THURSDAY
JAZZ
MARTY ISENBERG’S WES ANDERSON PLAYLIST
Enamored with the stylized cinematic worlds created by Wes Anderson, New York bassist Marty Eisenberg devised a music program to capture the blend of the filmmaker’s melancholy, wonder and confusion. His 2023 album, The Way I Feel Inside, draws on the mixtape sensibility of Anderson soundtracks, featuring Isenberg’s jazz arrangements of songs by artists like David Bowie, Nick Drake and the Velvet Underground. For his West Coast tour, he’s performing with guitarist Mitch Selib, pianist Nitzan Gavrieli, drummer Eric Reeves and vocalist Sami Stevens, who’s made an impression around the Bay Area via gigs with her husband, Berkeley-reared saxophonist Kazemde George. – ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: Thu, 7:30pm, Sound Room, 3022 Broadway, Oakland. $34. 510.708.9691.
FRIDAY
PUNK
COMEBACK KID
Of all the world’s bands, which one has the best chance of waking the dead? Early-aughts hardcore heroes Comeback Kid are definitely in the running. The Canadian group is on tour celebrating 20 years since the release of their second studio album, Wake the Dead. With its intense guitars and relentless drums, the title track became a battle cry for the band’s fans. Having recently re-recorded it, singer Andrew Neufeld said, “The song lands as the biggest moment in every single set that we’ve played—from Asia through South America to Europe, Africa and North America.” That’s a lot of resurrection. – ADDIE MAHMASSANI
INFO: Fri, 7pm, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $30. 510.524.8180.
FRIDAY
OPERA
THE GREAT YES, THE GREAT NO
South African artist William Kentridge last stormed onto Berkeley’s Zellerbach stage with 2023’s SYBIL, a magical chamber opera. This time, real history involving refugees and a wartime escape from the Nazis in 1941 launches a mighty ship and takes audiences on a journey layered with danger, ambiguity, reverse-engineered timelines, melodious music, dynamo dance, text spoken in multiple languages and Kentridge’s always wildly inventive imagination. Audiences will be illuminated while contemplating identity, colonialism, migration and the spasms of history that keep everyone guessing and asking, “What’s next?” – LOU FANCHER
INFO: Fri, 8pm, Cal Performances, 101 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. $43-$130. 510.642.9988.
SATURDAY
INDIE
BITCH
Take the anthemic, pop poetry of Bitch, born Karen Mould, and stack the bicoastal soloist and her fantastic album, Bitchraft, with Oakland’s always-stellar queer female quartet Skip the Needle, and fans get a fierce, fun and memorable show with deep sensitivity to sound engineering, varied musical instrumentation, terrific stage presence and above all else, rhythm and groove that thumps into the hearts, souls and bellies of audiences. It’s a sure-thing formula marking one of the best nights of women/queer-made music during Women’s History Month. – LF
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $34/adv, $39/door. 510.644.2020.
SATURDAY
THEATER
‘ANGRY BLACK WOMAN 101’
Oakland-based writer and performer Kathryn Seabron is unstoppable: She was once the stage manager for legendary playwright Lorraine Hansberry; she’s renowned across the Bay as the burlesque performer Juicy D. Light; and now she’s starring in the solo show Angry Black Woman 101, which she also wrote. The play features a series of vignettes of the microaggressions and stereotypes rooted in painful work experiences of racism and misogyny that Black women trudge through daily in the U.S. As Seabron explains, the piece illuminates how “White women’s tears are used to deflect and disenfranchise Black women.” – AM
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. $25-$35. 510.282.3055.
SUNDAY
CLASSICAL
‘SPRING’S AWAKENING’
Finally! Winter is ending, and the seasons are once again in transition. The sun is rolling out of bed earlier. The flowers are budding. Even the birds seem to be chirping more. So what better way to welcome the glory of spring than with an orchestral concert? Spring’s Awakening features three pieces—conducted by Joseph Young—perfect for celebrating the oncoming beauty: Ruataavara’s Cantus Arcticus: Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, Huang Ruo’s Tipping Point and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38. Arrive early for a free preconcert chat one hour before the show. – MAT WEIR
INFO: Sun, 4pm, Berkeley Symphony, First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley. $35-$85. 510.848.3696.
SUNDAY
TALK & LECTURE
REIMAGINING JUSTICE
This Women’s History Month, a conversation on power, loss and change brings together Black-liberation activist Malkia Devich Cyril and astrologer/medium/activist Jessica Lanyadoo. They’ll examine how personal and political upheaval can shape justice movements. The evening will begin with Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat, who has defied restrictions on women musicians in her home country. Joined by musician Atabak Elyas, she brings a performance rooted in resistance and cultural memory. Through discussion and music, the event will offer space to consider how we challenge oppression and build collective power. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT
INFO: Sun, 1pm, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. $1-$30. 510.318.8400.
MONDAY
FOLK
COLIN URWIN
Colin Urwin is a modern seanchaí, a traditional Gaelic storyteller who preserves and shares old tales and legends. From Ireland’s North Coast, Urwin brings folk songs, traditional stories and original rhyming monologues to life with a deep, resonant voice. Joining him is Kenny Somerville, whose mandolin- and banjo-playing skills have delighted fans from County Fermanagh to the Bay Area by blending Irish and American folk traditions. For those looking to sharpen their storytelling craft, Urwin will host a preconcert workshop at 5pm, where he will share tried and true tips for storytelling enhanced by percussion and melody—no musical ability required. – SBB
INFO: Mon, 7:30pm, Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. $20. 510.525.5099.
WEDNESDAY
ROCK
THE ROCKET SUMMER
Understanding the concept of passing time is hard without a grounding marker. Despite some theories in physics of eternalism—time happening all at once—it’s easier for humans to think of time as linear. And when time is linear, thinking of oneself 20 years ago is a nostalgic trip filled with good times, laughter and the occasional “whoopsie.” On Wednesday, The Rocket Summer, a.k.a. the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Bryce Avary, celebrates 20 years of the hit sophomore album, Hello, Good Friend. Fans will enjoy reliving where and who they were when those first few chords hit their ears. – MW
INFO: Wed, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $40. 510.214.8600.
WEDNESDAY
JAZZ
DANN ZINN & RACHEL Z
Alameda tenor saxophonist Dann Zinn has spent much of the past three decades as one of the Bay Area’s essential jazz educators. As a recording artist in his own right, he’s created a small but potent body of original music marked by his affinity for muscular post-bop, melodic funk and the Nordic folk forms associated with the label ECM Records. He celebrates the release of his album, Two Roads, with the superlative Bay Area rhythm section tandem of bassist Jeff Denson and drummer Deszon Claiborne. They’re joined by a New York ringer, piano great Rachel Z, a powerhouse improviser who helped define progressive fusion in the ’80s and ’90s via her work with Steps Ahead and Wayne Shorter. – AG
INFO: Wed, 8pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $33. 510.238.9200.
