SANTA CRUZ

Kuumbwa Jazz celebrates golden anniversary with concert

Wilson is a jazz instructor at Cabrillo College who also sings, plays the trombone and other instruments such as the conch shell. He has played at Kuumbwa Jazz since it first opened in 1975, and to celebrate its 50th anniversary, he will be bringing an all-star band that includes Gary Meek on woodwinds and keys, Bruce Forman on guitar, Dan Robbins on bass, Zack Olsen on drums and other special guests. Other Spirit of ’75 events are scheduled for later in the year, so keep reading the Sentinel for updates.

The concert is 7 p.m. Thursday at Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $19.75 for general admission and $10 for students. The show is sponsored by the William H. Nadeau Memorial Fund. For information, go to KuumbwaJazz.org.

Neko Case to promote new book at Rio

Indie songstress Neko Case will be coming to the Rio Theatre Friday as she has done multiple times in the past, but she won’t be there to perform. Instead, she will be discussing her new memoir “The Harder I Fight the More I Love You” with best-selling author Kate Schatz in an event hosted by Bookshop Santa Cruz.

For more than 30 years, Case has lent her soulful yet pristine voice to hundreds of songs, both on her own albums and with other performers. She released her debut, “The Virginian,” in 1997 and a few years later, she sang a few songs on Canadian indie rockers The New Pornographers’ debut album “Mass Romantic,” including the power-pop classic “Letter from an Occupant.” She has put out eight additional albums with The New Pornographers and six additional solo albums, including 2013’s Grammy-nominated “The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You,” which inspired the title of her memoir.

The book details Case’s life of growing up in poverty all over America due to her stepfather’s job as an archaeologist, which led to her family constantly relocating and Case being left alone frequently, finding solace in the woods and channeling her loneliness into music. She will be in conversation with Schatz, the New York Times best-selling author of the “Rad Women” series, “Ride of Me: A Story” — a book based on the 1993 PJ Harvey album — and “Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book.”

The event is 7 p.m. Friday at the Rio, 1205 Soquel Ave. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $37.25. Each ticket includes a signed hardcover copy of the book. The event is also sponsored by Streetlight Records and the Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz. For information, go to RioTheatre.com or BookshopSantaCruz.com.

FELTON

Felton Music Hall offers lessons on Cursive

Formed in 1995, Cursive emerged as part of the expansion of the post-hardcore scene that originated with bands like Husker Du and The Minutemen and later gave way to At the Drive-in, AFI and Thursday. Cursive represented the growing musical hotspot of Omaha and ended up being progenitors of the explosion of emo rock in the 2000s, although they have more in common with Fugazi than Fall Out Boy. Cursive were active for three years before disbanding but reformed in 1999 and have been active ever since. Their latest album, “Devourer,” was released in June. Opening will be Boston indie band Pile.

The concert is 8 p.m. Friday at Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9. Tickets are $41.15 in advance. This is a 21-and-older concert. For more information, go to FeltonMusicHall.com.

This week’s calendar was compiled by Nick Sestanovich.