All about balloons

Balloons are light, fun and airy — until all of a sudden they’re deep.

An art exhibit in San Francisco examines the profound side of these rubbery joy-blobs, from nostalgia to personal reflection to emotional longing. Yes, all from in … balloons.

“EmotionAir: Art You Can Feel” runs until Sept. 7 at the so-called Balloon Museum, which is more of an international touring association of curators working in the medium of air. The setting for the show is the beauteous grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts, which has been tricked out to accommodate all sorts of interactive and balloon-based wonderment.

The arguable centerpiece is a sound-and-light-filled work called “HYPERFEELING” that reimagines a ball pit for adults, ruled over by hundreds of balloons. “Playground Love” is an amusement park-type space that’s home to huge, moving spheres and inflatable tigers. And “Black Hole Horizon” converts sound waves into soap bubbles.

A visit lasts about an hour and a half, and visitors are encouraged to touch the balloons. But remember — no popping allowed.

Details: Open daily at 3601 Lyon St., San Francisco; $41-$51; balloonmuseum.world

— John Metcalfe, Staff

Patrick Landeza comes to Yoshi’s

Patrick Landeza is coming out of (semi) retirement to perform a big Bay Area show.

Having pretty much stayed out of the performance spotlight in recent years — while concentrating on his many other endeavors, including promoting shows — the acclaimed Hawaiian music vocalist-guitarist is set to play a gig tonight at Yoshi’s in Oakland.

The East Bay musician ranks among the finest slack-key guitarists in the business, one who has worked with such Hawaiian music masters as Cyril Pahinui, Raymond Kane, George Kuo and Dennis Kamakahi.

Landeza is also a two-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner — the first artist born and raised on the mainland United States to achieve this prestigious award, which can be considered Hawaii’s equivalent of the Grammy.

For this Oakland gig, the vocalist-guitarist will be leading his Patrick Landeza & Sons ensemble. The group features Hawaiian steel guitarist/keyboardist Justin Firmeza, who is the director of bands at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, and bassist Danny Landeza, a 10th grader at Moreau Catholic.

Details: Showtime is 8 p.m.; $25-$49; yoshis.com.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

A focus on documentaries

The Bay Area continues to be a hotbed for documentaries and documentary filmmaking. Want proof? The annual DocLands festival in San Rafael, running today through Sunday, celebrates and showcases high quality nonfiction filmmaking — both of the homegrown variety and films culled from around the globe.

Director Robert Stone’s “Starman” turns the cameras on 82-year-old sci-fi author and NASA engineer Gentry Lee as he considers that age-old question about if there are others out there. It is the opening night feature (6:30 p.m. today) and is receiving a West Coast premiere. Meanwhile, bat lovers and the bat-curious might well want to wing it over at noon Saturday for the world premiere of “The Invisible Mammal.” Marin County director Kristin Tièche explores the mysteries of this oft-misunderstood species as well as humans interactions with them.

Marin County director Robin Hauser’s film “Thaw” (3:30 p.m. Sunday) thoroughly considers one of the most of-the-moment topics — egg freezing — from the perspective of three women undergoing the process. And should you be a fan of the band “America,” directors Dustin Elm and David Breschel’s “I Need You: 53 Years of the Band America” (6 p.m. Saturday) will be a must.

Details: Screening at Smith Rafael Film Center, San Rafael; most screenings $17-$18.50, with youth and member discounts; www.doclands.com.

— Randy Myers, Correspondent

Classical picks: Cal Symph, NCCO, Costanza

This week’s classical music calendar brings three can’t-miss performances, with a concert devoted to dance music by diverse composers, a program of movements from two unfinished masterworks, and one of the Bay Area’s most accomplished cellists.

Unfinished business: In its season-ending concert, the California Symphony under music director Donato Cabrera leads the orchestra in a pair of unfinished masterworks: the two surviving movements of Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, and the three completed movements of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9. Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday; Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; $50-$95; californiasymphony.org.

Feel Like Dancing: Under music director Daniel Hope, the New Century Chamber Orchestra presents selections from its new album, “Dance!,” a wide-ranging program of dance music from composers including Bartok, Bizet, Gluck, Handel, Florence Price, and Astor Piazzolla. Details: 7:30 p.m. today at First Congregational Church, Berkeley; 7:30 p.m. Friday in Tiburon; 2 p.m. Saturday at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco; and 2:30 Sunday May 4 at Bing Concert Hall, presented by Stanford Live; $35-$80; NCCO.org.

Costanza at the Presidio: Cellist Christopher Costanza makes a special solo appearance as part of the new Beischer Family Sunday Strings series at the historic Presidio Theatre. His program features Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, and Britten’s Cello Suite No. 2, Op. 80. Arrive early for a stroll around the Presidio’s gorgeous grounds, admire the view and check out the wide array of food trucks on the scene. Details: 3 p.m. Sunday; Presidio Theatre, San Francisco; $45-$60; sfperformances.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

3-way jazz fusion

International Jazz Day was technically April 30, but San Jose Jazz is celebrating the day this weekend. And it’s hard to imagine a better headliner to mark the holiday.

Bay Area musician, composer and arranger Noriyuki Ken Okada, who’s performing at the San Jose Jazz Break Room on Saturday, will bring a unique Japanese/fusion sound flavored by his life’s journey — born in New York, with time spent residing in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Yokohama, Japan. Oh, and did we mention he’s really into video games? They influence his sound, too.

Okada jumped into music at an early age — he could play the bass, piano and drums before he was 12 — and since locating in the Bay Area in 2002, he’s collaborated with such local jazz mainstays as John Worley, Destiny Muhammad, Kristen Strom and Akira Tana. He’s performed at Monterey Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Summer Fest and the Stanford Jazz Festival as well as such venues at Yoshi’s and Kuumbwa Jazz Center.

He recently formed a band featuring the teenage global percussion sensation Yoyoka Soma — who earned a shout-out from Robert Plant after he watched her cover of a Led Zeppelin tune on YouTube — and has released a new album, “Square One.” The Ken Okada Group will showcase the new recording with a Saturday show at the Break Room.

Details: 8 p.m.; $27; the show will be available for streaming; sanjosejazz.org/events.

— Randy McMullen, Staff