Latest Events in Costa Occidental(July Updated)

Topics covered in class through lecture, hands on practice, and expiremental learning:  •  Love and Relaxation:  Guided relaxation, partner communication and   the hormones of labor•  Optimal Fetal Positioning:  Preparing your pelvis   and baby for birth •  Moaning and Moving:  Evidence based healthy birth practices, from   vocalizations to opening the pelvic floor, breathing, massage and affirmations•  The Landscape of Labor:  Understanding the physiological and emotional process of birthing your baby, contraction by contraction•  The Role of the Partner:  Cultivating Trust and Safety and hands on skills•  Advocacy and Collaboration:  Positive Communication with Providers•  Understanding Interventions:  Build a toolkits for decreasing  unnecessary interventions and increasing vaginal birth options • After-Birth:   After Birth Options, The Micro-biome, Mental Health and The Sacred Hour​Each class is kept to six couples or less, as this allows for individual and hands-on attention from the instructor. We encourage participants to bring  pillows, a birth ball, snacks and other items that will allow them to get comfortable and relax. We'll practice massage and positions for birth, so wear clothing that allows for squatting and movement! We take an hour lunch break as well, and are just down road the block from the Altamont, Howard's Station and the Bohemian Market.  Each ticket is for two people; pregnant person and partner. If you need to contact me, please do not contect me through Eventbrite, instead, email me at writekgray@gmail.com. Thank you! Information Source: Kelly Gray | eventbrite

This is a once in a lifetime concert celebrating the music and friendship of four pianist/composers who've worked over 5 decades in Jazz, Classical, Gospel, Folk, New Age and Women’s Music, including appearances on over 400 albums, Grammy nominations, Bammy Awards, and thousands of shows around the world. Featuring Mary Watkins, Barbara Higbie, Tammy Lynne Hall and Adrienne Torf. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see these four gifted pianists together! This show will include solo, duo, trio and quartet performances of both beloved classics and new originals drawn from the newly-released CDs by each artist. Their new 2025 albums are the duet album “Heart Flow” By Mary Watkins and Tammy Lynne Hall (produced by Holly Near), “Dreams” by Barbara Higbie and “ TBD “ by Adrienne Torf. Renewal and transformation through the wellspring of creativity is hallmark of these four artists. Tickets are $35 advance, $25 for OCA members. $5 additional at the door (if available). Online fees waived for this event. Get tickets early - we expect this to sell out! Learn more about our center at occidentalcenterforthearts.org About the performers: Mary Watkins , at age 85, is regarded as a beloved, eminent composer of American opera and jazz. Her solo recordings of original compositions range from “Something Moving” (Olivia, 1979) through “Prayer for Peace” (2003) and “Music of the African Diaspora: Prayer for Peace” (Albany Records, 2009.) She has composed three full-length operas: “Queen Clara” (composed and produced by Oakland Opera Theater, 2005), “Dark River” (composed 2009, produced by Mt Holyoke Symphony Orchestra 2014 & Agnes Scott College & Community Orchestra, 2015 ) and “Emmett Till, the Opera” (composed 2019, produced by John Jay College 2022.) Mary has also composed numerous film scores. Barbara Higbie has been a professional musician since age 17, Barbara has played everything from Traditional Jazz, Bluegrass and Irish to New Classical Music, Blues and African Pop. She is known for her ability to compose in a style that is both genre bending and accessible. A Grammy-nominated, Bammy award winning composer, pianist, fiddler, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Barbara Higbie has performed on more than 100 albums. In 2011, Higbie was the first ever “Artist in Residence” at the prestigious west coast Jazz Club, “Yoshi’s”, where she created two new bands. Roots music’s, “Hills to Hollers” with icons Linda Tillery and Laurie Lewis, and the exotic “Cello Heaven” with cellists Joan Jeanreneau of Kronos Quartet fame and new age star, Jami Sieber. Higbie has 13 solo and group recordings to her name, as well as contributions to 10 compilations that have sold in the millions. She was the first female instrumentalist to compose and record for Windham Hill Records, 1982’s Tideline, a duet project with violinist, Darol Anger. Tideline’s unique sound became an instant classic, thanks in part to Higbie’s innovative and moving compositions. Higbie has performed with Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, Terry Riley, the Kronos Quartet, Pete Seeger, Holly Near, Will Ackerman,Cris Williamson, Bobby McFerrin, Milton Nascimento, Spyro Gyra, Michael Hedges, Greg Brown, Ferron, Vinnie Colaiuta, Teresa Trull, Vicki Randle, Amy Ray, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Rosalee Sorrels, Terry Garthwaite, Laurie Lewis, Liz Story, Benny Rietveld and Alex De Grassi among others. Adrienne Torf began studying piano and music theory at the age of three. She has toured and recorded with singers, provided original music for theater and dance companies and, most significantly, collaborated for nineteen-years with African-American poet, essayist and activist June Jordan . Their work together includes Bang Bang Uber Alles , a full-length stage musical/documentary opera whose sold-out Atlanta production in 1985 garnered the attention of the community, the press and the Ku Klux Klan. Adrienne’s recordings include two solo albums of original compositions for piano and synthesizers, Brooklyn From the Roof and Two Hands Open , both recognized as “best of” in the year of their release, and June Jordan and Adrienne Torf Collaboration: Selected Works, 1983-2000 . Adrienne also contributed piano and synthesizer artistry on twelve other commercially released albums, including some by Holly Near, Ferron, Meg Christian and Cris Williamson, and Kay Gardner. Adrienne and Raymond O. Caldwell’s Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience , a theater piece for six actresses and piano, produced by Theater Alliance in Washington DC, was awarded the 2023 Helen Hayes Theater Washington Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical Adaptation. Adrienne’s community-collaboration performance piece The Awesome Difficult Work of Love has been produced in Madison WI, San Francisco and Sedona, AZ. A retired nonprofit CFO, Adrienne has served on boards of nonprofit arts, media and social justice organizations. Pianist, bandleader and SFJAZZ Lead Teaching Artist Tammy Lynne Hall began playing the piano at age four in Dallas, Texas. As a mainstay in the Bay Area, Tammy has worked with a host of renowned artists across multiple genres, including Etta Jones, Kim Nalley, Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Denise Perrier, Tiffany Austin, Nicolas Bearde, Ernestine Anderson, Kenny Washington, the Montclair Women’s Big Band, Houston Person, David "Fathead" Newman, Regina Carter, Laurie Anderson, Marcus Shelby, Allison Miller and many others. Her pianistic touch evokes her deeply rooted gospel and blues foundations, and her education work has continued to shine a light on the power of Black music to heal a weary world. Information Source: Occidental Center for the Arts | eventbrite

