Event Listing - Theater

Sat May 31

JCC East Bay & the Jewish Music Festival present

Beth Custer Ensemble & Black Olive Babes

Tel. 510-848-0237
Website

Location	Date and Time
JCC East Bay 1414 Walnut St. Berkeley, CA 94709 cross street: Rose St. district: Berkeley	Sat May 31 (8:00 PM)

Description

The Beth Custer Ensemble’s diverse array of projects—from musical theater productions (Ballad of Pancho & Lucy, Le The, and June in a Box, all with collaborator Octavio Solis) to silent film scores to avant-pop compositions—fluidly blend the group’s influences of jazz, funk, and Latin rock. Featuring the crème de la crème of Bay Area musicians, including drummer Jan Jackson (who plays with Grammy-nominated Will Bernard), guitarist David James (The Coup, Spearhead), iconic pianist Graham Connah, bassist Mark Calderon (The Meters, Roots), and, of course, Beth Custer (Club Foot Orchestra, Clarinet Thing), the band bursts forth with a genre-defying repertoire.

Black Olive Babes, a new project led by Juliana Graffagna—a seventeen-year veteran of the premiere women’s vocal ensemble KITKA—kick off the evening with a mix of concert and dance tunes derived from Albanian, Romani, Greek and American traditions, showcasing a catalogue that jumps effortlessly from the American ballad Wayfaring Stranger to the Albanian standard Valle Korcau.