with
CONJURE!
con-jure: make (something) appear unexpectedly or seemingly from nowhere as if by magic
India Cooke, violin (on tour in April)
Lewis Jordan, saxophone, word
Joe McKinley, contrabass
Donald Robinson, set drum
Special Guest in April: Carl Heyward
artist/writer leader and founding member of GAP (Global Art Project, an international collaborative mixed-media collective). He will join the performance by whatever collaborative means necessary, in a setting for audience and performers alike to realize improvisation as a synesthetic experience.
Carl Heyward's Artist Statement: "I am a mixed-media artist with an interest in juxtaposition of imagery and themes through various media; there is something appealing to me in the combination of fractured or fragmented images that coalesce into something new and different especially in that the "rough-edges" of the units have meaning and can't be broken down any further as "morpheme" in language; these visual units are then put together with other, often dissimilar, morphemes producing something between the lines, so to speak; an alchemy beyond intention; the parts not distilled, but united with other units of visual meaning, information producing a higher plane of communication."
Carl Heyward will join the performance by whatever collaborative means necessary, in a setting for audience and performers alike to realize improvisation as a synesthetic experience.
The Free World Third Thursdays series is curated by India Cooke, violin and Lewis Jordan, saxophone. It is a new forum for great black art and beyond: Innovative explorations from the roots to the branches of music, dance, visual art, and word. Bringing local, national and international performers, scholars, students and interested public together in a forum designed to enhance and broaden understanding and awareness of the dynamic cultural impact of African American music and art, in all its diverse expressions.
India Cooke, violinist, recorded and released, to critical acclaim, her Grammy nominated debut CD as a leader, India Cooke~Redhanded (Music and Arts 1996). Her continuing jazz and improvisational experiences include performances and recordings with Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, George Lewis, Pharoah Sanders, Julius Hemphill, Reggie Workman, George Sams, Abdul Wadud, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Peter Kowald, John Lindberg, James Emery, Eddie Marshall, E.W. Wainwright, John Tchicai, Michael White, Pauline Oliveros, Donald Robinson, Lewis Jordan, and Bill Crossman, among many others.
Lewis Jordan, alto and baritone saxophonist, is an international touring and recording musician, poet, actor and playwright. He was a founding member of United Front, a seminal San Francisco Bay Area ensemble known for its originality, aggressive imagination and cultural synthesis. He focuses on creative structures for improvisation, working with artists from a range of practices, presented in his Music at Large productions. He seeks performers who strive for modes of expression that honor their traditions while speaking to the urgency of the present.
Suggested Donation $20
Children welcome! Ages 12 and under Free admission. No one turned away for lack of funds.
7:30pm to 9:30pm, 2133 University Avenue
Master playwright David Ives (Venus in Fur, All in the Timing) reinvigorates Jean-François Regnard's 1708 comedy about greed, love, and intrigue in Aurora's Bay Area Premiere of THE HEIR APPARENT. Penniless Eraste desperately wants to marry Isabelle, but first he needs to secure an inheritance from his elderly uncle, Geronte. The ailing Geronte, however, is not yet ready to be fitted for a shroud. In fact, he's ready to be measured for bridegroom's attire and is eager to marry Isabelle himself. The plot unravels as Eraste and his resourceful servants enact a series of increasingly absurd schemes to part the old man from his money and his life.
Josh Costello (Detroit, Wittenberg) helms THE HEIR APPARENT, which The New York Times hailed as "Boisterous, bawdy and endlessly funny... lavishly spiced with contemporary slang that springs from the prancing verse like little jack-in-the-boxes and never fails to delight," The Wall Street Journal called "Brilliant! Prepare to laugh and laugh and laugh-and laugh!" and the Washingtonian declared, "This over-the-top farce is clever, funny, and fast...a gem of a play." Commissioned by Shakespeare Theater Company in 2011, this comedy of avarice and errors is hell-bent on drawing laughs.
Previews: April 15, 16, 20 at 8pm; April 17 at 2pm; April 19 at 7pm
Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2pm and 7pm
Post-show Talkbacks: April 22, 26, May 4, 12
Closes: May 15
8pm to 10pm, Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison Stree
7:00 pm East Coast swing dance lessons hosted by Karen and Michael. $15.
525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com
8pm, Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center, 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA, United States
$16 adv / $18 door. 644-2020. www.thefreight.org
8pm, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA, United States