October 2, 2002

8 Days a Week

Oct. 2-9, 2002

TWO OF MEXICO City's more unique female vocalists are in town for back-to-back, border-blurring engagements. Singer-songwriter and rising world music star Lila Downs, a native of Mexico and Minnesota, zigzags through a polyglot landscape of traditional and original compositions, blending Mexican and American folk, jazz, and blues with politically penetrating lyrics. Backed by a versatile five-piece band and sounding by turns like Susana Baca, Mercedes Sosa, or Alanis Morissette, she's a transnational stylist for the new century. Meanwhile, already high up in Mexico's musical firmament is Astrid Hadad, the absolute must-see (to believe) cabaret diva whose outrageous dadaist stage show is one of the coolest acts in a vibrant cultural underground. Surreally attired like Luis Buñuel's long-lost Mexican sister, she delivers a potent lounge mix that includes her trademark "Heavy Nopal," heavy metal Mexican folk. Hadad – who lovingly teases and lashes her audience with a barbed tongue that takes no prisoners, political or otherwise – knows a woman's place is in the kitsch. Lila Downs Wed/2-Sun/6, 8 p.m., $22-$24; Astrid Hadad Oct. 9-13, 8 p.m., $28-$30, Brava Theater Center, 2789 24th St., S.F. (415) 647-2822, www.brava.org. (Robert Avila)

Oct. 2

Wednesday

Mason milestone The Fort Mason Center is celebrating 25 years at 'Birthday by the Bay,' but the former military stronghold has actually been around a lot longer, doing its part during World War II and the Korean War. Now a National Historic Landmark, the multibuilding facility has hosted everyone from the Dalai Lama to Elizabeth Taylor since its 1977 transformation to the cultural hot spot it is today. Check the Bay Guardian's calendar listings any given week and you're sure to see Fort Mason hosting a craft fair, dance performance, lecture, comedy show, or – quite likely – all of the above. Tip your hat to Pier 39's way cooler neighbor by partaking of a cake and ice cream reception with live entertainment by the center's resident performance groups. In honor of the festivities, Fort Mason also offers free admission to its many art spots: the Mexican Museum, the Museo ItaloAmericano, the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery. Reception 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., free museum day noon-7 p.m., Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, S.F. Free. (415) 345-7550. (Cheryl Eddy)

Oct. 3

Thursday

Jux redux Catch up with the latest sonic damage inflicted by hip-hop pooh-bah El-P and his stable of players at this stop on the Revenge of the Robots Tour. Definitive Jux's dark, loopy CMJ chart-topper RJD2 runs amok alongside Boston word warrior and Grand Royal survivor Mr. Lif, toasting the release of I Phantom, a new album produced by such noise excavators as Fakts One, who also drops in tonight. Meanwhile El-P, a.k.a. El Producto, a.k.a. Jaime Meline, continues his plans for world domination, having elbowed his way – along with RJD2, Aesop Rock, and Cannibal Ox – onto the long list of the Shortlist Music Prize. Top of the world, ma, indeed. 9 p.m., Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell, S.F. $18. (415) 885-0750. (Kimberly Chun)

Back for Morris The Mark Morris Dance Group returns with – as we have come to expect from this marvelously vibrant company – a program that emphasizes the extraordinary amount of work that choreographer Morris keeps creating year after year. Façade, a world premiere, is set to a score that Edith Sitwell commissioned for her poetry in 1921 from a young, penniless William Walton. Foursome – for a quartet of males – is set to Erik Satie piano pieces, and Resurrection to the Richard Rodgers classic "Slaughter on Tenth Ave," from the 1936 musical On Your Toes, originally choreographed by George Balanchine. These two Bay Area premieres received their first performances within the past six months. The company is also bringing back the 1991 A Lake to a Haydn horn concerto, and the 1994 Lucky Charms. Through Sun/6. Thurs/3-Sat/5, 8 p.m.; Sun/6, 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph, Berk. $36-$54. (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (Rita Felciano)

