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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Elliot Yamin at Yoshi SF December 29, 2013

 




Jazz Club
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ELLIOTT YAMIN

December 29, 2013


Multi-talented American Idol performer returns to Yoshi's SF

Sunday, Dec 29
  • 7pm $24

"This album is something that I needed to do, for me," Elliott Yamin says of the aptly-titled Let's Get to What's Real, his third album and his first Purpose Music Group/eOne release. "It feels right, and it feels like who I am as an artist. I wanted to make something raw and soulful and organic, so I went wherever the music moved me."

Yamin has already earned a prestigious reputation as both a world-class recording artist and a deeply compelling live performer, having built an impressive body of work as well as an intensely loyal international fan base. On Let's Get to What's Real, the multi-talented artist raises the musical and personal stakes, tapping into the emotional honesty and sonic intimacy of classic soul to create the most inspired and distinctive music he's ever made. The resulting album is the purest expression to date of the musical talent and personal charisma that were first introduced to the public during Yamin's stint as one of the most acclaimed performers to ever compete on TV's American Idol.

"I wanted to get back to making real music with real musicians and real instruments," Yamin says of the new disc. "There were some hints of that on my first album, but my second album was pretty much machine-driven. I like that kind of music too, but this time I wanted to create music about real issues and make a record which reflects this.”

Yamin's fresh new creative leap is apparent on such impassioned new tunes as the intimate, insistent "Self Control," the rousingly upbeat "Gather 'Round," the poignantly autobiographical "Virginia" and the commanding title track, whose lyrical sentiments underline the sense of personal commitment that Yamin brought to the project. Those tracks find the artist decisively reinventing his sound, reaching back to the heartfelt immediacy of vintage R&B while remaining firmly grounded in the present.

Elliott Yamin's website
 

Friday, December 20, 2013

CIRQUE DREAMS at Curran Theatre



Experience gingerbread men flipping mid-air, toy soldiers marching on thin wires, snowmen intricately balancing, icemen sculpting, penguins spinning, puppets dancing and reindeer soaring high above a landscape of holiday wonderment in Cirque Dreams: Holidaze. This visual marvel of a show features an original music score (and some seasonal favorites), more than 30 international artists in beautiful costumes and marvelous settings filled with colossal candy canes, gigantic gifts, and 30-foot-tall towering soldiers. This touring show, which "dazzled" at The Kennedy Center, according to The Washington Post, brings the magic of the holidays to life before your eyes with so much energy that the New York Daily News says it "could end our dependence on oil."

Disney's Beauty and the Beast at Curran Theatre



 
NETworks presents Disney's Beauty and the Beast, a spectacular musical adventure that brings magic roses, dancing candelabras, talking teapots and a whole cast of memorable characters to the stage. Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature film, this tale as old as time includes beloved songs like "Be Our Guest," "A Change in Me," "Human Again" and the unforgettable title track. A love story filled with comedy, romance and friendship, Disney's Beauty and the Beast features songs written by Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Tangled) and the late Howard Ashman (Aladdin), along with new songs by Menken and Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita).

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Weir: A Haunting, Poetic Irish Play


 
An attractive young woman comes into a Dublin pub, and the local barflies try to impress her with ghostly tales. With a whiff of sexual tension in the air and the wind whistling outside, what starts out as blarney soon turns dark as the tales drift into the realm of the supernatural. And it turns out that the woman has the spookiest story of all. Playwright Conor McPherson (Shining City, The Seafarer) wrote The Weir when he was just 26 years old, capturing the Olivier Award for Best New Play and the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright.