the hum / By Bob Doran

Liquid Guitar

Frisco-based neo-old timey pickers Montana Slim String Band are on a CD release tour for their new album, Slim Pickens. They hit the Wave Lounge on Saturday.

As you may have heard, changes are afoot at the Jambalaya, with Pete Ciotti, drummer from The Nucleus and owner/operator of Big Pete’s, taking over. He’s already upgraded the sound system and changed the menu to be more bar-oriented. A minor change is the name for Chris Noonan‘s Thursday improv thing, now dubbed Liquid Lounge. “This week will feature Fire It Up @ 8 p.m.,a jazz group with [guitarist Greg] Camphuis, Shao Way Wu [on bass], Tommy Fitzmaurice [drums], Aber [Miller, keys] and yours truly [on saxes]. At 11, we will switch it up to The Dub Killers, featuring members of Massagana and Moo-Got-2.Each week will begin with jazz and move toward the funkier dance sh#^,” notes Noonan (expurgating himself).

Humboldt loves a good party to raise money for a worthy cause, or simply to bring people together to celebrate the good work done by one essential organization or another. There too many such parties this weekend. Check the calendar for details on the Baykeeper Birthday Bash with the Taj Mahal Trio on Friday and the KHSU 50th Anniversary Kick-off Party on Saturday. Those events run parallel to several others: Friday at the Arcata Theatre Lounge (site of KHSU’s party), you can “Rock Out for Marriage Equality” at a benefit to support the fight to overturn Prop. 8. Three truly fine local bands, Strix Vega, The Bad Lilas and The Ravens supply the music. This one’s all about love — and what better cause is there?

(Note: The Ravens also play Saturday at the Alibi with Washington rockers Stone Axe and The Shankers, a rockabilly band from Chico. Strix Vega plays the same night in The Depot with Be Brave Bold Robot.)

Meanwhile over at the Arcata Playhouse Friday, the Playhouse folks are raising money to keep their operation running with an encore performance of Speakeasy, the tres cool cabaret show with jazzy Canuck chanteuse Jackie Dandeneau fronting a multi-faceted 12-piece combo. It sold out earlier this month; don’t miss it this time.

On Saturday, while KHSU launches its year-long Golden Anniversary, the Ink People Center for the Arts is celebrating 30th years of “weaving the arts into the fabric of our community” with the annual Black and White Beaux Arts Masquerade Ball. There’s not enough space here to trace the entire history of the Ink Peeps; let’s just say the nonprofit has evolved from Brenda and Libby finding a way to be post-collegiate artists to becoming a major force for the arts, serving as an umbrella and incubator for countless arts-minded groups, some of whom are performing for this eclectic party at Redwood Raks World Dance Studio. The potluck affair begins with a collaboration between two wild outfits, SambAmore and Bandemonium. As the ball rolls on, the lovely AkaBella ladies sing, the Ya Habibi Dance Co. undulates, Kyle Stasse of The MARZ Project, aka DJ Knutz, supplies dance music; VJ Rhett Bice projects visuals. Leslie Castellano-Howabauten of Synapsis will be up above with her aerial arts; Ishi Dube lays down down-to-earth reggae with SambAmore closing with pure rhythm and dance. They’re also showing Dave Berman‘s documentary, 30 years of The Ink People, and they’re looking for Inker memorabilia — they’ll scan it for the digital history archives. Masks are optional, but you must restrict your wardrobe to black and white.

The seminal rock festival Woodstock took place in 1969, but for some reason they didn’t mark the occasion with a show in Bethel, N.Y. Instead we have West Fest: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock, an all-day festival this Sunday in Speedway Meadows, in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. 2b1 Multimedia and the Council of Light worked with original Woodstock producer Artie Kornfeld to put together a massive show that includes 42 bands on three stages along with lots of neo-hippie biz. The musicians are too numerous to list here — some of them played at Woodstock, some did not. Like the original, West Fest is free and it’s all about peace.

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