Her velvet contralto has taken on an appealing edge in recent years, adding an aural dimension to her phrasing’s biting wit. While she can make big musical gestures, holding a long note at the end of a phrase or dramatically clipping a consonant, she’s really an anti-diva. West keeps the focus on the songs and would rather talk about the artists who made them famous than about herself. Part of the pleasure of a West performance comes from knowing her affinity for particular song categories and marveling at her ability to fill the requisite slots with fresh material. She opened a recent performance with Papa Charlie Jackson’s “Shake That Thing,” a 1920s classic that satisfied the lascivious double-entendre blues slot (it’s actually more of a single-entendre song, one recorded 50 years ago by the proto-Grateful Dead band Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions).
One student commented that a teen center would be overrun by “nerds,” while another suggested The Venue be given to the LGHS music department, A coffee shop, dance studio and skateboard park were also vintage 80s - 90s alfio raldo black italian leather ballet flats // calf hair // studded // rare // cuoio // grunge // 1990s // mentioned, KCAT TV general manager Melissa Toren, meantime, stepped up to say her organization would love to take over The Venue property, She pointed out that KCAT teaches teens about television by broadcasting activities such as LGHS basketball games, “Last Friday night … we had 12 students come after school to KCAT to set up, film, direct, announce, produce and edit these games,” Toren said, “This is one of the ways that KCAT has value for teens and the community.”..
In 2015, money from vendor fees and sales of food and alcohol raised $30,000. The funds were distributed to seven organizations and included four $500 scholarships for art students at Freedom, Liberty or Heritage high schools. “The chalk art that the students do each day during the festival is astounding. It gets more impressive every year,” says Grejsen. At the Wine at the Fountain station, local vintners and wineries offer premiere wines from Hannah Nicole Vineyards, Viano Winery, Arabella Estate Vineyards, Bloomfield Vineyards, Tamayo Family Vineyards, J Doran Vineyards, Wedl Winery and Cline Cellars.
Details: March 31-April 10; Gallery 308 at the Fort Mason complex, San Francisco; $35-$42; www.capacitor.org, 2 “BOLERO SILICON VALLEY”: New York choreographer Larry Keigwin’s adaptable “Bolero,” set to Ravel’s beloved piece of the same name, injects local civilian performers and cultural references into the action, His acclaimed New York version was a love letter to the Big Apple vintage 80s - 90s alfio raldo black italian leather ballet flats // calf hair // studded // rare // cuoio // grunge // 1990s // employing dancers from his Keigwin + Company troupe and 46 Manhattanites, Now he is set to do the same thing for the capital of high tech..
5 MARIACHI SOL DE MEXICO: Led by Jose Hernandez, the 33-year-old Grammy-nominated musical troupe is one of several exciting bands incorporating traditional mariachi with more contemporary sounds. The band returns to the Bankhead Theater in Livermore on Oct. 30. Details: 7:30 p.m.; $16-$60; 925-373-6800, www.mylvpac.com. 6 YIDDISH CULTURAL FESTIVAL: Klezmer fans likely will be streaming to Palo Alto for this weekend’s festival featuring music, dance and poetry. Among the featured performers are acclaimed clarinetist Joel Rubin and the Bay Area band Veretski Pass.
