Freebie of the week: One of San Francisco’s best concert series kicks off this week with a high-energy and rousing performance that will have all folks and all ages busting moves in a glorious setting on Mission Street. The annual Yerba Buena Gardens Festival presents more than 100 performances on the Yerba Buena Gardens Great Lawn on Mission Street between Third and Fourth streets. The new season launches on Saturday afternoon with a concert featuring the great New York City salsa singer Herman Olivera and his Orquesta Taino. Make no mistake, this is salsa royalty. Olivera, a leading figure in Afro-Caribbean music since the 1970s, has been dubbed “El Senoro Mayor” and International Salsa Magazine refers to him “the Sonero of the 21st century.” It’s not just his superior voice that makes fans swoon; Olivera is also revered for his passionate delivery and his unparalleled talents. The concert runs from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Yerba Buena Gardens and viewers should arrive early enough to catch the opener from Batey Tambo, an all-female Bay Area Latin ensemble led by Denise Solis and Julia Caridad Cepeda. The festival runs through mid-October with a wide variety of music, dance and theater performances — most of which are family friendly. More information and a full schedule are available at ybgfestival.org.
A Scottish musical journey: Stravaig is a Scottish term that refers to the experiences most journeys amount to — a blend of traveling, self-discovery and new insights into life. It’s also the term by which the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers refer to their annual spring concert mini tour, which is this weekend. The group was founded in 1986 by the now-legendary Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and his wife Sally Ashcraft, but now features over 200 members. Its touring concert group consists of 65 members — fiddlers, cellists, pianists, percussionists and guitarists — who tackle wide ranges of Scottish and Celtic music, from stirring ballads to toe-tapping reels and traditional tunes from Brittany to Galicia to Scandinavia and Cape Breton. Caroline McCaskey is the music director, and the Fiddlers perform three concerts this weekend: 7 p.m. Friday at the Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis, 7 p.m. Saturday at The Freight (formerly Freight & Salvage) in Berkeley and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Crocker Theatre in Aptos. Tickets are $32-$35; free for kids 12 and younger. Snag tickets and learn more information about the band at sffiddles.org/home.
Homage to a pioneer: Esteemed American composer Terry Riley entered his 10th decade last year (he was born in 1935), and this founding giant of the minimalist movement is being celebrated by one of his most passionate advocates. Berkeley-based pianist Sarah Cahill, who has commissioned multiple works from Riley and hosts the weekly “Revolutions Per Minute” radio show on KALW 91.7 FM, will devote two concerts of music by him and works written for him, beginning with her 7:30 performance Saturday at the Dresher Ensemble Studio at 2201 Poplar St. in Oakland. Her second concert, which was rescheduled from one that got scuttled last December by the power outage in San Francisco, will take place at 2 p.m. May 24 in the Latino room on the lower level of the San Francisco Main Library at 100 Larkin St. Works on the program will include pieces from “Eighty Trips Around the Sun,” a four-CD set Cahill and two other pianists recorded nearly a decade ago in observance of Riley’s 80th birthday. Find tickets to Saturday’s concert, $25, at dresherensemble.org. The May 24 program at the Main Library is free and open to the public.
Of thee we sing: The national celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary is fast approaching, and Cal Performances has an anticipatory event scheduled for Saturday night in Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. Pianist and radio host Lara Downes surrounds herself with talent to bring “This Land: Reflections on America,” a program akin to her 2025 “This Land” recording inspired by George Gershwin’s vision of “a musical kaleidoscope of America” to the concert stage. Joining her on stage are famed folksinger Judy Collins, poet and singer Tarriona “Tank” Ball of the New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas, the roots-to-classical string ensemble Invoke Quartet and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. Musical selections will include works in multiple genres by Woody Guthrie, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, Scott Joplin, Collins herself and more. Performance time is 8 p.m. Tickets, $38-$125, are available at calperformances.org.
From A to Zainab: Those who have seen Zainab Johnson’s comedy routine often remark how she addresses her audience as if they were conversing one-on-one in a coffee shop. With a matter-of fact-tone she addresses everything from politics to romance to tragedy and she does more than cover the usual mix of current events. She was brought up in a fairly strict Muslim family and wore a hijab as a child. When she was 17, she and a friend were struck by a delivery truck, and she spent the next 15 months hospitalized, recovering and re-learning how to walk. She began a career as a teacher, but the death of her father in 2005 convinced her to pursue her true passion — acting and entertaining. She has since developed experience in everything from standup to acting — starring in Amazon Prime’s sci-fi/comedy series “Upload.” Johnson focuses primarily on comedy as she brings her standup tour to Tommy T’s in Pleasanton for a weekend stint that includes performances at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30-$40; go to tommyts.com.