The Orange Peels Come to Cafe Du Nord
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 17‚ 2013
This Friday night, The Orange Peels return to Cafe Du Nord for 2 shows, (10:00 pm is sold out), to celebrate the release of their latest album, "Sun Moon". Led by the Sunnyvale pop-smith Allen Clapp, and his partner-in-crime, bassist Jill Pries, this new album also features longtime member John Moremen on guitar, and drummer Gabriel Coen, "Sun Moon" is the band's first collaborative effort. Clapp and his cohorts have kept true to their wonderful sound on this new material, plus they've also added a few songs only heard at their live performances, like the rollicking "Aether Tide", a crowd favorite. The Peels website provides a bit of insight into the making of Sun Moon, stating that, "Sometimes plans can be overrated. Sure they can help focus a group toward a common goal, but overdo it and you can end up with an album that sounds and feels more like a corporate quarterly report than art…"
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SFIFF 56 WRAPUP—“EIGHT DEADLY SHOTS,” “THE SEARCH FOR EMAK BAKIA,” “SING ME THE SONGS THAT SAY I LOVE YOU: A CONCERT FOR KATE MCGARRIGLE”
by Peter Wong‚
May. 15‚ 2013
A real-life fatal shooting inspired Mikko Niskanen’s Finnish cinema classic “Eight Deadly Shots.” Its daunting five-and-a-quarter hours’ length made this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (hereafter SFIFF) the ideal place to screen it.
The titular shots are fired by desperate impoverished family farmer Pasi (Niskanen). He’s slowly being crushed by a trifecta of continual high unemployment, terrible crop prices, and mounting indebtedness to both the government and private creditors. Illegal moonshining provides some financial relief. But Pasi’s family history of alcoholism threatens to destroy what little he has. [more]->
Gata Kamsky Wins the 2013 US Chess Championship
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 14‚ 2013
With the mercurial defending champion, grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura off in Europe, (and managing to defeat the current world champion, Vishwanathan Anand), grandmaster Gata Kamsky won his 4th US Chess Championship title in a 3 game playoff against Alejandro Ramirez of Costa Rica. The previous 9 rounds saw Kamsy lead the field, only to be slowed by successive draws, and allowing Ramirez to catch him. Tied going into am playoff, the first two games were hotly contested draws, however the third game proved to be decisive. The rules of the championship state that if the players are tied 1-1 going into a third game, they must play what is called, an "Armageddon match", where players bid for time and color.
Hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the US Chess Championship was moderated on the web by 3 of the best in US chess, Jennifer Shahade, grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley. Chess viewing is a far cry from the the old PBS days of Fischer vs. Spassky, and commentators Shelby Lyman and Jimmy Sherwin. Most major chess events are seen, and analyzed in real-time on the web, by former champions, as well as the combatants.
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"OoN - The BassOoN - Bass Duo" Comes to the Cadillac
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 03‚ 2013
"Bass and bassoon are not your usual musical duo partners. But when Paul Hanson and Ariane Cap met and talked about how they have both been using their instruments beyond their traditional roles, they felt an immediate kinship on so many levels. They agreed that what matters most is the music and not the 'tool'. They could relate how one could just fall in love with a sound. They understood the challenge and joy of hearing something inside and bending the instrument beyond its intended techniques to create new sounds.
They both went digging into their piles of favorite compositions and came together to jam and experiment. As soon as music started speaking it became apparent that they had a unique sound! Their shared appreciation for diverse styles immediately took them around the world, to the past and into the present. Above all what made it click was their huge appreciation for melody, and - equally above all - their huge appreciation for groove. In record time they put together a set of music that is fiery and fresh, interesting and unexpected, always staying musical, groovy and melodious. This Friday, from 12:30 to 1:30 PM at the Cadillac Hotel, Hanson and Cap will take their instruments beyond traditional roles and will dish up something totally interesting, fresh and unexpected..."
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SFIFF 56—“PEARBLOSSOM HWY,” “PEACHES DOES HERSELF,” “SOFIA’S LAST AMBULANCE,” “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING,” “NAMELESS GANGSTER: RULES OF THE TIME”
by Peter Wong‚
May. 02‚ 2013
For Americans, the open road symbolizes both freedom and new opportunities. Yet the road traveled by the lead characters in Mike Ott’s new film “Pearblossom Hwy” leads only to alienation.