The genius Legends don't come much more legendary than Ray Charles, whose blues and soul peaks (the wrenching vocals of "Drown in My Tears" and "Come Back Baby") are matched by some of the greatest country records ever made (the sheer desolation of "You Don't Know Me" is authoritative, as existential as Camus). The contrasting vocal approaches that Charles brings to these different types of music – convulsive, spirit-wrestling blues cries; stark, smooth country solemnity – are just one aspect of his breadth. As with the late, great Esther Phillips, any style he takes on becomes his own: it's no longer a mere style; it's the music of Ray Charles. You can hear that music live tonight. 8 p.m., Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakl. $39.50-$75.75. (510) 465-6400. (Johnny Ray Huston)

Open up For local artists and their supporters, the arrival of October signals something besides the start of the mad Halloween costume-making season. Since 1975, San Francisco Open Studios has been connecting artists with the public in a mutually beneficial exchange: creative types get to show off and sell their work, while regular folks who've never seen an artist's workspace can get a firsthand glimpse at art in the making. Photography, painting, sculpture, jewelry, and every other imaginable medium are represented during the monthlong event, which focuses on a different group of neighborhoods each weekend in October (check the handy "artist search" on the S.F. Open Studios Web page if you've got someone specific in mind). Today a preview benefit kicks off the event and also an exhibit at SomArts Cultural Center of work by participating Open Studios artists. This weekend open studios are located in the South of Market, Potrero Hill, North Beach, Russian Hill, the Tenderloin, Bayview, Portola, and the Excelsior; pick up a copy of the S.F. Open Studios guide or check the map on page 64 for details. Benefit preview tonight, 6-10:30 p.m., SomArts Cultural Center, gallery, 934 Brannan, S.F. $50-$125. (415) 861-9838. Open Studios runs each weekend in October, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. Guide available at SomArts and other locations; for more information call (415) 704-0686 or go to www.sfopenstudios.com. (Eddy)

Oct. 4

Friday

Roll out the barrel If beer and brats sounds like der Himmel (heaven) to you, come celebrate German heritage at 'Oktoberfest by the Bay,' the largest Teutonic throwdown in California. Munch an enormous Bavarian pretzel while jigging to the sounds of the 21-piece Chico Bavarian Band, who have appeared at the Oktoberfest parade in Munich. There will be singing and dancing aplenty, by the Internationals and Ensemble International. And, of course, lots and lots of beer. It isn't all about ale and wurst though: expect a smorgasbord of information and fun, including an exhibit of arts, crafts, and traditional Deutschland fashions. Through Sun/6. Today, 4-11 p.m.; Sat/5, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun/6, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, S.F. $12. (510) 553-9001, www.oktoberfestbythebay.com (Angie Edwards)

Seeing things Going Forth by Day, video artist Bill Viola's most recent work, highlights the importance of religion in the artist's work. Finding resonance in layered narratives and spiritual themes, the five-part video fresco awakens viewers' emotions by bringing ancient, holy stories and themes to life in a modern milieu. Tonight, Viola will give a talk titled "Moving Stillness" as part of the San Francisco Zen Center's Buddhism Unfolds lecture series. Focusing on the particular concerns of Zen Buddhism with consciousness and perception, Viola will explore the connections between the discipline and his work, and the relevance of Zen to making video and to the social functions of contemporary art. 7:30 p.m., Unitarian Center, 1187 Franklin, S.F. $16. (415) 863-3133; www.ticketweb.com. (Elizabeth Lobsenz)

Cali high Back for a third year is the Hecho en Califas Festival, a celebration of contemporary Latino art and performance that spans several weeks and includes five separate special events. First up is "Saun," an exhibit opening tonight at Gallery Lux highlighting Mexican video and music installations by artists from Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Tijuana. Oct. 19, Latino alt rockers Los Super Elegantes and Silvero shake up the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with a concert aptly titled "Mexpectacular." Nov. 8, La Peña Cultural Center hosts "Bay Area Borikua I," an evening of spoken word and performance by Bay Area Puerto Ricans and Nuyoricans. Nov. 9 the center presents "Bay Area Borikua II," a dance party featuring live salsa and more. Finally, the Oakland Museum of California opens "Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum," a display of Latino art that focuses on works created from the 1950s through '90s. The Nov. 16 opening includes spoken word and musical performances by Hecho en Califas artists. 8 p.m., Gallery Lux, 521 Seventh St., S.F. Free. (415) 864-2222, www.luxdesign.com. For a complete festival schedule call (510) 849-2568 or go to www.lapena.org. (Eddy)

