Tuesday, January 23, 2024

The Bleeding Edge: 1/23/2024

Things are definitely picking up on The Bleeding Edge. This week has six events in San Francisco worthy of note. Three of them have already been reported, and the first of those is a three-day festival! Here is the basic summary, with hyperlinks, of the events that have already been announced:

  • Gabriel Kahane will curate this year’s annual PIVOT Festival presented by San Francisco Performances. All performances will begin at Herbst Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (January 24–26). Contributing performers will be the vocalists of Roomful of Teeth and the members of the Attacca Quartet (violinists Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni, Nathan Schram on viola, and cellist Andrew Lee).
  • Saxophonist Rent Romus will bring his quintet to Bird & Beckett Books & Records for a two-set evening that will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, January 26.
  • The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players will present their RE:visitations program, which will juxtapose compositions by Pierre Boulez and Franz Zappa at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. The program will begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 27. It will be preceded at 7 p.m. by a How Music is Made discussion.

The remaining three events are as follows:

Friday, January 26, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery: Reed player David Boyce will continue in his role as curator. This week’s guest artists will be Toriwo, Toncau, Ru. The venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Saturday, January 27, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books & Records: This will be a “friendraiser” concert for a new non-profit organization. That organization is called the Arts for More Pit Orchestra. That latter noun is a bit of an exaggeration, since the group appears to be a quintet. Vocalist Sarah Hughes performs with Matt Renzi on reeds, guitarist Brad Buethe, Peter Barshay on bass, and drummer Jon Arkin.

For those that do not already know, Bird & Beckett is located at 653 Chenery Street, a short walk from the Glen Park station that serves both BART and Muni. Unfortunately, the Web page for this event does not provide very much information. Presumably, admission will be $25 in cash for the usual cover charge. Given that only a limited number of people will be admitted, reservations are necessary and can be made by calling 415-586-3733. The phone will be answered during regular store hours, which are between noon and 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday. Also presumably, this performance will be live-streamed for a viewing fee of $10.

Saturday, January 27, 7:30 p.m., Red Poppy Art House: This will be a two-set program featuring several familiar “bleeding edge” performers. One set will be taken by The SticklerPhonics, which is a trio consisting of Raffi Garabedian on tenor saxophone and Danny Lubin-Laden on trombone. Rhythm is provided by Scott Amendola with drums, percussion, and electronics. The other group will be The Supplicants, led by Boyce, coming over from his usual “beat” at Medicine for Nightmares. He will play tenor saxophone with electronic enhancements. The other members of the trio are David Ewell on bass and Sameer Gupta, dividing his attention between drums and tabla.

Tickets may be purchased online through an Eventbrite Web page. Admission for the remaining tickets will be $35 and $30 (and Eventbrite has marked this page with a “Going fast” warning, since, as of this writing, only 18 tickets remain). Doors will open at 7 p.m. The Poppy is located at 2698 Folsom Street, which is on the northwest corner of 23rd Street.

No comments: