Boot up your Google calendars, East Bay. Here’s what you’re doing this weekend.
Jazz Mafia Stevie Wonder Celebration
On September 27, 2009, Stevie Wonder — yes, the real Stevie Wonder, of Talking Book and Music of My Mind, and that bizarre album about the secret lives of plants — showed up at Coda jazz club in San Francisco to jam with Jazz Mafia. It was, bandleader Adam Theis would write in a blog post the next day, “the best night of my life.” And even from a crappy video posted on the Jazz Mafia web site, the enthusiasm is contagious — especially when Wonder launches into a dazzling rendition of “Can’t Help It,” the song he wrote for Michael Jackson. In the two years since, Theis and company have tried over and over again to rekindle that experience. They’ll do it again at The New Parish (579 18th St., Oakland), on Friday, May 13, with a ten-piece band in honor of Wonder’s birthday. The man himself isn’t scheduled to appear this time, but, well — you never know. 9 p.m., $15, $20. TheNewParish.com.— Rachel Swan
