Live Music / Concerts

The 2008 San Francisco Electronic Music Festival will be presented from Sept. 3 to 7 at Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida St. (between 17th and Mariposa) in San Francisco.

The festival consists of five evenings of performances by internationally recognized artists and musicians. This year’s lineup includes a wide array of electronic music pioneers, modern innovators, and emerging artists whose styles and methods include contemporary chamber music, glitch, industrial sounds, music concrete, sound design, drone music, free improvisation and pop music.

The lineup is as follows:

Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra (AAO) will celebrate its 10-year history with the release of a new commemorative CD entitled “Ten,” and with performances at Yoshi’s San Francisco on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 8 and 10 p.m.

Yoshi’s is located at 1330 Fillmore (at Eddy) on the ground floor of the Fillmore Heritage Center.

The Yoshi’s event, which inaugurates the AAO’s annual home season, takes as its theme “Bridging Japantown and the Fillmore With Jazz.”

by YOKO MORIHIRO
Hokubei Mainichi

Jazz saxophonist Sadao Watanabe has been playing music for more than 50 years, winning acclaim both in Japan and abroad. He will be kicking off a six-city U.S. tour in San Francisco on Aug. 29.

The last time Watanabe (affectionately nicknamed “Nabesada”) visited the U.S. with Japanese members of his band was 14 years ago. This time around, he and his crew have a whole slew of original songs and the performances promise to be enjoyable.

Watanabe spoke with the Hokubei about this tour and his future hopes and goals.

Looking for the best free show of the summer? Check out the music this weekend at the 35th annual Nihonmachi Street Fair in San Francisco's Japantown (Post Street between Laguna and Webster).

Every summer the non-profit community festival convenes in Nihonmachi for the benefit of Asian American and Pacific Islander community groups, service agencies, and artisans from around the Bay Area.

"The Street Fair is a celebration of community service, heritage, and culture," says Grace Horikiri, president. "That commitment extends to the two days of free entertainment as well."

Goh Nakamura will be celebrating the release of his latest album, "Ulysses," on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 8:30 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market St. in San Francisco.

He will be joined by fellow artists Scrabbel and Michelle Amador.

Nakamura is a Bay Area-based musician who writes ditties about parking tickets, impossible crushes and faraway dreamlands. With one foot in the traditional troubadour world and another in the digital age, he performs at venues small, large and virtual to an enthusiastic and ever-growing audience.

Tuesday, Aug. 5, was the first day of the Guitar Foundation of America’s (GFA) biggest classical guitar event in San Francisco, featuring both the International Solo Competition 2008 and the GFA International Convention in tandem.

The six-day event, which will be running every day until Sunday, Aug. 10, is being held at two venues: the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St.; and the Herbst Theatre, in the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Ave.

The Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, in conjunction with Yerba Buena Gardens,
will present Sawai USA as part of this year’s ongoing Thursday Lunchtime Concert
Series at Yerba Buena Gardens, located on Howard Street between 3rd and 4th streets.

As part of its diplomatic mission, the consulate participates in the series every year. This year's concert will take place Thursday, Aug. 14, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

OAKLAND — Koto masters Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto and Brian Mitsuhiro Wong will perform at two East Bay venues.

On Saturday, Aug. 2, from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m., they will appear at Buddhist Church of Oakland's Obon Festival along with students Felicia Kazuou Bock, Isabella Lew, Mika Mar, Kiyomi Nomura and Sydney Paderna.

The songs will include "Mai Agaru Fusen" (The Dancing Balloon), "Mari Tsuki" (Playing With a Ball), "Kaguyahime" (The Moon Princess), "Kumo" (The Spider), and "Gaku" (Music) by Tadao Sawai.

SACRAMENTO — Grammy Award-winning musician Mary Youngblood will be playing at the 22nd annual August Peace Event Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Sacramento State Alumni Center, located on the south end of the Sacramento State University campus.

The event, which will be held on the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, will feature Youngblood’s Native American flute music as well as presentations by Dr. Bill Durston, Rev. Bob Oshita, and Pamela Vergun.

by SHINTARO TANAKA
Hokubei Mainichi

Akabanaa, an Okinawan specialty store located on the second floor of the Miyako Mall in San Francisco’s Japantown, celebrated the second anniversary of the store’s opening on July 5.

The event featured traditional Okinawan dance by the Chikaho-Kai classical Okinawan
dance troupe and Okinawan sanshin music played by renowned musician Toru Yonaha.