Like the powerful mandolinist and composer at its helm, John Reischman and the Jaybirds fashion a stylish take on bluegrass that seamlessly blends original songs and instrumentals with Appalachian old-time music for a truly unique band sound. Now in their 20th year, with seven acclaimed albums and two Juno nominations, the Jaybirds are simultaneously innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned and 21st-century contemporary. Don't miss this opportunity to see The Jaybids when they visit Northern California! Tickets are $35 advance, $25 for OCA members. $5 additional at the door (if available). This event is likely to sell out - get tickets early! Ticket fees waived for this event. Doors open at 6:30 PM. OCA members may reserve seats. Fine refreshments, beer and wine for sale. Art gallery open during intermission. About the performers: Bluegrass Unlimited calls John Reischman “one of the world’s undisputed masters” of the mandolin, famed for outstanding tone and taste. Many of his dozens of original instrumentals have become popular favourites for sessions and covers, such as the jam standard Saltspring . He has three critically-acclaimed solo instrumental albums and has recorded on many other projects, including the Grammy-winning True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe . John also plays Latin-based jazz and choro music with highly regarded finger-style acoustic guitarist/composer John Miller; the duo has released three superb albums. John began his career in the San Francisco Bay area in the early ’80s with the eclectic Good Ol’ Persons bluegrass band. He was an original member of the legendary “new acoustic” quartet, the jazz-influenced Tony Rice Unit, renowned for highly skilled instrumentals. John moved to Vancouver in the early ’90s and in 1999 formed the Jaybirds. Of their latest album, Folk Radio UK said “ On That Other Green Shore showcases an accomplished, experienced band at the peak of their powers, with musicianship of the very highest order.” Peghead Nation called it “one of the most beguiling bluegrass-rooted recordings of 2017.” Los Angeles, CA-based guitarist Patrick Sauber joined the Jaybirds in 2017. The veteran performer has played with, among others, Doc Watson, Richard Greene, John Jorgensen, Peter Rowan, Tim O’Brien and John Fogerty. He played on the 2016 Grammy-nominated album The Hazel and Alice Sessions by Laurie Lewis, and appeared in the film A Mighty Wind with Christopher Guest. Bluegrass Unlimited describes Patrick’s playing on John’s tune Daylighting the Creek as “a glorious flatpicking solo that hews back to the glory days of early bluegrass guitar.” Chilliwack, BC-based Trisha Gagnon is portrayed by Sing Out! as “one of the most versatile” and “irresistible” lead vocalists in bluegrass, her strong and distinctive style ranging from “mournful and plaintive” to “hopeful and yearning.” Trisha anchors what Dirty Linen magazine calls “gorgeous three-part harmonies.” She’s also known for songwriting, dating back to her early days with the award-winning B.C. bluegrass band Tumbleweed. Her solo album includes guests Vince Gill and Peter Rowan. Nanaimo, BC-based Nick Hornbuckle has developed his own voice on the five-string banjo – a two-finger roll unlike other contemporary banjo players. “Nick Hornbuckle’s banjo can be downright spine-tingling,” said the L.A Daily News . His solo album 12×2 (+/-1) , was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2015, and Nick is a composer who also digs for rare old-time gems. His sprightly instrumental Wellesley Station on the new Jaybird album “showcases Nick’s sharp picking and sense of melody,” said Green Man Review . Spokane, WA-based Greg Spatz is hailed as a “world-class bluegrass fiddler” by Fiddler Magazine . Audiophile Audition says Greg’s “virtuosic playing is flawlessly delivered time after time,” while Bluegrass Unlimited says he “lays down some seriously fine bluegrass fiddle” on the latest Jaybirds release. His strong chops have made him a popular fixture down through the years on the West Coast, where he’s played with iconic mandolinist Frank Wakefield, resophonic guitar master Rob Ickes, and many others including Laurie Lewis, Bryan Bowers, and Eli West and Cahalen Morrison. Greg also plays and records with Mighty Squirrel, has a solo album called Fiddler’s Dream and a duo recording with his wife called All Along the Sea , and is an award-winning novelist. Information Source: Occidental Center for the Arts | eventbrite