Friends Cory (Cory Zacharia) and Ann/Atsuko (Atsuko Okatsuka) live in the desert town of Lancaster off California’s Pearblossom Highway. Unemployed Cory hopes to be accepted for the reality show “The Young Ones.” Ann may be studying for her American citizenship test, but she secretly engages in prostitution to raise money to see her ill grandmother in Japan. The arrival of Cory’s long absent brother Jeff eventually leads to the trio’s taking a road trip to visit Cory’s long absent father. [more]->
"Mehliana" Comes to the SF Jazz Center
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
Apr. 26‚ 2013
Over the last few decades, there have been a few notable jazz-rock duos featuring piano/synthesizer and drums; Weather Report's Joe Zawinul and Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu's "Orient Express"; Drummer Bill Bruford's duets with Patrick Moraz, and later Michiel Bortslap, (Bruford would also record and perform simultaneously with six pianists in Colin Riley's Piano Circus!); Happy the Man and Camel's Kit Watkins and Coco Roussel; Marco Benevento and Joe Russo, to name but a few.
Following in their footsteps comes "Mehliana", (an amalgamation of their names), featuring keyboardist Brad Mehldau; a fabulous player well known by fans of guitarist Pat Metheny, and drummer Mark Guiliana, who like Russo and drumming legend David Van Tiegham before them, hails from NYC's cauldron of forward thinking percussionists. Mehldau comes to the SF Jazz Center for four nights of music, each one unique; a sold out piano solo show on Thursday, a duet with Kevin Hays on Friday, with Guiliana on Saturday, and a sold out trio show, featuring Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard on Sunday.
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SF Global Vietnamese Film Festival
by Tom Mayer‚
Apr. 25‚ 2013
The second biennial San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival running April 26 to 28 at the Roxie Theater, is a film and video showcase centering Vietnamese filmmakers in Vietnam and the diaspora.
The biennial SFGVFF has been getting increasing publicity, and larger audiences, as the only festival of its kind in the Bay Area. The Opening Night Gala is Friday, April 26 from 7:30 to 10pm, at Artists’ Television Access (992 Valencia St), with the remaining programs running from 2:30pm to 12 midnight each day, April 27 and 28, at the historic Roxie Theater (3117 16th Street, SF).
Over 20 films from all over the world—including Vietnam, Cambodia, Canada, France, Japan, Czech Republic, and the United States—will be showcased at the two-day festival. [more]->
Jackie Robinson Bio “42” a Must-See Film
by Randy Shaw‚
Apr. 24‚ 2013
I have been talking to baseball fans about the new film on Jackie Robinson, “42,” and have been surprised that many have not seen it. This movie is a smashing success both for people knowledgeable about Robinson and those who know little beyond his role in breaking baseball’s color line. If you are a SF Giants fan reluctant to see a film promoting the Dodgers, consider that among the heroes in “42” is Leo Durocher, who played a pivotal role mentoring Willie Mays when the Giants legend joined the New York Giants in 1951. And if your interest is less baseball than history or civil rights, rarely has a big-screen film better captured what it meant to be African American in the United States prior to 1965 (we now need a film about Roberto Clemente to show the racism faced by Latino baseball players of the pre 1965 era). I have yet to speak to anyone who did not love this film, and it is better enjoyed in theaters than on a DVD.
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Remembering Richie Havens, 1941-2013
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
Apr. 24‚ 2013
One of the most moving concerts I ever attended, was on the Saturday following the tragic events of 9-11. Living in DC at the time, and still in a state of shock, we traveled to Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to see Richie Havens.
Rather than cancel, Havens had decided to perform and before the show began, he passionately recounted watching the events unfold from his NJ home, directly across the river from Manhattan. As we were all still trying to make sense of it all, Richie's music was suddenly a moving, and reaffirming measure of the power that music, and Havens himself, have to heal.
Havens' website stated, "Beloved folk icon Richie Havens died Monday morning in his home from a sudden heart attack. He was 72."
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Les July's "The Adventures of LJ Horn"
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
Apr. 19‚ 2013
Bassist, trumpeter, and composer Les July, has released his latest CD,"The Adventures of LJ Horn:, which is "dedicated to the continuation of the music Miles Davis was making in his latter years, where his trumpet was featured in different genres of music.
May 22, 2013
