Alsarah and the Nubatones

The Yerba Buena Gardens outdoor concerts all summer are an undiscovered treat, with small audiences and interesting artists from all over the world.

Last Saturday featured the Sudanese-born, Brooklyn singer Alsarah performing a mixture of new and traditional Nubian songs with her sister Nahid on backing vocals, Togo-raised Mawuena Kodjovi on bass and trumpet, Rami El Aasser on Middle Eastern percussion and Brandon Terzic on oud.

Next Saturday at 1PM, another multiculti Brooklyn ensemble, the Brooklyn Raga Massive, joins San Francisco's Classical Revolution for an East meets West version of San Francisco composer Terry Riley's minimalist classic In C.

After lunching and listening to the Nubatones, we crossed the street to SFMOMA where another African-born, New York artist, Julie Mehretu, has just unveiled HOWL, eon (I, II), a huge, two-panel commission from the museum. Charles Desmerais, the new art critic for the SF Chronicle, complained about their placement on the stairways in the main lobby entrance where it's just about impossible to make out any of the complex details and he has a point. We continued on and hung out with Ragnar Kjartansson and The Visitors on the 7th floor again.