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# The Culture Circuit, Aug. 20-26
- URL: https://www.albanyscanner.com/2026/08/20/arts-culture/culture-circuit-events-guide-aug-20-26-2026/
- Published: 2026-08-20T13:00:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-20T13:00:03.000Z
- Description: What to do this week in Albany, Berkeley and around the East Bay.
- Author: Andrew Gilbert
- Tags: Arts & Culture, #articles, The Culture Circuit

Here's a roundup of what's happening in Albany, Berkeley and around the East Bay. 

Please help keep this lively and well informed by sending details about upcoming concerts, readings, performances and workshops to [events@albanyscanner.com](mailto:events@albanyscanner.com).

## Radiosled at the Ivy Room

Expect the unexpected with the newly christened [Radiosled](https://www.facebook.com/events/860-san-pablo-ave-albany-ca-united-states-california-94706/amendolafrithdimuziogoldbergochs-aka-radiosled/1313858360827784/), a super group of improvisers that brings together sonic explorers with hundreds of adventures together in variously overlapping aggregations. Fred Frith, who spent decades on faculty at Mills College, has been a legendary figure since his early days in the 1960s with the British avant-garde rock band Henry Cow. Saxophonist Larry Ochs is a founding member of the mighty ROVA Saxophone Quartet. Clarinetist Ben Goldberg’s wily presence ensures puckish wit and warm intelligence. Scott Amendola is a vastly resourceful drummer whether laying down a groove or supplying a textural lattice. And Thomas Dimuzio is something of a wild card, a multi-instrumentalist adept at electronics. **Thursday, Aug. 20, 7 p.m.** [**The Ivy Room**](https://tickets.venuepilot.com/e/amendola-frith-dimuzio-goldberg-ochs-aka-strolling-gnomes-2026-08-20-ivy-room-albany-f45ed3?ref=albanyscanner.com) **(Albany). $18.33 (21+)**

## The Drifting Cowboys at the Back Room 

Veteran guitarist and vocalist David Landon corralled the [Drifting Cowboys](https://davidlandon.com/the-drifting-cowboys?ref=albanyscanner.com) to play the music of Hank Williams, an oeuvre as emotionally potent and durable as any in the American(a) Songbook. It’s a stellar quartet that features pedal steel guitar innovator David Phillips, fiddler Candy Girard, who’s toured with belter Shirley Bassey and honky-tonk great Hank Thompson, and bassist Joe Kyle Jr., a consummate accompanist responsible for anchoring the great blues combo HowellDevine. **Friday, Aug. 21, 8 p.m.** [**The Back Room**](https://events.humanitix.com/the-drifting-cowboys?ref=albanyscanner.com) **(Berkeley). $20-$25**

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/2026/08/Cowboy-Drifters-by-David-Landon.jpeg)

The Drifting Cowboys. **Courtesy*

## CatVideoFest 2026

Why should cat videos stay confined to our little screens, encouraging our procrastination with their hijinks? The frolicsome felines are ready for their closeups, which come courtesy of CatVideoFest 2026, a curated compilation gleaned from a vast ocean of submissions, music videos, and viral internet hits collected by Oscilloscope Laboratories. Proceeds from this year’s festival benefit [Cat Town Oakland](https://www.cattownoakland.org/?ref=albanyscanner.com). **Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 22-23\.** [**Rialto Cinemas Cerrito**](https://rialtocinemas.com/now-playing-cer/cat-video-fest-2026-cer/?ref=albanyscanner.com) **(El Cerrito) $16.75**

## Bululú album release party 

The Bay Area has a long track record of women-led Latin bands, and over the past decade [Bululú](https://www.bululusf.com/?ref=albanyscanner.com) has become a leading standard bearer and dance floor powerhouse. Founded and led by Venezuelan-born percussionist, composer and vocalist Lali Mejia, Bululú celebrates the release of the group’s third album *Doméstico: From the Border of Home* (with an opening set by [DJ Agana](https://www.instagram.com/dj%5Fagana/?hl=en&ref=albanyscanner.com)). It’s a band stocked with a dazzling cast, including keyboardist Ruthie Dineen, whose day gig is running Richmond’s East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, vocalist Karla Lozado, guitarist David Lechuga, and bassist Ayla Davila. **Saturday, Aug. 22, 7 p.m.** [**Ashkenaz**](https://tickets.venuepilot.com/e/bululu-2026-08-22-ashkenaz-music-dance-community-center-berkeley-f3cc3f?ref=albanyscanner.com) **(Berkeley). $20-$25**

