Dear Nocketback

Dear Nocketback,

by Jessi Hafer

Though my article last year on Fresno musician Armen Nalbandian referred to him as a jazz pianist, Fresno has since seen Armen as more genre-defying.

Fresno’s amateur roller derby team, the Smog City Roller Grrrls, is having its first bout on June 16, 2007 at 6pm at the Fresno Fairgrounds. As a female working on a community paper, I was looking forward to learning more about this group of women in our community who are certainly out there doing something different and interesting, and I was excited that I had arranged to talk to a few of the team members at their practice.

I sat down on a Sunday afternoon to flip through The Noveltown Review, a new literary magazine originating from the Central Valley, and just a few hours later, I had read the whole thing from cover to cover. Don’t get me wrong—I’m the type to read a magazine from cover to cover, and then I’ll set it aside and forget about it. That’s why I have to read it from cover to cover, because if I don’t, I will probably forget about it because I have so many other things I want to read.

Mark your calendars now (or circle the event on the UnderCurrentEvents Calendar). On June 22 at 8pm, as part of the “Nights in the Plaza” series at Arte Americas, Patrick Contreras’s “American Gypsy” concert will feature his ten-member band as well as various guest musicians in an event you won’t want to miss.

Meeting with John Baker on a late weekday morning I was surprised to realize that at the end of our hour plus talk we had yet to speak of the coffee. It wasn’t for the lack confidence in the coffee, serving one of the best cups of joe in town is nothing to take lightly. However, serving a great cup of coffee isn’t enough to make a coffee house great, it’s not even enough to necessarily ensure the survival of a local coffee house.

I asked the members of the Knuckledraggers, an improv comedy group in Fresno, what makes them tick. The response, with no hesitation: “gears and pendulums. “

The Knuckledraggers are an offshoot of a group of Fresnans that used to get together for Sunday evening improv workshops at a member’s house. After practicing together for a year and a half, the Knuckledraggers began taking their act before groups of family and friends. Next were private shows, including corporate Christmas parties and shows for non-profit groups.

Even in recognizing that Fresno has a strong musical community spanning a wide range of genres and styles, you can’t go wrong with the classics. Talk about old school—music of the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s that has stood the test of time! Fresno is very fortunate (especially considering our size) to have both the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Fresno Grand Opera.