Friday, April 19, 2019

Red Poppy Art House: May, 2019

Last month’s schedule of events at the Red Poppy Art House was embedded in a “busy weekend” article. This time there are currently enough items for May on the Upcoming Events Web page to justify the usual stand-alone article. Bearing in mind that more events are likely to be added, I shall take my usual incremental approach of posting to my “shadow” Facebook site to put out the word whenever this page is updated.

The Red Poppy is located in the Mission at 2698 Folsom Street on the southwest corner of 23rd Street. Tickets are now being sold in advance online through Eventbrite. As a result, the dates provided below will be hyperlinked to the Eventbrite event pages for purchasing tickets.

Given the demand for these concerts, it is likely that only a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Remember, the Poppy is a small space. Even those who have purchased their tickets in advance should probably make it a point to be there when the doors open one half-hour before the performance is scheduled to begin. Here are the specifics for the events that have been posted thus far:

Friday, May 3, 7:30 p.m.: Argentine guitarist Maxi Larrea will lead a trio in an exciting new Argentine tango project. The other members of the trio are Charles Gorczynski on bandoneon and Sumi Lee on piano. They will present an exciting selection of Argentine tangos, waltzes, milongas, and folklore repertoire through both new arrangements and original compositions. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25.

[added 4/20, 8:10 a.m.:

Friday, May 10, 7:30 p.m.: Neblinas del Pacífico is a quintet that specializes in Afro-Colombian marimba music. Their performance features the marimba de chonta (“the piano of the forest”), along with bombos, cununos, and guasás. The performers are Andrés Reyes, Dan Neville, Federico Ardila, Juliana Mejía, and May-Li Khoe. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $15 and $20.]

Saturday, May 11, 7:30 p.m.: Swingatto is a trio whose members are Joe Yamamoto on violin, Antonio Feula on guitar, and Michael Price on double bass. Their repertoire consists of upbeat jazz and swing in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. This will be a return visit to the Poppy. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $15 and $20.

[added 4/20, 8:20 a.m.:

Friday, May 17, 7 p.m.: The Arpage Band is a trio that performs Persian Classical Music. The members are Sina Dehghani (tombak), Amir Kiani (vocals), and Amaan Mehrabian (santur). Their repertoire is a story of migration. For this performance they will be joined by Behfar Bahadoran on tar. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25.]

Saturday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.: Karavan Sarai has a repertoire of melodies from both the Middle East and India mixed in with electronic global beats. It consists of a core trio of performers. Schirin Chams-Diba is both dancer and vocalist, also playing a frame drum. Narayan Sijan is the composer, playing both oud and bağlama (also known as “saz” in Persian), as well as electronics. However, most of the electronics work is taken by Carmen Rizzo, who is also the group’s producer. The effect of their working together is that of a visual and sonic journey to a nighttime courtyard of a virtual Silk Road inn. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $15 and $20.

Sunday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.: Vocalists Ashley Wilson and Noa Levy will team up for a program entitled That’s What Friends Are For. This will be a program of two sets of original compositions and arrangements of popular songs. They will be accompanied by a trio that will include Art Khu on both guitar and piano and Lorca Hart on drums. During the first set bass will be taken by Joe Kyle, Jr., and he will be replaced by Shimpei Ogawa in the second set. All tickets are being sold for $25.

[added 4/21, 7:15 a.m.:

Friday, May 24, 7:30 p.m.: Larry Reed will presented an evening of Balinese shadow theatre. In Balinese tradition he will operate all of the shadow puppets himself with musical accompaniment provided by a gamelan ensemble. The musicians, known as the ShadowLight Gamelan, will be Carla Fabrizio, Lisa Gold, Paul Miller, and Sarah Willner. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $20 and $25.

Saturday, May 25, 7:30 p.m.: Citizens Jazz is a quintet led by Caroline Chung. The other members are Riley Bandy (alto saxophone), Danny Brown (tenor saxophone), Grant Levin (piano), and Hamir Atwal (drums). Their program will consist of the compositions of legendary composer, musician, and vocalist Billy Strayhorn. Vocals will be provided by guest artist Valerie Troutt. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $15 and $20.

Friday, May 31, 7:30 p.m.: Vocalist Kenya Moses is no stranger to the Poppy. For this occasion she will make her debut of lead soloist in a program entitled Inspirações do Brasil. She will lead a quartet whose instrumentalists will be Ami Molinelli on percussion, Brian Moran on guitar, and Scott Thompson on bass. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $15 and $20.]

Note, also, that the Poppy will be presenting the final Music of the Banned concert on Sunday, May 5. However, this will take place at the Brava Theater. Further details will be announced in a separate article in the near future.

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