Our picks of this week's events
From an art exhibition rounding up the top players in San Diego's art scene to the grand opening of a cool custom-sneaker boutique, we here at CityBeat have made sure you have some things to do this week
MUSIC
All that jazz
The Bad Plus are experimental enough to appeal to the avant-garde crowd, but they keep it cool and pretty straightforward, which makes the jazz traditionalist happy, too. They’re just one of the bands at this year’s Jazz 88 Ocean Beach Jazz Festival. From noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, the annual festival and fair will also put fellow jazzmen The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Kevin Mohogany’s Kansas City Revue, Brasilia and the Jazz 88 All Stars on an outdoor stage so you can enjoy the mellow surrounds of O.B. while taking in the music. Tickets start at $30. www.objazz.org.
No joke: Schroeder, the quiet blond in the comic strip Peanuts, understood the capabilities of the toy piano. The kid would rattle off Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” on the tiny thing and make it sound as if he were playing a full-bodied grand piano. Scott Paulson, UCSD’s resident eccentric (aka the outreach coordinator for the library), understands the reach of toy pianos, too, and at noon Friday, Sept. 5, he’ll show the rest of the world how good those little things can sound. Local composers and performers, including Paulson himself, Sue Palmer, Christian Hertzog and Kenneth Herman, will play everything from Dr. Seuss to John Cage—an American composer who wrote serious works for the toy piano and whose birthday happens to be on the same day—at this annual Toy Piano Festival at the Geisel Library on the UCSD campus. Free. 858-822-5758.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Doin’ some good
You probably spend more than $40 getting to and from work every day. These are hard economic times, but no matter how bad it gets, there’s always someone who has it worse. From 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, the $40 you spend on a ticket to Fruit of the Soul will go directly to The Monarch School, a nonprofit that educates homeless and at-risk children. And you’ll end up feeding more than your soul at this annual fundraising event: Restaurants including Bleu Boheme, Cowboy Star, Hash House A Go Go and The Pearl have donated food. There’ll also be a silent auction and art display and live musical performances by Gilvert Castellanos, Bushwalla and the Lisa Campbell Band. It all happens at the Specialty Produce Warehouse, 1929 Hancock St. in Middletown. www.fruitofthesoul.org.
FASHION
One of two
Walking into Milo, the new North Park shop, the first thing you’ll notice is the über-clean modern and organically inspired interior design (the latest and the greatest from the Bells & Whistles design team). The next thing you’ll notice are the shoes, custom-designed by local and international artists and hanging on the boutique and gallery’s new walls as any one-of-a-kind work of art should. Celebrate the creative new business venture at the grand-opening party from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 (full disclosure: CityBeat’s the media sponsor of the event). An official after-party with Feel the Noise DJs Saul Q and Gabe Vega will follow at U-31. Milo is located at 3824 Ray St. www.myspace.com/miloshoe sandgallery.
ART
The doers
The Movers & Shakers exhibition opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, at Art Expressions Gallery, 2645 Financial Court (just east of Interstate 5 and west of Clairemont), may be one of the most comprehensive and inclusive exhibitions ever to hit San Diego. Not only will the portraits of all the major players in the local arts and culture scene be on display, but the portraits have been done by many of the major painters, sculptors and photographers in the city. For those in San Diego who are still looking for our artistic pulse, this show is a grand introduction to the people at the heart of the scene. Portraits include one of local art collectors Debra and Larry Poteet by Raul Guerrero, one of architect Jonathan Segal by Dan Camp and one of Hugh Davies by Jeff Yeomeans. www.moversandshakers.sdvag.net.
SPOKEN WORD
Right to marry
At 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, Sunset Poets will leave behind their poems about love and beauty in exchange for a politically charged night featuring works in opposition to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Los Angeles poet and educator Eloise Klein Healy will lead the charge, and an open-mic session will follow. The readings start at 2 p.m. at the Flying Bridge Restaurant, 1105 N. Coast Hwy. in Oceanside. sunsetpoets@sbcglobal.net or 760-758-2410.
Published: 09/02/2008
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