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Around Berkeley
Mamadou Sidibé at home in Berkeley with a community garden-grown gourd and his n’goni — a stringed Malian instrument he’s played around the world. Credit: Andrew Gilbert🇲🇱 A master of the 14-string kamala n’goni, Mamadou Sidibé teams up with Eliyahu Sills on Middle Eastern oud, flutes and bass for a new collaboration exploring a Malian-Middle Eastern fusion exploring traditional music from Mali and original tunes by both artists. (Read our story about Sidibe.) Thursday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. The Back Room. $29-$35
🌴 Ethan Fenner, the museum scientist and horticulturist for the Southern African Collection and Cycad and Palm Collections at the UC Botanical Garden, discusses his debut book The Art and Philosophy of the Garden at the library’s North Branch, exploring how gardening compares to other art forms, whether a garden can be a work of art, and what it means to interpret a garden. (Read our story.) Thursday, Nov. 21, 6:30 p.m. North Branch. FREE
📚 Three esteemed Bay Area poets with new books out, Dorianne Laux (Life on Earth and Finger Exercises for Poets), Kim Addonizio (Exit Opera), and Joseph Millar (Shine), gather at Pegasus downtown to read their new work. Thursday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m. Pegasus Books Downtown. FREE
🎺 Berkeley-reared trumpeter Erik Jekabson returns to the Hillside Club with his all-star chamber-jazz Stringtet for an evening devoted to his new arrangements of Duke Ellington standards. He’ll be joined by special guest vocalist Jackie Ryan. Friday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. Hillside Club. $25
💃 La Peña presents Kalifeña, an evening of live flamenco music and dance led by Bay Area flamenco mainstay Melissa Cruz, featuring Caro Acuña Olvera and Katiana Vilá on vocals and percussion, Luna Alonso on vocals and cello, Bob San on guitar and bass, and guitarist Jesse Torre. Friday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. La Peña Cultural Center. $20
🎶 Karla Bonoff, a central figure in the 1970s singer/songwriter movement, with pieces interpreted by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Wynonna Judd and Lynn Anderson, is a masterly performer of her own work, and she’ll be joined by guitar great Nina Gerber, a collaborator for more than two decades. Friday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. Freight & Salvage. $44-$49
🎻 The Starry Plough hosts an epic dance party with the Balkans-meets-North Africa combo La Zuli, co-led by violinist Briana Di Mara and guitarist Anis Sehiri, and Los Alegres Callejeros, a cumbia and Latin tropical band that formed in 2017 at First Fridays in Oakland, and special guests. The event is a fundraiser for La Zuli’s debut album. Friday, Nov. 22, 9 p.m. Starry Plough. $15-20
🖌 ️The monthly Nature Journaling Club meets for sketching and watercoloring the wildlife at the Berkeley waterfront. Learn various nature journaling techniques and practices while observing local wildlife. Each session will focus on one nature journaling technique and one specific journaling topic. Saturday, Nov. 23, 10 a.m. Shorebird Nature Center. $10 (Ages 7+, children accompanied by an adult)
🍗 The portions might be small, but a repast with The Lawrence and SF Microscopical Society offers a close-up look at all your Thanksgiving favorites, providing a microscope peak at turkey, pie and more. Thanksgiving Under the Microscope also explores traditional Ohlone foods and ingredients. Saturday, Nov. 23, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Lawrence Hall of Science. FREE (with admission)
📚 David Silver, author of The Farm at Black Mountain College, returns to the library’s Claremont branch for a book signing, reading, and Q&A about his new book about the seminal institution that incubated emerging modernist masters such as Ruth Asawa, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Charles Olson. Saturday, Nov. 23, 3 p.m. Claremont Branch. FREE
🎶 A 17-piece jazz orchestra led by the Berkeley guitarist/arranger Tony Corman, the Morchestra focuses on a program of Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean material featuring a bevy top Bay Area musicians and some distinguished guests. Saturday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m. Ashkenaz. $21-$26
🥑 BAMPFA presents the premiere of Clouds from a Crumbling Giant, a Daoist-inspired dance performance by San Francisco experimental dance troupe inkBoat. Part of a BAMPFA residency this week, the new work was created in response to the themes of ephemerality and change in BAMPFA’s downstairs exhibition To Exalt the Ephemeral: The (Im)permanent Collection. Sunday, Nov. 24, 3 p.m. BAMPFA. FREE (with gallery admission)
🎶 The Berkeley Women’s Chorus presents an eclectic classical repertoire at its first concert under the leadership of Julia Morris, who took over the group from retiring founder Debra Golata. Sunday, Nov. 24, 4 p.m. Northbrae Church. FREE
🦇 Bay Area bat specialist Corky Quirk offers an up-close introduction to Northern California bats, the myths that surround them, and the importance of bats in our environment. She’s bringing several of her rescue bats for show and tell. Monday, Nov. 25, 4-4:45 p.m. Central Library. FREE
🎩 Award-winning stand-up comedian and magician Sean Francisco opens the night with his singular blend of jokes and sleight-of-hand, and then is joined by mind-reading sensation Jake Berg, a top mentalist from New York City who uses his unique skill set to delve into the minds of his audience. Saturday, Nov. 30, 8 p.m. The Back Room. $20
🌲 Stained Glass Garden offers a free, all-ages, fused-glass ornament-making workshop with help from the store’s elves. Create the piece then pick it up a week later after they fuse it in the kilns. Sunday, Dec. 1, 1-3 p.m. Stained Glass Garden. FREE🍽️ Celebrate Giving Tuesday with a zero-waste culinary experience led by chef Helga Alessio and special guest Lisa Pinckney from Copper, an event that invites you to connect over food, community and sustainability in an inspiring setting. Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m. Ecology Center. $40 (includes one-year Ecology Center membership)
Beyond Berkeley
Monica Rose Slater, Michael Perez, and Veronica Renner in Oakland Theater Project and New Performance Tradition’s production of Ghost Quartet. Credit: Ben Krantz Studio👻 Berkeleyside critic Emily S. Mendel called Ghost Quartet “the most unusual theatrical experience.” The play, which ends its run on Nov. 24, is Oakland Theater’s Project’s first musical and was co-produced with Paul Dresher and his nonprofit New Performance Traditions. The play follows a group of ghost friends trading tales of love, longing, heartbreak and betrayal while sipping on whiskey. Thursday-Friday, Nov. 21-22, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 23-24, 2 p.m. 1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. $10-$60
📸 The exhibit Night Vision by Bay Area Photographers Collective members, including Chad Amory, Maria Budner, Ingo Bork, Anthony Delgado, Tim Glinin, Anastasia Shubina, John Martin, Ari Salomon, Neo Serafimidis, Chris Stevens-Yu, Alison Taggart-Barone, Rusty Weston and Nick Winkworth showcases night photography. On display through Jan. 11. Opening reception: Saturday, Nov. 23, 1-4 p.m., Transmission Gallery Oakland, 770 West Grand Ave., Oakland. FREE
If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at [email protected]. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed to this list. Featured image: Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash.
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