8 Days a Week

June 26-July 3, 2002

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO a group of Asian American activist-musicians consolidated their independent efforts and formed Asian Improv aRts, which has since then been nurturing, presenting, and chronicling a diverse array of arts that embody and express the Asian American experience. At the forefront of this Bay Area-based movement have been saxophonist Francis Wong, pianist Jon Jang, bassist Mark Izu, and drummer Anthony Brown, among many others. AsianImprov Records, now based in Chicago, where bassist Tatus Aoki has been a prime mover, has released more than 50 albums that document the progressive, wide-ranging sounds known as Pacific Rim contemporary music. To acknowledge a decade and a half of visionary multicultural accomplishments, AIR and the APA Arts and Heritage Festival present the Asian Improv aRts 15th Anniversary Celebration, a two-night celebration of music and dance. Sonic and visual fireworks open this mini-festival on Friday with a "Forces in Motion" concert featuring Bruce Mui Ghent's Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, Sue Li Jue's Facing East Dance and Music, and the integrated Taiko-bass-vocals-and-dance of Red Jade. On Saturday, Wong (recipient of a Meet the Composer New Residencies grant) leads a unique ensemble featuring Jang, Aoki, percussionist Jimmy Biala, clarinetist Jim Norton, pianist-vocalist Jennifer Shyu, and cellist Dina Shek. Following the "Wong Works" concert for separate admission is the Swing Dance Party with Yoko Noge and the Triangle Sister Cities Band. Concerts Fri/28-Sat/29, 8 p.m.; Dance party Sat/29, 10 p.m., ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., S.F. $15-$20. (415) 863-9834. (Derk Richardson)

June 26

Wednesday

Factory made Though she'll forever be known as Hanoi Hannah, formidable star of Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls, Mary Woronov is a woman of many talents. Even if you don't count the 40-odd films she's appeared in (Death Race 2000, Eating Raoul ... uh, Dick Tracy), her startling television guest-star résumé (everything from Charlie's Angels to Family Matters to Parker Lewis Can't Lose), and her theater work, there's still Woronov's flourishing career as a writer, which has yielded screenplays, television scripts, and four novels. She discusses her latest, Niagara, tonight. Fellow Serpent's Tale Press author Ann Rower also appears with her latest, Lee and Elaine. 6:30 p.m., City Lights Booksellers, 261 Columbus, S.F. Free. (415) 362-8193. (Cheryl Eddy)

June 27

Thursday

Drag city Join the Bay Guardian in celebrating Pride Week at 'Remembering Stonewall,' a drag show and benefit for the Positive Resource Center, which provides counseling, employment services, and training for people with HIV and AIDS. Buy raffle tickets for a chance to win an S-M kit, computer games, gift certificates, and more; S-M paraphernalia and other goodies will also be auctioned off to the highest bidders. The event will be hosted by the lovely Manley Lennox (also of the Bay Guardian) and S.F. Leatherboy 17 Lance Brittain. Admittance is free, there will be plenty of drink specials, and it's all for a good cause – so come on out! 8 p.m., Club Rendez-Vous, 1312 Polk, S.F. Free. (415) 673-7934. (Angie Edwards)

Cat fight If Rufus Thomas had managed the Germs (and Darby Crash's parents had been nicer), they might have come across like Japanther. The Brooklyn-based duo don't like to waste time; in the year since they formed, they've released three CDs (one recorded on tour in a bathroom) and toured three times, playing with the likes of Lightning Bolt, the Fucking Champs, and 7,000 Dying Rats. Armed with a keyboard and metal-logo T-shirts, Japanther are bringing their noisy synth-hardcore around the country this summer with all the hopped-up urgency of preachers. Tussle round out the show with their austere, post-punk instrumentals. 10 p.m., Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $5. (415) 923-0923. (Elizabeth Lobsenz)

June 28

Friday

Jazz hands Free jazz fans who grumbled about "their" music being left out of Ken Burns's much debated PBS documentary Jazz can now rejoice. Inside Out in the Open, which premiered last summer in New York City, tells the story of this once-revolutionary (and still often misunderstood) form of music. Making its California premiere tonight with filmmaker Alan Roth in attendance, the documentary is built around interviews with a range of free jazz musicians, including '60s veterans like saxophonists Marion Brown and former Art Ensemble of Chicago member Joseph Jarman and younger players such as bassist William Parker, pianist Matthew Shipp, and drummer Susie Ibarra. The film also features live footage of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Germany's Peter Brotzmann, and late Bay Area legend Glenn Spearman, among others. 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, S.F. $3-$6. (415) 978-2787. (Will York)

June 29

Saturday

Where the girls are It's Pride Week, and San Francisco is teeming with lesbians. If the overstimulation is leading you astray, try focusing on Saturday's Dyke March in the Mission and Sunday's Nectar Stage at the LGBT Pride Celebration. On Saturday follow the stencil signs on the sidewalk to Dolores Park for some pre-march entertainment, including bands Chi Chi Palace, Orquesta d'Soul, and Shawna Virago and the Deadly Nightshade Family; spoken word artists Meliza Bañales and the Liquid Fire Project; drag king troupes the Disposable Boy Toys and the Kings of Consciousness; and speakers addressing the simple theme of this year's Dyke March: dykes for peace, peace for dykes. The march steps off at 7:30 p.m., winding its way through the Mission and up into the Castro, where the party continues with dancers and DJs. At Sunday's Pride Celebration, dykes and their friends should take a moment to celebrate the resurfacing of Dead or Alive at the Main Stage, then tear themselves away for a day-long party at the Nectar Stage, where the all-women lineup includes Ferron, the Quails, the Hail Marys, Boy Wonder, Nedra Johnson, Kaia Wilson, Ulali, Bleu, and many, many more. Dyke March: today, entertainment 3 p.m., Dolores Park, Dolores at 18th St., S.F.; gather for march 7 p.m., Dolores and 19th St.; party 9:30 p.m., Castro at Market. Free. (415) 241-8882. Nectar Stage: Sun., noon-7 p.m., Golden Gate and Leavenworth, S.F. Pride party $3. (415) 263-4898. (Lynn Rapoport)

