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This weekend, roots singer-songwriter Jackie Greene plays The Guild, saxophonist Richard Howell pays tribute to John Coltrane, The Pear opens a world premiere about two silent film legends, the Stanford Theatre features movie musicals and more in its summer program, the Apricot STEM Fair offers hands-on learning for families and Sound Union hosts its first comedy night.
Jackie Greene
Singer-songwriter Jackie Greene brings his distinct style of Americana and roots to The Guild. His laidback yet soulful vocals are equally at home over a breezy bluegrass tune, a blues-inflected ballad, or a high-energy rock anthem. Greene’s pointed lyrics on everything from the political to the personal to the grind of everyday life hit home. A one-time lead guitarist for The Black Crowes, Greene could himself be a one-person band, as he plays guitar, piano, harmonica, mandolin, banjo and drums. R.O. Shapiro opens.
June 29, 8 p.m. at The Guild Theatre, 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, $40, guildtheatre.com.
Richard Howell: A tribute to John Coltrane
Top Bay Area saxophonist Richard Howell performs a very personal concert at the Stanford Jazz Festival, paying tribute to sax great John Coltrane’s 1965 album “A Love Supreme.” Coltrane was an early inspiration for Howell, according to his website. He brings his own spin to the influential album,”preserving its deep emotional core while incorporating his own improvisational brilliance,” as the Stanford Jazz Festival website describes it. Howell is a multitalented, versatile artist who has performed or recorded with a who’s who in music, including Etta James, Chaka Khan, Maurice White, B.B. King, and Taj Mahal, and produced albums for artists such as Vivendo de Pão, UpSurge! and Mo’Rockin Project. Howell is joined in this performance by Glen Pearson, piano, Gary Brown, bass, and Deszon Claiborne, drums.
June 28, 7:30 p.m., at Campbell Recital Hall, Stanford, $18-$47, stanfordjazz.org.
‘Chaplin & Keaton on the Set of Limelight’
The Pear Theatre closes its season with the world premiere of Greg Lam’s new play that looks beyond the slapstick of two legendary comedians. They were both huge stars in the silent-film era, but Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin appeared onscreen together only once, several decades after their heydays. Chaplin cast Keaton in a small but important role in his 1952 film “Limelight” after hearing Keaton had fallen on hard times. The film, set in pre-World War I London’s theater scene, drew on autobiographical elements for Chaplin, but wasn’t widely screened at its release due to Chaplin being targeted by McCarthyism in the early ’50s. This fly-on-the-wall tale imagines what the coming together of two comic geniuses might have been like. It also raises questions about the role of art, especially in politically fraught times.
June 28-July 11 at The Pear Theatre, 1110 La Avenida, Suite A, Mountain View, $38-$40, thepear.org.
Stanford Theatre
It may be kicking off with a movie famous for the classic holiday tune “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” but the Stanford Theatre’s latest program forecasts a sunny, romantic summer. The theater is featuring a celebration of the films of director Vincente Minnelli. He was especially well-known for his innovative hand with musicals, which is on full display in films such as “An American in Paris” (showing July 25-28) and “Gigi” (Aug. 8-11), both of which garnered Oscars for Best Picture. His body of work also includes such musicals as “Brigadoon” (Aug. 3-4) and “Bells Are Ringing” (Aug. 22-25), but Minnelli also had many credits directing romantic comedies, including the original 1950 “Father of the Bride” starring Elizabeth Taylor (July 11-14), and the drama “Madame Bovary” (July 25-28). The program opens June 27-30 with “Meet Me in St. Louis,” which chronicles a year in the life of the Smith family in turn-of-the-20th-century St. Louis, and the whirlwind wartime romance “The Clock,” both starring Judy Garland.
The Vincente Minelli festival runs Thursdays-Sundays, June 27-Aug. 25 at the Stanford Theatre, 221 University Ave., Palo Alto. $7 general admission/$5 seniors and students. For a full schedule, visit stanfordtheatre.org.
Apricot STEM Fair
The Los Altos History Museum invites families to explore science, technology, engineering and math through a day of activities that highlight the science and history of human movement. Guests can learn about steam power from a model train, find out the inside scoop on the physics that make roller coasters work; get insight into the history and future of how technology has been used to transport humans. They can also help the museum get a new orchard started by transporting apricot seeds via a variety of means — even a rocket. Food and beverages from Tal Palo will be available for purchase.
June 29, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at the Los Altos History Museum, 51 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, $10, losaltoshistory.org.
The Hystericals comedy night
It may be known as a space for music, but Redwood City’s Sound Union will be strictly for laughs this weekend. The studio space and music venue is hosting its first comedy night, produced by local promoters Laff Caraff. The evening features a lineup of five Bay Area-based comics: Ed Ruben, Rob Edwards, Natalie Fowzie, Rudy Ortiz with headliner Steve Bruner.
June 29, 8 p.m., at Sound Union, 2625 Broadway, Redwood City, $25 advance/$30 at the door, eventbrite.com.
