originators of Tropicalismo, fusing traditional Brazilian music and pop songs with avant-garde rock ’n’ roll. Surprisingly, its brazen nature earned Veloso the ire of left-wing communist students and the right-wing Brazilian military government, landing him in prison and then exile. Since then, Veloso has earned nine Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy Awards, and has recorded an astonishing 50 albums. At 81, he continues to write, record and perform worldwide. – MAT WEIR

INFO: 8pm, Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $53.50 – $128.50. 510.893.2300. 

SATURDAY

JAZZ

THE ALAYA PROJECT  

Indian classical and contemporary jazz with a bit of funk thrown in yields the Alaya Project, a trio of longtime friends based in Oakland. Together, drummer Rohan Krishnamurthy, saxist Prasant Radhakrishnan and keys player Colin Hogan blend Western genres with the traditional Carnatic style of South India to create “a combination [that] shouldn’t work, and yet it does,” according to the SF Chronicle. Krishnamurthy brings thrilling percussion with his hybrid drum kit, while Radhakrishnan supplies melodies rooted in the improvisational framework of Indian ragas. The group’s self-titled debut album from 2022 includes an entertaining cover of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”—originally by the Beatles. – AM

INFO: 8pm, California Jazz Conservatory, 2040 Addison St., Berkeley. $25. 510.845.5373.  

SATURDAY

ELECTRONIC

HIPPIE SABOTAGE

Hippie Sabotage, a duo made up of brothers Kevin and Jeff Saurer, began their musical journey with a middle school obsession with skateboarding video soundtracks, then catapulted to No. 1 on Billboard’s Next Big Sound chart with their 2014 remix of Tove Lo’s “Habits (Stay High).” Kevin and Jeff fuse electronic beats with hip-hop, psych rock and chillwave to create high-octane live performances with energetic guitar jams, dynamic stage personas and trance-inducing immersive visuals. – SBB

INFO: 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $29.50. 510.302.2250.

SUNDAY

GOSPEL

BISHOP YVETTE FLUNDER

Bishop Yvette Flunder is, in the best sense of the word, dangerous. Profoundly able to activate her messages celebrating the inclusive love of Jesus Christ with her voice, her social ministry holds the potential to transform lives, if not all of society. Recognized as a spiritual hero and lauded as a gospel musician who’s recorded with Walter Hawkins and the Family as well as the Love Center Choir, Flunder will bring down the roof on Resurrection Sunday at this performance with a live band. To hear her sing “How Sweet the Sound” is heavenly. It’s a moment to take flight and trust the pilot at the controls. Go and be uplifted. – LOU FANCHER

INFO: 6pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $40 – $59. 510.238.9200.

SUNDAY

FESTIVAL

EAST BAY JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL

Headlining and hosting the inaugural festival are the San Francisco Yiddish Combo and Saul Kaye. The two-hour event offers a feast: the Combo’s Klezmer music that’s happily infiltrated by jazz, blues, folk and hip-hop vestiges—Rebecca Roudman and Jason Eckl are worth the ticket price alone; Kaye’s revolutionary Jewish Blues that eeks with struggle and bursts with revolutionary liberty; and an intriguing suggestion that Dr. Leeder has under her academic cap that promises to speak on a “nonpolitical topic related to Judaism.” The Back Room’s casual vibe is the perfect setting for celebrating Jewish music and culture. – LF

INFO: 2pm, The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $25. 510.654.3808.

TUESDAY

SKA

MILLINGTON

What happens when a “brass emo” band, a ska/punk/reggae band and a hyper-ska artist get together on one bill? Find out when Millington, the Hellas and Eichlers bring the new tone era to the world-famous Gilman. Millington combines pop punk, emo and ska for a sound they’ve dubbed—that’s right—brass emo. And really, it’s kind of the perfect description for their music. A great example is their cover of Fall Out Boy’s “Thnks fr th Mmrs,” which captures the sorrowful and self-deprecating tone of the original—but with horns!—or “Beatdown Generation,” an original track with confessional lyrics, emotional singing and a reggae beat. After all, it’s hard to be sad when dancing to the uplifting sounds of ska, right? – MW

INFO: 7pm, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $12. 510.524.8180.

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