## Berkeley Choro Ensemble 

Anyone looking for a sonic bath of Brazilian soul should find their way to the cozy confines of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on Sunday. [Calliope East Bay Music & Arts](https://www.calliope-ebma.org/?ref=albanyscanner.com) presents the [Berkeley Choro Ensemble](https://berkeleychoroensemble.com/?ref=albanyscanner.com), featuring flutist Jane Lenoir, clarinetist Harvey Wainapel, percussionist Brian Rice, and Rio-born guitarist Ricardo Peixoto. They’re joined by special guest Alessandro Penezzi, a 7-string guitar master from São Paulo who’s played a leading role in choro’s creative resurgence. The instrumental tradition emerged in late 19th century Rio de Janeiro as Brazil’s first popular music style melding African and European influences, and has undergone a series of revivals over the past century. As a regular presence in the Bay Area in recent years, Penezzi has been most visible here through his collaborations with the BCE, one of the finest choro groups in North America. **Sunday, Aug. 23, 4 p.m.** [**St. Alban’s Episcopal Church**](https://www.calliope-ebma.org/events-1/w6ht9ct18m2pe1qpighs17sal7u4og-fjc8z-gxtj7-jgjrj-b97ye-5xnfj-2apgk-gb8lm-bsx9d-3tcp4-ar62k-pnwaa-tb9z8-hdjex-hx35a-x7lac-fzpsz-8enh8-86d6w-dhpcj-wdmy9?ref=albanyscanner.com) **(Albany). $15-$30**

## Sacred music gatherings on Tuesdays

[Sacred Music Fellowship](https://sacredmusicfellowship.org/?ref=albanyscanner.com) has been holding jam sessions around the East Bay the past few years, alternating between thematic secular jams (say, summer songs) and sessions devoted to music of different spiritual traditions. Open to acoustic instruments of all stripes, with lyrics provided, the jams welcome both participants and listeners. The latest communion takes place at Alembic, a Berkeley institution devoted to a variety of seekers. It’s an apt setting for a participatory singalong bringing Jewish Mizrahi and Sephardic song into conversation with Turkish Sufi devotional music. Led by Duygu Gün, Rachel Valfer and Miriam Peretz, the evening explores the musical qualities these traditions share, including modal melodies, incantatory refrains, improvisation, and devotional poetry. The evening includes performances, brief teaching about the music, guided singing in multiple languages, and participatory movement. **Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m.** [**Berkeley Alembic**](https://momence.com/Berkeley-Alembic/Night-of-Mystic-Union%3A-Jewish-and-Sufi-Sacred-Music-with-Sacred-Music-Fellowship/140270307?utm%5Fsource=ActiveCampaign&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcontent=Meet+my+new+arrival+%2B+music+to+come+%F0%9F%8E%B6&utm%5Fcampaign=7-29-26+%28Copy%29)**. $25**

## Azure McCall at Romano's

[Azure McCall](https://www.azuremccall.com/?ref=albanyscanner.com) is a jazz singer of the old-school, steeped in the incisive phrasing and supple swing of Carmen McRae and Nancy Wilson. She toured with bass great Ray Brown and trumpet star Freddie Hubbard, among other jazz luminaries, and has performed internationally as a headliner. A jazz institution in Hawaii, where she’s lived for more than four decades, McCall has been a regular presence on the Bay Area scene for years. But this is a particularly intimate duo performance with pianist Spencer Allen. **Wednesday, Aug. 26, 5-7:30 p.m.** [**Romano’s Macaroni Grill**](https://www.azuremccall.com/general-5?ref=albanyscanner.com) **(El Cerrito). No cover**

## Peter Relic library Q&A

[Peter Relic](https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/authors/peter-relic/?ref=albanyscanner.com) discusses his new book *Bust a Move: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop*, which details the people and music associated with the label that helped bring West Coast hip-hop into the American mainstream in the 1980s and 1990s. A Q&A and book signing follow the discussion. **Wednesday, Aug. 26, 6:30 p.m.** [**Albany Library**](https://aclibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a7a56a69006f75353166472?%5Fgl=1%2Ar53ylv%2A%5Fga%2AMTQwOTU1Mzk4NS4xNzg3MDI5NzMx%2A%5Fga%5FDJ3QFJ52TT%2AczE3ODcwMjk3MzEkbzEkZzEkdDE3ODcwMjk3NDUkajQ2JGwwJGgw%2A%5Fga%5FG99DMMNG39%2AczE3ODcwMjk3MzEkbzEkZzEkdDE3ODcwMjk3NDUkajQ2JGwwJGgw&ref=albanyscanner.com)**. Free**

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