Wednesday, May 26
Doors at 7:30
Show at 8
$20
Join us for an exciting evening of ducks, bubbles, accordions and Japanese Shamisen – you can’t get this kind of entertainment in ordinary venues! The Jellyfish Gallery is proud to announce the Bubbles and Accordion Cabaret, a fun filled event that has something for everyone!
Duckmandu is the stage name of Oakland performer, Aaron Seeman. A player with virtuosic technical skill, his repertoire includes, but is not limited to, 70′s rock, Broadway, klezmer, classical, country, Sousa marches and even a polka or two. However, Duckmandu’s specialty is alarmingly accurate accordion recreations of classic punk songs.
His 2005 release, “Fresh Duck for Rotting Accordionists” is a note-for-note re-make of the entire first Dead Kennedys album. Seeman also plays with the Romanian folk group Fishtank Ensemble, composes for San Francisco’s “Punk Rock Orchestra” and has recorded with Mr. Bungle.
Louis Pearl, The Amazing Bubble Man, got started in 1980 when he discovered a toy called The Bubble Trumpet. Selling this toy on the streets of Berkeley, he stumbled upon a slew of magnificent bubble tricks.
3 years later, he met Wavy Gravy who encouraged him to get on stage and do bubble shows. 26 years later, Louis has evolved this show into a wild ride through the art, magic, and sometimes even the science of Bubble-ology.
At this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Louis started doing bubble shows with live musical accompaniment by accordion player and vocalist Jetty Swart. The result is a new enchanting brew of breathtaking bubbles and bubbly music coming together, creating a whole that is greater then the sum of its parts.
Jetty Swart, also know as “Yetila” found an accordion on her way from Amsterdam to Berlin, passing by New York and Mexico. She sings most of her songs in French: a punk-style gypsy celebration party where Nina Hagen, Edith Piaf and Kurt Weill finally met each other…
After many years as a serious graphic designer, Jetty switched her plastic computer keyboard for a pearl accordion one, playing on the streets of the south of France. Then the streets made way for real stages, where she met other like-minded musicians. In 2000 she started her band Yeti.
First covering old French songs and then creating her own (in French, s’il vous plaît!), she plays solo or with the band in festivals and clubs all over Europe and Quebec, and has recorded 2 CDs.
What is her music like? Let’s say… a punk-style gypsy party celebrating that Nina Hagen, Edith Piaf and Kurt Weill have become one.
Shamalamacord is Mike Penny on Tsugaru Shamisen and Aaron Seeman (Duckmandu) on Accordion.
They formed an essential element of the acclaimed Gypsy band, “Fishtank Ensemble.”
Shamalamacord draws from a wide range of styles, including Balkan Gypsy music, Classical, Klezmer, 1920’s Jazz, traditional and popular Japanese Music, and original compositions. As a duo and as solo players they are each actively engaged in extending the capabilities of their instruments. The Tsugaru shamisen is the most powerful sounding and popular of the three major types of shamisen, the Tsugaru style comes from Northern Japan. It has enjoyed a resurgence among young people in the last twenty years in Japan, and is therefore a tradition very much alive.