I’ve released some new music on Bandcamp, a score I premiered with AXIS Dance this past April.

I’ve a busy summer performing solo and with The Beth Custer Ensemble, Trance Mission Duo, and Club Foot Orchestra. They’re all posted on my home page. Lots of chances to hear me play.

Thanks again, have a lovely summer.

Yours Truly,
Beth

http://thebethcusterensemble.bandcamp.com/album/what-if-would-you

And thanks to all of you who came out to Club Foot Orchestra’s premiere of Richard Marriott’s score to the revised 140 minute silent film Metropolis by Fritz Lang at SF Jazz Festival. After thirty years of performing with CFO, I hope we can finally tour Europe with this one.

Upcoming shows include Clarinet Thing on May 10th at Old First Church. June 1 & 2 come hear my new score for Roco Dance’s production of Peter Pan for 150 teenagers at the Marin Center. I’ll be performing solo at SF Jazz on June 15th in their Church of the Advent.

See you at one or all of these this upcoming month and thanks again.

Cheers,

Beth

Happy new year!  If you’ve made it to my site, I thank you and hope you’ll come hear me perform this year, rarities abound–check my gig page for more info on my shows. Here’s a new video just published by Porto Franco Files, Crux of Murder, thanks Peter! I’ll be interviewed this Sunday, January 20th on Outsight Radio by Tom Schulte, check it!

In reverse order: I’ve got a lot going on this vibrant spring including Clarinet Thing’s returning to Old First Church on May 10th. Four of the Bay Area’s best clarinetists, Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown, Harvey Wainapel, y moi perform our originals and arrangements of unusual jazz tunes~ and a little classical too–don’t miss our rare appearance.

Another rarity, on April 14th~one of the first bands I joined in….1983… Club Foot Orchestra will be playing two shows, 4pm & 7:30pm, of Richard Marriott’s revitalized score to the new print of the classic silent Fritz Lang’s Metropolis at the SF Jazz Festival in the Miner auditorium in SF. Lost footage has been discovered and a new print made that changes the story of Metropolis and Richard has composed the entire 140 minute score. Club Foot fans will come out of the woodwork for this one!

On April 12-14, The Beth Custer Trio, with David James and Jan Jackson, will be performing my new score for AXIS Dance Company‘s 25th Anniversary performance at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, in downtown Oakland. We’ll perform live April 12th-13th, AXIS will use our recorded score on April 14th; Friday and Saturday will include a Q&A with the audience. It’s been enlightening working with LA choreographer and Guggenheim fellow Victoria Marks and AXIS. Thanks to Meet the Composer for their MetLife award supporting this vibrant new work.

On March 24th I’ll be performing with the fab Rob Reich Quintet at the annual Switchboard Music Festival (performance time TBA).  March 3, 8:30pm I’ll be with Graham Connah’s No Porkestra at the Berkeley Jazz School. He doesn’t advertise so there’s no link but if you like lots of horns blowing sparkly music, this is your concert~ and it’s by donation!

On March 1 I’ll be performing a rare solo set opening for one of my favorite Bay Area guitarists David James’s GPS (I also play with GPS) at one of my favorite Bay Area venues, the Red Poppy Art House. Seriously folks, if you’ve never been to a Red Poppy concert, now’s the time. You couldn’t ask for a more magical, intimate neighborhood venue with great acoustics, comfy seats (get there early for those), AND decently priced beverages. I always have a good show there!

On February 16th we’ll be having our first 2013 house concert. The Red House Speak Easy presents Argentine tango favorites Trio Garufa. Last year’s show sold out and tango dancers had a blast so don’t miss a fav of our intimate house concert series.

On January 21 & 22nd last but certainly not least, Undercover Presents  Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse. If you missed our sold out shows at Brava Theatre last fall, this is your chance to hear one of the coolest shows I’m honored to be included on with a different band recreating each song of Joni’s seminal album.

And if you made it to the bottom of this little missive, I thank you kindly again and hope all your wishes come true blue in 2013.

With respect as my religion,

Beth

Summer’s end once again….I’ll be watching the Perseid meteor shower this weekend under the stars in Sierraville. A solo road trip for my soul.

I’ll be giving two talks this coming week about our My Grandmother project, Monday, at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center (members only) and Tuesday at our new neighborhood bookstore, Alley Cat Books. I’ll talk about how I composed the score and show clips from the film.

Speaking of Granny, we’ve two performances this month of My Grandmother with my octet performing live with the film indoors at the fab historic Mill Valley Throckmorton Theatre and outdoors at the cool Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema. Both performances will include our original narrator Nils Frykdahl (the best!) of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Fawn Fables fame!

Down the road….Stephen Kent and I will be performing at the prestigious Di Rosa Art Auction on October 20th, more about that soon. And in September I’ll be starting a new score for Axis Dance Company for premiere next spring. Yeah, I have work!

But meanwhile…it’s out into the starry night for me.

your B

New Porto Franco video out of For the Grace of Any Man thanks to Peter Varshavsky.

Did a KPFA interview last night on Sing Out with the stalwart fan/friend Larry Kelp. Larry came to my Zeitgeist show a couple years ago in Brooklyn.

Check it out–see you soon!

Thanks Larry

And Paul Freeman also chimed in, thanks Paul!

See the home page for all our gigs—and I hope I see some peeps come out for this—

you ol’ Club Foot fans, you Trance Mission fans, you Eighty Mile Beach fans….bring it!

cheers,

b

Check out our new hit song (!) For the Grace of Any Man on Moe Staiano’s recent video of us at Davies Hall. We’ll be performing it on our NW tour starting at Montalvo Art Center on May 25th.

Cheers,

Beth

Red House Speak Easy presents Adam Levy with Todd Sickafoose this Saturday and yours truly sitting in on a tune. Come on over for some tasty soup and check out my concert series. We’ll have the fire pit going and homemade soups and libations for you to sip. http://bethcuster.com/gigs

We’ve officially launched my new site, peruse it for downloads, etc. Thanks to Alexander Bailey for all his wonderful design work.

When’s the last time you got out of the city? Consider spending a day in gorgeous St. Helena for our gig at Tres Sabores Winery. Go to a spa in Calistoga then come hear us perform, treat yourself!  We’ll be performing outdoors in front of the vineyards–there’s wine tasting and food available–and it’s a benefit for Oxbow School, a great arts high school of Napa.

I hope I see you very soon,

Cheers,

Beth

There’s some very cool artists in residence with me here including photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and artist Justin Lowman http://www.justinlowman.com and others. We get together each weekday night to feast on the culinary arts of chef Niki Valentine, formerly with the American Academy of Rome kitchen.

Yes, I am working while here…mostly on an orchestral arrangement of My Grandmother score as per a request from an orchestra in Spain, thanks to Chicago trumpeter Tom Purdie who lives and performs with Orquestra de Galicia.

With deepest gratitude,

Beth