Oct. 5

Saturday

Going places Get yourself a dose of musical medicine tonight with Lessick, San Francisco's own "post-indie rock" dream band, who're celebrating their thrilling debut, Elevator (Blue Orange). The creative core of this group, Charles Gonzalez and Liz Ross, have a literary muse in beat writer Jack Micheline. As a result, their lyrics are emotional and often poetic. The music itself is pretty, well-defined pop with a swirl of space rock. Add to the mix bassist Kenny Childers, drummer Pat Spurgeon, and pianist Bill Cameron and you have an enticing team that will surely pull the masses' heartstrings. Ill Lit open. 9:30 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $5. (415) 861-5016. (Edwards)

Oct. 6

Sunday

Problem solved Math: the very thought of it sends chills down the spines of many whose school days were spent tangling with everything from plus signs to the Pythagorean theorem. But even nonfollowers of factors and fractions can make sense out of the Pacific Film Archive's Cinemath series, a monthlong salute to math-themed films cocurated by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. First up is Darren Aronofsky's seriously disturbing Pi, a tale of numerical obsession gone too far. Other films in the program include Mario Martone's Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician; Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers; George Csicsery's N Is a Number; and Moebius, made by students and faculty at the Universidad del Cine of Buenos Aires. Each screening includes an introduction by a different noted mathematician – including one who served as a consultant on, as well as Russell Crowe's hand double in, A Beautiful Mind – speaking about the depiction of mathematicians in films over time, among other topics. Also included in the Cinemath series is "Permutations and Configurations: A Calculated Cinema," three programs of short, avant-garde films. Through Oct. 27. 5:30 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft, Berk. $7-$8.50. (510) 642-1412. (Eddy)

Oct. 7

Monday

Like transmission Los Angeles-based band Radio Vago are often lumped in with the new new wave, but they deserve a longer shelf life than electroclash skinny ties. On their last visit to San Francisco, the group turned out a spastic, adept, surf-tinged punk set that called to mind Patti Smith, the Pixies, and Iggy Pop as much as anything Mancunian. Summoning more soul and fatter rhythms than their new wave stylings would have you believe, the women in the band eschew vamping for sturdy, danceable rock. Radio Vago play tonight with the Mars Volta (featuring members of At the Drive In) and Fetish. 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $12. (415) 621-4455. (Lobsenz)

Oct. 8

Tuesday

Great frequency The newest CD from Bay Area plunderphonic artist Wobbly, Wild Why (Tigerbeat6), is composed entirely of samples from Bay Area commercial radio broadcasts. Building dense, obsessive songs from unfathomable reams of throwaway hip-hop sound bites, Wobbly creates music that's not as much danceable as it is disorienting, funny, and insistent. Tonight, Wobbly collaborates with People like Us, with whom he shares the approach of creating live music from mainstream radio. The duo of violinist Carla Kihlstedt and synthesizer improviser Bob Ostertag complete the bill. 8 p.m., Black Box, 1928 Telegraph, Oakl. $6-$10. (510) 451-1932. (Lobsenz)

Oct. 9

Wednesday

Hi, gothic Portland, Ore.'s 31 Knots are often described as a prog band because of their intricate, ambitious rock. But since critics squandered that designation on Air and Kid A, and since the band amplifies their King Crimson-esque diversions with fast and forceful rhythms reminiscent of Big Black and Fugazi, "byzantine" is as fitting a description. On the Knots' newest release, A Word Is Also a Picture of a Word (Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!), their cadences provide structure beneath wide melodic and lyrical territory, explored in songs with the painstaking complexity of a mosaic and the power of an imperial bludgeon. Providence, R.I.'s V Is for Vendetta and the Loins join the crusade tonight. 10 p.m., Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $5. (415) 923-0923. (Lobsenz)

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