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August 2018
Wednesday Night Live in the Lounge
New Copasetics band featuring Dallis Craft
General Admission: $10
Doors open 6:30PM | Show 7:30PM to 10PM
Happy Hour 6:30PM to 7:30pm
"Semi-acoustic, Back Porch Americana & Tropicana:" American Roots Twang plus a side of Cuban & Hawai'ian...
Their repertoire extends from originals to their own take on select material from great artists such as The Band, Rockpile (Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds), Ry Cooder, Delbert McClinton, the Subdudes, Arthur Alexander, Hank Williams, Richard Thompson, Buddy & Julie Miller, Manual Galban, Doris Troy, Ike & Tina Turner, Moon Mullican and Bob Dylan.
Alvon’s Rock and Roll Revue featuring Mitch Woods and the music of Billy Preston and Jr Walker and the Allstars
$25 Online | $30 Box Office & Phone
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
One of the most versatile Musicians, Singers and Entertainers on the music scene today. He travels the world singing and swinging Jazz standards with Big Bands. He also gallops the globe performing the songs that he sang while working with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, The Coasters. When he travels to Russia he is referred to as the “King of the Blues” and the “Ambassador of the Blues”. His love and respect for the American art form is shared by large and enthusiastic audiences the world over.
San Francisco International Piano Festival – North Bay | Night One
San Francisco International Piano Festival - North Bay | Night One
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 6:30PM | Show starts at 7:30PM
Full Circle Bach - Art of the Fugue (selections) and English Suite no.6 in D minor Chopin- 24 Preludes op.28 Owen Zhou, piano Igor Lipinski, piano The San Francisco International Piano Festival kicks off its midweek run at the Empress with an evening of compelling, gorgeous piano music by Bach and Chopin
San Francisco International Piano Festival – North Bay | Night Two
San Francisco International Piano Festival - North Bay | Night Two
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 6:30PM | Show starts at 7:30PM
Piano Illusions Igor Lipinski returns to present his show Piano Illusions, a unique combination of music and magic. Seamlessly blending his marvelous pianism and mystifying illusions, Igor welcomes the audience into a magical world of fun, humor, and insights into the music.
After the break, pianist and artistic director Jeffrey LaDeur introduces Concert Confidential, a behind-the-scenes look at life as a pianist, the classical music world, and tragicomic encounters with travels, pianos, and people. Don't miss this extraordinary evening with world class musicians breathing new life into their art form.
San Francisco International Piano Festival – North Bay | Night Three
San Francisco International Piano Festival - North Bay | Night Three
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 6:30PM | Show starts at 7:30PM
The San Francisco International Piano Festival closes its Vallejo run with a dazzling evening of virtuosity and poetry, juxtaposing classics and future classics. Eunmi Ko will present the US premiere of "Timeless is Forever" by Girolamo Deraco, selections from Tyler Kline's "Orchard", and Vera Ivanova's "Deep Heart's Core" for piano and visual projection, before closing her portion of the program with Beethoven's heavenly Sonata op.109.
After intermission, Jiyang Chen offers a tour-de-force, all-Liszt program including favorites like Liebestraum, Sonetto de Petrarca 104, Vallee d’Obermann, and the 12th Hungarian Rhapsody. Jiyang and Eunmi brought the house down at Berkeley's Freight and Salvage last year, and they are excited to share their music with the audience in Vallejo!
Victory Stores Presents Rocky LaPorte, featuring Sammy Obeid, and host Michael Pritchard
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
Finalist, Last Comic Standing, and winner of the national “Club Comic of the Year” awards in Las Vegas and winner of the Johnnie Walker National Comedy Search. Guest appearance on “The Tonight Show” and did a short-lived “Rocky LaPorte Show.” Films include “The Shaggy Dog” with Tim Allen and “The Godfathers of Comedy."
House of Floyd
$25 Online | $30 Box Office & Phone
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
House of Floyd returns to the Empress for an end of Summer Concert at the Historic Empress Theatre.
The S.F. Bay Area’s HOUSE OF FLOYD performs the music of Pink Floyd, and has gained a strong following for their unique ability to enthuse both the hard-core fans of the early adventurous Floyd and those who enjoy the songs and soundscapes that later brought them widespread appeal. They capture the essence of each of the various Pink Floyd eras from the formative Syd Barrett days, through the 70’s and the final post-Waters era.
House of Floyd is a 7-piece band that includes 2 bookend multi-instrumentalists that double on saxophone, keyboards and guitar, and 2 excellent female background vocalists. House of Floyd has been performing in concert venues for over 11 years in the U.S. and abroad including a recent month long tour of India.
