Freebie(s) of the week: The first Friday of the month is a pretty good day for free artsy fun. San Jose’s South First Fridays Art Walk finds a host of art centers and galleries staying open until 9 p.m. and offering free admission. Check out Indonesian artist Susiyo’s trippy and colorful creations on display in his “Rider of Reverie” exhibit at the Anno Domini gallery, 366 S. First St. At the MACLA Latin America cultural center at 510 S. First St., catch the interactive exhibit “There Are New Suns,” examining the struggle between cultural resilience and gentrification; it’s in its final week. Also on Friday, the center hosts Voces del Campo Poetry Party celebrating new books by acclaimed Latinx poets Mayra Flores and Cristal Gonzalez. At the California Theatre, 345 S. First St., members of Opera San Jose perform highlights from “Madama Butterfly.” And the San Jose Jazz Break Room, 310 S. First St., hosts a steady stream of performances topped by the terrific sax man Howard Wiley. There’s a lot more on tap during South First Fridays; find the complete rundown at southfirstfridays.com. Meanwhile, Oakland First Fridays is hosting a special “Season of Giving” edition of its monthly First Fridays celebration. You’ll find live music and arts performers, a light show, and a jam-packed marketplace full of all kinds of products. The free event runs 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday on Telegraph Avenue between West Grand Avenue and 27th Street. More information is at oaklandfirstfridays.org. 


L-R, Amanda Kristin Nichols, Karen Killeen and Aimee Doherty star in Jez Butterworth’s “The Hills of California” onstage at Berkeley Repertory Theatre through Dec. 7. (Liza Voll/Berkeley Repertory Theatre via Bay City News)

Betting on Butterworth: Playwright and screenwriter Jez Butterworth has created such a deep and varied collection of plays and films, it’s hard to believe they all come from the same guy. The Tony- and Laurence Olivier Award-winner has a fertile imagination he applies to gripping storylines that combine realism, fantasy and folklore and to intriguing characters often forced to adjust to life’s twists and turns. His first play, the 1995 crime-caper-dark comedy “Mojo,” won an Olivier award for best new comedy and he has been on a roll ever since. His slice-of-life comedy-drama “Jerusalem,” which follows a colorful British “waster” and his friends, has been called the best British play of the 21st century. He’s also an in-demand screenwriter, whose resume includes “Fair Game,” based on the Valerie Plame story and starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts; the Whitey Bulger crime drama “Black Mass”; the James Brown biopic “Get On Up” and even a James Bond movie, “Spectre.” Berkeley Repertory Theatre is staging his most recent play, “The Hills of California,” a comedy-drama about four singing sisters gathering at a run-down beach house where their domineering mother is close to death. The play, which premiered last year, runs through Dec. 7. It’s directed by former Magic Theatre director Loretta Greco. Tickets are $24-$137 at berkeleyrep.org. 

Bay Area bluesman J.C. Smith appears with his band at Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco on Nov. 8. (J.C. Smith via Bay City News)

Blues time: Longtime Bay Area bluesman J. C. Smith has been around the block, traveling not only across the U.S., but also to far-flung places like Argentina, Armenia, Canada, Chile, China, Latvia, Portugal, Russia, even Siberia. But he and his band always enjoy appearing at home around town. The award-winning musician, a crowd-pleaser in the South Bay, is excited about a gig at San Francisco’s Biscuits & Blues this weekend. Now playing with bandmates Stevie Q on bass, Noel Catura on saxophone, Scott Porter on keyboards and Tim Richard on drums, vocalist-guitarist Smith has made six albums over the past two decades or so, starting with 2004’s “That’s What I’m Talk’n Bout.” The most recent, 2019’s “In the Groove,” includes original tunes and fun covers of songs made famous by Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, George Benson and Stevie Wonder. Still, the band is best known for soulful, rockin’ live shows that really get the audience going. Smith’s motto has been to “keep the blues alive and take the message to the people.” He and his group live up to it. On Saturday, Biscuits & Blues patrons may want to arrive early and enjoy a meal from the club’s great menu featuring Southern and soul food. Shows are at 6:30 and 9 p.m. at 401 Mason St.; tickets are $35-$40. Visit biscuitsandblues.com.   


The virtuosic Los Angeles Guitar Quartet returns to the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on Nov 8. (Adam Almeida/San Francisco Performances via Bay City News)

A fantastic four: The Grammy-winning Los Angeles Quartet, a longtime favorite of Bay Area arts presenters San Francisco Performances, returns to the Herbst Theatre Saturday night in a concert cosponsored by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts that amply demonstrates the depth and diversity of the ensemble’s repertoire. As is customary, the musicians will perform a couple of works written by members: William Kanengiser’s “Air & Ground,” and “Maracasalsa,” a work fusing Brazilian rhythmic traditions with classical forms (toccata and fugue) by the newest member, Douglas Lora, who joined the quartet in 2023. Also in the lineup are the Adagio movement from Beethoven’s famed “Moonlight Sonata” (arranged by Kanengiser), the third movement from J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the “Danse Négre” from Sanuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “African Suite,” Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 2, Philip Houghton’s “Opals,” Hermeto Pascoal’s “De Sábado pra Dominguinhos,” Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “A Lenda do Caboclo” and Paulo Bellinatia’s “A Furiosa.” Performance time is 7:30 p.m.; tickets, $60-$80, are available at sfperformances.org. 


Concert pianist Faranak Shahroozi plays some of her own compositions in her program with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra on Nov. 9 (Scott Telstad via Bay City News)

A special guest: Iranian-American concert pianist and composer Faranak Shahroozi, who emigrated to the United States a few years after the Iran Revolution threw her home country into turmoil, specializes in lush, ultra-romantic works for the keyboard. She earned her degree in classical piano performance from at San Jose State University, so it is entirely appropriate that the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Day Turner, has put her front and center in Sunday’s 7 p.m. concert in the St. Francis Episcopal Church in the city’s Willow Glen neighborhood. The program, titled “An Evening of Persian Delights,” consists of works she has written, including “Persia” and “Behind the Veil” from her “Eternal Love” album, “Circles of My Mind,” “Lovestruck” and other pieces to be announced. Find her version of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” played for an audience including Jill Biden at the 111th Congressional Club First Lady’s Luncheon, here.  Tickets, $20-$85, for the San Jose performance are at sjco.org.