{"id":206118,"date":"2026-03-05T20:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206118\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T20:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:36:07","slug":"jazz-music-free-museums-and-live-theater-around-sacramento-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206118\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz music, free museums and live theater around Sacramento, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is the March 5 edition of Cultural Capital, an arts and entertainment newsletter written by Abridged contributor Chris Macias. Want it sent directly to your inbox?\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Abridged by PBS KVIE is all about serving readers with public service journalism that\u2019s both free and accessible. In that spirit, the upcoming\u00a02026 Free Museum Weekend<\/a>\u00a0is the perfect place to start this week\u2019s Cultural Capital. Twenty local museums are participating on Saturday and Sunday, from the Crocker Art Museum and California State Railroad Museum to the Locke Boarding House and Maidu Museum.<\/p>\n

But you need to act fast. Tickets are free but\u00a0pre-registration is required<\/a>, and that window closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we\u2019re up for another bustling week of local arts and entertainment. We\u2019ve got live music from a powerhouse vocalist, a progressive approach to orchestral music and a battle of heavy metal bands. You\u2019ll also find picks for visual arts, a family-friendly night of theater and much more to keep you entertained and inspired.<\/p>\n

Here we go!<\/p>\n

\t\tSign Up for the Cultural Capital<\/p>\n

In your inbox every Thursday, Abridged’s entertainment newsletter from Chris Macias highlights things to do in the Sacramento region.<\/p>\n

Enjoy a stellar night of\u00a0showmanship and swing<\/p>\n

\"ManLongtime Sacramento band leader Peter Petty. (Courtesy Peter Petty)<\/p>\n

The details:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Black Box Theatre at the Fair Oaks Performing Arts Center, 7991 California Ave., Fair Oaks<\/p>\n

7 p.m., March 7 (Saturday)<\/p>\n

$35<\/p>\n

The last time Cultural Capital caught up with\u00a0Peter Petty<\/a>, the longtime Sacramento band leader was owning the stage at the Torch Club\u2019s David Bowie tribute, full glam-rock regalia and all. Petty is a classic showman with gigantic vocal pipes and equally formidable stage presence, whether he\u2019s rocking through Bowie\u2019s \u201cSuffragette City\u201d or Cab Calloway\u2019s \u201cMinnie the Moocher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petty brings his six-piece jazz orchestra to the Black Box Theatre on Thursday, with an up-tempo revue of jazz classics and original tunes. Plan for a few curveballs as well, including the premier of a swing rendition of \u201cOhio,\u201d the seminal protest song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.<\/p>\n

Come out and see how Petty performs under the motto of \u201cThere are no small rooms.\u201d His shows burst with Sacramento star power and push jazz traditions into new realms of fun.<\/p>\n

See a chamber orchestra that\u00a0challenges the status quo<\/p>\n

The details:<\/p>\n

Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, 523 Mrak Hall Drive, Davis<\/p>\n

7:30 p.m., March 5 (Thursday)<\/p>\n

$51.50-$103.50, with discounts for UC Davis students, faculty and staff<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t look for a conductor when\u00a0Sphinx Virtuosi<\/a>\u00a0take the stage tonight at the\u00a0Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts<\/a>. The acclaimed chamber turns orchestral hierarchy on its head, with an approach that emphasizes shared interpretation of works and collective leadership.<\/p>\n

The 18-member group, comprised of Latino and Black musicians, performs a repertoire that spans from Sergei Prokofiev to living composers such as Jessie Montgomery and Carice Assad. Open your ears and enjoy this evolution of orchestral music.<\/p>\n

Head to Davis for a\u00a0fun night of \u2018Horrors\u2019<\/p>\n

Davis Musical Theatre Co., 607 Pena Drive, Davis<\/p>\n

7:30 p.m., March 6 (Friday)<\/p>\n

$22<\/p>\n

Feed me, Seymour! The Davis Musical Theatre Co.<\/a> kicks off its run of \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors\u201d on Friday, with performances running through March 29. \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors\u201d remains a family favorite since the 1980s and its popular film adaptation. Revel in the Motown-flavored music and kooky plot based on a bloodthirsty plant.<\/p>\n

Headbang at a\u00a0battle of the bands<\/p>\n

The details:<\/p>\n

Old Ironsides, 1901 10th St., Sacramento<\/p>\n

7 p.m., March 6 (Friday)<\/p>\n

$10<\/p>\n

To paraphrase AC\/DC: \u201cIt\u2019s a long way to the top if you wanna rock \u2018n\u2019 roll\u201d \u2014 and perhaps nab a spot at one of the world\u2019s mightiest heavy metal festivals. Bands from throughout Northern California will duke it out\u00a0Friday at Old Ironsides<\/a>\u00a0in the first round of\u00a0\u201cWacken Metal Battle.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The triumphant band will move to further rounds, with a final champion earning a spot at\u00a0Wacken Open Air<\/a>, a festival in Germany headlined this year by Judas Priest and Def Leppard. Come out and throw some horns for the bands you like best.<\/p>\n

Savor a visual feast\u00a0of contemporary art<\/p>\n

The details:<\/p>\n

Timeless Thrills Gallery, 3714 J St., Sacramento<\/p>\n

6 p.m., March 7 (Saturday, opening reception)<\/p>\n

Free entry<\/p>\n

Amine Rastgar\u2019s paintings flow with a sense of street energy and escape. His influences as avid cyclist with an early background in graffiti come to life through his solo exhibition,\u00a0\u201cPresent Day Babylon,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which opens Saturday at Timeless Thrills Gallery.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll find vibrant cartoonish elements, including dog figures that are a thread in his work, that reflect broader themes of mortality and the madness of modern life. Dig in to the sense of movement and visual punch of the exhibition, which runs through April 18.<\/p>\n

More events you won\u2019t want to miss<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s\u202fkeep it going with bonus picks for this week and beyond:<\/p>\n

Before I go,<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just a matter of months until the heavy metal masses head to Discovery Park for the\u00a0Aftershock festival<\/a>. Yesterday\u2019s\u00a0lineup was announced<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0My Chemical Romance,\u00a0Wu-Tang Clan\u00a0and\u00a0Tool\u00a0among the headliners for its Oct. 1-4 run. We\u2019ll keep tabs on Aftershock along with other festivals headed our way in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Stay in touch at\u00a0christo916@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0to recommend events and artists you\u2019d like to see in Cultural Capital. Rock on!<\/p>\n

Chris Macias\u00a0is a regular contributor, writing\u00a0Cultural Capital\u00a0for Abridged.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The following is the March 5 edition of Cultural Capital, an arts and entertainment newsletter written by Abridged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-206118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}