In the Pink Floyd tradition, a HOUSE OF FLOYD concert incorporates sound effects, screen projection, moving lights & state of the art laser show. The set lists on any given night might be from an actual Pink Floyd concert, or a custom HOUSE OF FLOYD mix.
Wednesday Night Live in the Lounge
Ron Burris Jazz Quartet
General Admission: $10
Doors open 6:30PM | Show 7:30PM to 10PM
Happy Hour 6:30PM to 7:30pm
Ron Burris Jazz Quartet featuring Ron Burris, sax; Leo Cavanagh, guitar; John Miller, bass; and Mike Fourie, drums.
September 2018
BeaufunK featuring Michael Jeffries and Fred Ross
$15 Online | $20 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
With three of their members hailing from Vallejo, it’s like coming home for this incredibly funky group. The name “BeaufunK” has become synonymous with “funk” in the Bay Area and beyond. Their new CD is a powerful mix of original funK and soul music (as well as some other gems of inspiration and tribute) written primarily by members Frank Acosta, Wilson Brooks, and Timm Walker. The other two core members (Lorenzo Hawkins and Jim Peterson), contributed greatly with their talents as well. The music is captivating, playful, spirited, meaningful, and by all means funky, with ideas that range from social awareness and change to a simple call to shake your booty. This record brings back the flavors of the group’s most influential funk idols. The CD titled “The Resuscitation of FunK” really brings home what they set out to deliver from inception over ten years ago. Every song has a distinct vibe that draws you in, and you will remember what it was like to really feel the funK. Come grab a seat early and listen to this incredible compilation of songs, as well as a state of the art sonic production and engineering work by Timm Walker, the group’s bassist and founding member. Then, put on your dancing shoes and hear BeaufunK deliver live versions of much of the new music from the CD, as well as covers by many of their favorite pioneering funk artists, as only BeaufunK can. Featured vocalists for the evening will be Michael Jeffries (formerly of Tower of Power, and of Jeff Lorber), and Fred Ross (of Pee Wee Ellis, and of Cold Blood). Both Michael and Fred are featured on the CD as well.
Clown In The Prayer Closet
Clown In The prayer Closet
Clown In The Prayer Closet This story takes you on a mental journey of life, puppy love, sex, drugs, and dysfunctional family life told through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old young lady named Denise. An ageless story of Love, Rebellion, Denial & Redemption. Great for all ages. Starring Derriecia Maxon as Denise Alecia Hightower as Millie Ann Marc Thomas as Henry Teniah Traylor as Mona
Wednesday Night Live in the Lounge
Kenya Baker Trio
General Admission: $10
Doors open 6:30PM | Show 7:30PM to 10PM
Happy Hour 6:30PM to 7:30pm
The Kenya Baker Trio lays down jazzy blues and funk originals, and original arrangements of blues, jazz funk and soul from great artists of the 1960s through the 1990s and beyond.
Kenya (guitar and vocals) is the composer of the band's original music and musical director for the band. His eclectic taste in old-skool music makes it come alive for today's audiences of all ages. Whether it's blues, mellow jazz, Memphis soul from the famous STaX music label, or classic funk, Kenya's arrangements are a fresh take on familiar artists including Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Guitar Watson, James Brown, BB King, Muddy Waters, Bill Withers, Isley Brothers, Parliament and more.
Film Club – American Wrestler: The Wizard
Tickets: FREE
Doors open 6:30PM | Film Starts 7:30PM sharp!
1979, ‘American Wrestler: The Wizard' is based on a true story of a teen who escapes during the Iranian revolution with only his life, immigrates to North California, faces racism, bullying and general American hostility due to the American hostage crisis in Iran.
Against all odds, and surpassing the community's expectations, he succeeds in becoming a State Wrestling Champion.
(Based on a true story)
Ali Afshar and George Kosturos, will be here for a Q&A after the showing.
UPTOWN FUNK – Bruno Mars Tribute
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
UPTOWN FUNK features an amazing Bruno Mars impersonator and a group of dynamic musicians who bring the talent and technology necessary to replicate the Bruno Mars Live experience!
Vallejo Jazz Society Presents Maye Cavallaro
$20 General | $10 VJS Members | Up to two students free with adult ticket purchase
Doors open 5PM | Show starts at 6PM
Exceptionally sophisticated and emotional vocalist Maye Cavallaro has been singing classic songs since she discovered her Mother's "Sing Along with Mitch" records at age 6. By the age of nine she began borrowing from her brother's collection of vintage blues, at 10 she began studying piano, and by 12 was a huge fan of Carmen McRae, Billie Holiday, Esther Phillips and Miriam Makeba. Her eclectic and wide ranging musical tastes have continued to encompass jazz, modern pop and rock as well as classical and world music.