Topics covered in class through lecture, hands on practice, and expiremental learning:  •  Love and Relaxation:  Guided relaxation, partner communication and   the hormones of labor•  Optimal Fetal Positioning:  Preparing your pelvis   and baby for birth •  Moaning and Moving:  Evidence based healthy birth practices, from   vocalizations to opening the pelvic floor, breathing, massage and affirmations•  The Landscape of Labor:  Understanding the physiological and emotional process of birthing your baby, contraction by contraction•  The Role of the Partner:  Cultivating Trust and Safety and hands on skills•  Advocacy and Collaboration:  Positive Communication with Providers•  Understanding Interventions:  Build a toolkits for decreasing  unnecessary interventions and increasing vaginal birth options • After-Birth:   After Birth Options, The Micro-biome, Mental Health and The Sacred Hour​Each class is kept to six couples or less, as this allows for individual and hands-on attention from the instructor. We encourage participants to bring  pillows, a birth ball, snacks and other items that will allow them to get comfortable and relax. We'll practice massage and positions for birth, so wear clothing that allows for squatting and movement! We take an hour lunch break as well, and are just down road the block from the Altamont, Howard's Station and the Bohemian Market.  Each ticket is for two people; pregnant person and partner. If you need to contact me, please do not contect me through Eventbrite, instead, email me at writekgray@gmail.com. Thank you! Information Source: Kelly Gray | eventbrite

We are pleased to announce the first-ever Clown Café, a one-night-only pop-up restaurant staffed completely by clowns. This evening of gastronomic irreverency is a benefit for organizations that are supporting our local immigrant populations. While the cause is serious business, we’ll do our best to keep things on just this side of pandemonium. The waiters, cooks, bartenders, and a very snooty hostess will see to all your needs. What could possibly go wrong? The menu is long, though what’s actually available is not. One waiter is perhaps a bit too excited about her job while another may not hear your order amidst the tears. The maître d' makes no sense, the busboy is a kleptomaniac, and order gluten free at your own risk (consider yourself warned!). The Clown Café will take place in OAEC’s barn, at long tables where everyone will be sharing in the fun together. Along with a stage show of music, mirth, and magic, hosted by the inimitable Wysteria McBrylcream, your “staff” will make sure the evening is nothing if not memorable. The beneficiaries of all proceeds from the Clown Café include the Raizes Collective , a Santa Rosa based organization that effects change through the arts, culture, and environmental education, and Undocufund , a Sonoma County project that redistributes donated funds directly to undocumented individuals and families that are otherwise unable to access the benefits of a social safety net due to their status. We are pleased to put on the Clown Café as an expression of our gratitude and support for our Sonoma County neighbors who have come to this country and are working hard to make a better life for themselves and their communities. See you there! Information Source: Occidental Arts and Ecology Center | eventbrite

Songs of Enchantment : Jai Uttal with Prajna Vieira Join us for a heartwarming concert with renowned World Music artist and Grammy nominee Jai Uttal together with vocalist Prajna Vieira. This concert will open the doors to a place of refuge, invocation and celebration. Jai Uttal, grammy nominee, kirtan artist, and world music pioneer has been a leading influence in the Bhakti tradition for over 50 years. Jai considers devotion to be the core of his musical and spiritual life, and he whole-heartedly shares his passionate heart through his voice and songs. Prajna Vieira is the lead singer of the Mukti Kirtan Ensemble, and is also known for her work with world music pioneer Jai Uttal and other artists. This event will be held outdoors in the OCA amphitheater. Bring your own seat cushion/mat/lowback chair. Refreshments for sale, wheelchair accessible facility. Doors open at 6:15 PM. Tickets are $35 advance, $40 at the door (if available). This event is likely to sell out - get tickets early! Discount for OCA members. Free for kids 12 and under. Information Source: Occidental Center for the Arts | eventbrite

Information Source: Occidental Center for the Arts | eventbrite