HIDE THE CHILDREN! Lock your doors! It's Lizzy Borden! Yup, these glam shock-rockers had the hair, the heavy-metal sound and the props to frighten parents and make themselves a target of the PMRC in the early '80s. But time wounds all heels; what was seen by bored housewives as morally perverse back then is almost silly nowadays. Lizzy Borden, however, forges on and doesn't disappoint » Read More

News of the 7.0 earthquake that has devastated Haiti has been a wake-up call for our collective conscience, and the South Bay is no different. In that spirit, South First Billiards hosted the "Haiti: A Call to Contribute" benefit Friday night. » Read More

SAX PLAYER John Altman got his start at the tender age of 3, sharing a stage with Judy Garland, so when he starts reminiscing about the golden age of movies, people pay attention. For a special event called "Jazz Goes to the Movies," presented by San Jose Jazz, Altman will drop a lot of names from his storied career » Read More

IF YOU'RE on board, don't expect to be dressing like the B-52's." That's what Angeline King told the dozens of girls who auditioned to sing in the Bang, the girl group she put together a year and a half ago with her boyfriend, Careless Hearts guitarist Derek See. » Read More

WHAT HAPPENS when a bunch of guys who have been all over TV and radio just want to hang out and drink and jam in their spare time? And then what happens when those same guys, who have known each other for 25 years, finally decide to put out an album together? » Read More

I'M actually starting to see stuff that I used to see in cartoons about the Great Depression: over at the Lucky's there was a guy playing violin behind his upside-down hat, and yesterday I saw a woman sniping cigarette butts from the gutter. The shite economy must contribute to the interest in hobo-looking rascals like Rev. Peyton's outfit » Read More

INSIDE the tiny City Lights theater pumps the heart of the local jazz scene. Festivals are one thing, but this monthly showcase presented by San Jose Jazz allows fans and newbies alike to keep their finger on the pulse of a genre that has been pushed mostly out of the mainstream, but continues to thrive in all kinds of sonic mutations. People often ask what happened to jazz » Read More

THE FLOURISH of strings fans out into an exquisite patter of notes as sharp as icicles. Then a sad violin takes up the refrain. The music is age-old yet fresh, accessible yet mysterious. The sound is a melange of musics. It's made up of the essence of jazz: that blend of Civil War-surplus brass instruments, of Armstrong and Ellington, of African roots and snazzy New York Jewish songwriters. » Read More

"IN CHINA, everything is used and reused. Nothing disappears, musically," says David Harrington. The founder and artistic director of Kronos Quartet should know-he spent countless hours over three years listening to hundreds of musical works from all over China. It's fair to say Harrington became obsessed with the making of the group's newest piece, A Chinese Home » Read More

SIX MEN stood at the front of the stage at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium on Saturday night facing each other, clapping out a tune. Five were members of So Percussion, a celebrated and famously eccentric New Music ensemble. The sixth was Steve Reich, the 73-year-old winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music, widely regarded as the most important living American composer. » Read More