Wild & Scenic Film Festival “On Tour”
FREE EVENT
Doors open 6PM
VIP guest mixer, sponsor tables in Empress Theatre Lounge 6:30PM
Screenings of Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour 7:30PM
SYRCL’s (South Yuba River Citizens League) 16th Anniversary Wild & Scenic Film Festival brings together another incredible selection of films to change your world. This year’s festival theme is Groundswell, and the goal is to inspire and unite communities to help heal the earth.
Considered one of the nation’s premiere environmental and adventure film festivals, this year’s films combine stellar filmmaking, beautiful cinematography and first-rate storytelling to inform, inspire and ignite solutions and possibilities to restore the earth and human communities while creating a positive future for the next generation. Festival-goers can expect to see award winning films about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy and climate change, wildlife, environmental justice, agriculture, Native American and indigenous cultures.
This year’s selections will not only take audiences to some of the most remote and beautiful places on the planet, but instill a deep appreciation and a sense of wonder for the natural world that surrounds and supports us.
Visions of the Wild – Napa River Morning Cruise – Discover the Napa River with Myrna Hayes
Enjoy the beautiful scenery between Vallejo and Napa on this morning cruise. While onboard the River Dolphin, Vallejo’s own Myrna Hayes will give you a perspective of the waterway that will inform and delight as only she can. Sights will include an up close view of Mare Island, wetlands, marshes and wildlife.
Please arrive 15 minutes before departure time to meet with your hosts David and Trudie.
Location: Vallejo Marina, K Dock , 42 Harbor Way Vallejo, CA 94590
LORENZO RUIZ, Bayani ng Diyos
This is an Empress Theatre rental event
Tickets: $40
Two showings: Matinee at 1:30PM & Evening at 6:30PM
“LORENZO RUIZ, Bayani ng Diyos” is a glimpse of the life of the first ever Filipino Saint, utilizing drama, music and songs to tell the story of Lorenzo’s martyrdom. Also incorporated into this unique presentation is the use of scenes from the only movie made about the saint in the mid 80’s. The play was first staged at the St. Vincent Ferrer Parish Church in Vallejo in 2015 for 2 nights. The play features former Philippine showbiz personalities, Vivian Foz, Joji Isla, Louella Albornoz, and starring Mr. Mat Ranillo III, reprising his role as the Filipino martyr on film, and now, on the intimate stage. The rest of the cast are composed of professionals, mostly from the Bay Area, whose love for the arts has brought them together to help breath life to the story of Lorenzo Ruiz. Also participating is the St. Lorenzo Ruiz Parish choir. The presentation traces the important events in the life of Lorenzo and his family in Binondo in the 1600’s, the unfortunate events that followed, his eventual forced migration to Japan, leading to his death on Nishizaka Hill. It starts with the presentation of life in Binondo through song, the stolen rosary which was blamed on Lorenzo, Lorenzo as a religious and loving family man, the death of the tax collector Sebastian, Lorenzo leaving his family to save himself, Lorenzo joining a group of priests on an overseas voyage, their eventual landing in Japan, eventual capture by the Shogunate, their torture in the hands of their captors, their refusal to renounce their religion, and meeting their deaths in the hands of the Japanese.
Visions of the Wild – Napa River Afternoon Cruise – Beer and Bites with Napa Smith and League of Chefs
Enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Napa River while tasting local food and beer. League of Chefs and Napa Smith Brewery are teaming up to create a flavorful beer and bites pairing sure to please all who like to experience new taste sensations.
Please arrive 15 minutes before departure time to meet with your hosts David and Trudie.
Location: Vallejo Marina, K Dock , 42 Harbor Way Vallejo, CA 94590
Visions of the Wild – Carquinez Strait Morning Cruise – “Water Politics: Who Owns the Rain?” with Kate Sammler
Dr. Katherine Sammler teaches at California State University Maritime. She conducts research at the intersection of science and politics in the the ocean and sky. Herr work considers the role of knowledge, law, and power in defining global commons, access, and environmental justice.
Please arrive 15 minutes before departure time to meet with your hosts David and Trudie.
Location: Vallejo Marina, K Dock , 42 Harbor Way Vallejo, CA 94590
Visions of the Wild – Napa River Afternoon Cruise – Photography Workshop with Brian O’Reilly
Brian O’Reilly will provide tips that make your photos better and taking pictures more fun. Enjoy the experience of what your seeing through the viewfinder, LCD screen or your phone.
