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Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz FestivalWorth the trip down South, this historic festival always brings the brightest stars to the edge of the Pacific. With that said, it’s probably best to let the lineup do the talking: Herbie Hancock, Jason Moran, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Gary Clark Jr., Booker T. Jones, the Roots, Billy Childs (with special guests Shawn Colvin, Lisa Fischer and Becca Stevens), Marcus Miller, Charles Lloyd, Jon Batiste & Stay Human, Michael Feinstein, Christian McBride, Melissa Aldana, Brian Blade, Oakland native Ambrose Akinmusire and many more. Details and ticket information here.
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‘FSM’
‘FSM’The acronym (in this case) stands for “Free Speech Movement.” Fifty years ago this fall, students at UC Berkeley began a series of massive protests and strikes against limits to free speech and political organizing on campus, led by Mario Savio. Those events and their consequences are the subject of a play opening this weekend called FSM. Stagebridge, a small company, offers this unique musical event at San Francisco’s Brava Theater with an encore performance the following weekend at Berkeley Rep. Details and ticket information here.
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Somi
SomiIt’s common for jazz singers abroad to move to New York City to make it big. But among those artists already living in the Big Apple, who goes and moves to Nigeria? Somi, that’s who. After her father died, the Illinois-born vocalist, raised by immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, left for Lagos in 2011 in order to immerse herself in the city with a rich musical history. As a result, The Lagos Music Salon is Somi’s latest album, brimming with inspiration from Lagos’ culture. She’s on a special tour of small rooms, and appears with her inventive backup band at the Red Poppy Arthouse on Sept. 19 and 20; two shows each night, at 7pm and 8:30pm. Details and ticket information here.
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‘Art/Act: Maya Lin’
‘Art/Act: Maya Lin’Maya Lin will probably always be best known for designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., but she’s been prolific since, having done plenty of work here in the Bay Area. Now, she has a new show about threatened species and environments, including abstract wall sculptures to represent entities like the San Francisco Bay and Tuolumne River. Visit Berkeley’s Brower Center to enjoy this free exhibition through early 2015. Details here.
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Nick Jonas
Nick JonasOh brother, he art here. Nick Jonas is the “gritty, interesting” ex-Jonas Brother, or so it would seem based on his upcoming stint on DirecTV’s Kingdom, where the purity ring comes off and the MMA gloves go on. Plus, he’s got a hotly anticipated self-titled record coming out on Nov. 11. Catch this multichannel media darling before he gets too hot to handle. Details and ticket information here.