Loud, dumb rules It's been nearly 22 years since Nubs released their 7-inch slab of lo-fi, lo-I.Q. puerility "Job/Little Billy's Burning" (Businessman). And while the single has gone on to become a cult classic (fetching large coin with the record geek set), Nubs did not. Not having learned their lesson the first time, founding members Dave Muñiz and Jim Stockford have recommissioned the ol' band name so that an entire new generation of kids can give a shit less about them. Only this time they have a full-length CD out. Wonderfully idiotic in concept and delivery, their self-released eponymous album is a triumph, in a finger-in-the-eye kinda way. Babies drown in bathtubs while mommies snort coke, corpses are back door'd, and the word "retard" gets tossed around like so much confetti. And what was once dumb and old is dumb and new again. Tonight Nubs celebrate their official disc release with Angry Amputees, Jack Saints, Fracas, the Secret Society of the Sonic Six, and Aces High. 9 p.m., Kimo's, 1351 Polk, S.F. $7. (415) 885-4535. (John O'Neill)

Ring-tailed fun Lemurs – Madagascar's most famous furry natives – are the main event this weekend when the San Francisco Zoo celebrates the opening of the 'New Zoo.' The project includes a new main entrance, new art installations, a restored carousel, and a new indoor café, but the crowds'll really be pouring in to check out the Lipman Family Lemur Forest exhibit, a large habitat built to house five species of the wide-eyed, arboreal primates. Swing by to meet zookeepers, participate in special activities, and be among the first to welcome these endangered animals to their new home by the ocean. Though Sun/30. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., San Francisco Zoo, 1 Zoo Road (near Sloat and the Great Highway), S.F. $1.50-$10. (415) 753-7080, www.sfzoo.org. (Eddy)

June 30

Sunday

Taste the rainbow Ours is a city of many parades, but frankly, the annual San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Parade (and the celebration that follows), now in its 32nd year, is the one you absolutely don't want to miss. This year's train of glitter, feathers, and six-pack abs boogies down Market Street headed by celeb Grand Marshals Sharon "Cagney" Gless and Sir Ian "Gandalf" McKellen. After, everyone – in the spirit of this year's theme, "Be Yourself, Change the World" – will skittle over to the Civic Center, where there are 10 stages of multicultural entertainment, including a Latin music stage; Nectar, the women's stage; the Soul of Pride African American stage; the Asian and Pacific Islander stage; the Faerie Freedom Village, for yoga and open mic enthusiasts; and trance and swing stages. Main Stage headliners include Dead or Alive, Janis Ian, Marc Almond of Soft Cell, Pansy Division, Bitch and Animal, and others. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m., parade begins at Market and Beale, S.F.; celebration, San Francisco Civic Center, Larkin at Grove, S.F. $3 (parade free). (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. (Eddy)

July 1

Monday

Summer sons Don't know about you indigenous Bay Area folk, but as an East Coast expat with a memory of seasonal change, having Arlo hit town is a very welcome thing. Sporting a ridiculous optimism, breezy melodies, sardonic wit, and (just enough) testosterone for propulsion purposes, the four-piece are the three-chord, chiming-harmony, super-melodic equivalent of summer sun and fun. And while all great power pop bands from Chris Stamey right up through the Gigolo Aunts have been able to convey warm, fuzzy nostalgia, Arlo do their writing straight from the garage rather than the heart. Their second disc, Stab the Unstoppable Hero (Sub Pop), is a shot full of buzzing, unhinged passion that recalls Teenage Fanclub, Cheap Trick, Weezer, the ice cream peddler, bikini tops, Saturday-morning cartoons, and hangin' out on the common at noon. 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $7. (415) 621-4455. (O'Neill)

July 2

Tuesday

Youth notes You really can't dispute the value of music education, especially when it's provided free to a student who might not otherwise be able to reap its benefits. One of the most successful music education programs in these parts is UC Berkeley's own Young Musicians Program, which provides private instruction, as well as intense summer training programs, to talented elementary and secondary school students who come from low-income backgrounds. How successful is the YMP? All of the student participants over the past 13 years have gone onto college, many armed with music scholarships. Help raise money for this worthy cause – and get in some great jazz for good measure – at 'A Night out with the Young Musicians Program,' a concert at Yoshi's featuring the professional talents of saxophonists Dave Ellis and Charles McNeal, flügelhornist Dmitri Matheny, bassist Ruth Davies, and others, as well as the YMP's own jazz combo. You just might be among the first to see a future music superstar. 8 p.m., Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero West, Jack London Square, Oakl. $12-$30. (510) 238-9200. (Eddy)

July 3

Wednesday