Brian O’Reilly was born in Birmingham, England but has lived in California since the early ‘70s. He has worked as a commercial photographer while pursuing his own artistic vision. He serves on the board of the Vallejo Community Arts Foundation and teaches photography in their summer arts camp. His philosophy is to “get it right in the camera.”
Bring your own SLR, point and shoot, or smartphone camera.
Please arrive 15 minutes before departure time to meet with your hosts David and Trudie.
Location: Vallejo Marina, K Dock , 42 Harbor Way Vallejo, CA 94590
Landscape Music: Rivers & Trails
FREE EVENT
Doors open 3:30PM
This event is part of the Visions of the Wild festival
Journey from the Anza Trail in the Bay Area to Sudbury River in Massachusetts in this concert of World Premieres celebrating our national trails and rivers. Citywater, a premier chamber ensemble dedicated to contemporary classical music, performs new works by a collective of accomplished composers from across the country who write music inspired by landscape, nature, and place. Featuring music by Oliver Caplan, Linda Chase, Nell Shaw Cohen, Ben Cosgrove, Libby Meyer, Rachel Panitch, Christina Rusnak, and Ryan Suleiman, this program is part of a nationwide initiative coordinated by the Landscape Music Composers Network to commemorate the 50th Anniversaries of the National Trails System Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act through the creation and presentation of new music.
CRSB – HomeGrown
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office | $10 VIP Add-on
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
CRSB is a musical duo based out of the San Francisco Bay Area who create their own brand of Island Soul-infused Pop. Consisting of members Chris Ramos and Sonny B., CRSB combines honest and memorable songwriting with a heart right out of the islands.
VOENA children’s choir: Voices of Yesterday
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office | Kids 12 Under $10 off | Senior and Military Discount
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
It is warm, generous, enveloping and beautifully moving to see children express themselves in a joyous singing dance-like performance. Compelling voices with wow moments that just keep coming, VOENA presents a dynamic, refreshingly intimate show where the audience will experience a supreme new choral experience, bringing audience in and out of songs from our yesteryears...a modern show for the whole family.
October 2018
DaVinci & Michelangelo The Titans Experience Theatre Performance
$30 Online | $35 Phone & Box Office
Kids 12 and under %50 off | Senior and Military discount
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
DaVinci & Michelangelo: The Titans Experience Theatre Performance. An Awe-Inspiring, Non-Stop, One-of-kind, Multi-Media “Live” Theatrical Performance as seen through the eyes of these two titans.
In this “tour de force” performance...”DaVinci & Michelangelo The Titans Experience, Mark Rodgers will take the audience on an fantastic, awe-inspiring journey through the Italian Renaissance as seen through the eyes of these two, monumental geniuses. The performance is a non-stop, multi-media event featuring movies, videos, 3-D animations, and images of DaVinci and Michelangelo’s inventions, machines, sketches, codices, paintings, and sculptures. Rodgers compares and contrasts the incredible lives of Leonardo and Michelangelo as never before, relating them to our world today with our contemporary geniuses of Les Paul, Van Cliburn, Paul McCartney, Jacques Cousteau and the modern internal combustion engine, as we strive to discover our own “inner” Michelangelo and DaVinci.
Running time: 2 Hours with 15 Minute Intermission
The Trouble With Scott Capurro – Comedy Night
$20 Online | $25 Phone & Box Office
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
The Trouble With Scott Capurro Scott Capurro is the one of nature’s great raconteurs. Challenging, sometimes outrageous, but intimate too and most shockingly occasionally full of doubt. In The Trouble With…Scott wrangles with rich friends, worthy yoga and the miseries of home ownership. Capurro shows that every silver lining is attached to a rather imposing cloud, spinning yarns that are meant to resolve issues, but which oddly have the opposing effect.
“Comic equation: Larry Grayson x (Lenny Bruce + Chris Rock) = Scott Capurro.” - The Guardian
December 2018
So Many Hats Live DVD Taping Starring Chelle T
$30 Online | $35 Phone & Box Office | VIP Meet and Greet $40
Doors open 7PM | Show starts at 8PM
Chelle T has entered the building. From being a mother, wife, pastor, writer, entrepreneur, and comedienne, the term "So Many Hats" has never fit better. Now Chelle T will have an opportunity to share with us all just how she juggles all these hats and makes it look so darn easy. Join us for a monumental moment in the life of this phenomenally funny lady. Be a part of history as she tapes her first DVD Comedy Special live. Come out and hear the thoughts and ideas straight from the mind of Chelle T that will bring you side bending laughter that you'll never forget.