Mission Mission

Peter from the Mission’s own Porto Franco Records filmed this new video of Mark Growden playing an improvisational piece on bicycle handlebars using a technique he invented himself. Not the first time we’ve posted about this very thing, but this video wasn’t filmed on an obsolete iPhone, so it’s worth another look.

Sounds like the kind of music I’d hear after eating too many Guatemalan insanity peppers.

I totally forgot to post this earlier, but in case you’re on you’re killing time on your iPhone in line at Boogaloos, why not cross your name off the list and head down the street to Porto Franco Art Parlor for their monthly Klezmer brunch? For 6 bucks, you get a kick-ass vegetarian Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditional dishes with a bit of a Russian tinge. Plus, no line.

And you get to see some awesome live Klezmer music courtesy of the Gonifs, featuring members of the Cottontails, Rupa and the April Fishes, and Brass Menazeri.

Porto Franco is in a Victorian flat at 953 Valencia between 20th and 21st. They go until 2pm. If you miss this one, they do this every last Sunday of the month.

Mission-based, Ethiopian-born, singer-songwriter Meklit Hadero‘s new video for “Leaving Soon” debuted yesterday:

Between this and her recent NPR appearance, Meklit has been kicking ass lately. Her new album will be released on Porto Franco on April 10. Stay tuned for a record release party in the area. I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy and not only is the music fantastic and excellently produced, it features an all-star cast musicians that I see kicking around the Mission scene. In many ways, it serves as a culmination of those talents that I feel grateful for here every day.

I don’t know Meklit personally but that’s not because we haven’t run into each other. She stays closely involved the local arts and music scene through her performance space the Red Poppy Art House and is one of those intimidatingly talented and multi-faceted people that makes you immediately want to run home to re-think your life.