Bar Shiru Selector Series
1611 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland
Dec. 20th, 2023
Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Oakland’s poet laureate, closed out season seven of Bar Shiru’s Selector Series by selecting and sharing albums by Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, and Sade. The record-spinning series, hosted by the lo-fi vinyl bar on Telegraph in Oakland, allows local artists and creatives to share their musical aesthetic by selecting albums that resonate with them.
The albums Dr. Nzinga selected impart timeless messages about the state of Black people, America, and Black people in America. Each contains songs written in the ’70s and ’80s that are still relevant today.
Bar Shiru has an intimate, speakeasy vibe. You can sit and listen as you sip Shiru’s trademark Japanese whiskey-based cocktails at the bar, at one of the mid-century modern cocktail tables, or in cozy nooks. The space, set up like a mod living room with subdued lighting and a wall of 1,500 albums, transports you to the 1950s or a vinyl bar in Japan. It’s a great place to indulge in a conversation and cocktails.
A selector, in musical vernacular, picks the music and puts it on, but does not necessarily DJ, according to Daniel Gahr, who owns the bar with his wife Shirin Raza. That concept “fit right in line with our musical outlook, which is to replay albums in their entirety. So when we were thinking about how we engage with the Oakland creative community, whether that’s artists, DJs, chefs, visual artists, this felt like a really interesting format to allow them to come in and be the curators for a night, be the selectors for the night and bring their own kind of musical perspective to our space.” The selector’s choices play for three hours and can be a side or full album.
Dr. Nzinga, whose poetic prowess earned her Oakland’s poet laureate title, serves as the CEO of Oakland’s Lower Bottom Playaz, the city’s oldest Black theater company. She also runs the Black Area Movement Business District CDC, which works to build a thriving and vibrant Black Arts community in Oakland. She’s won a host of awards for her theatrical and poetic work, which includes the collections “The Horse Eaters,” “SorrowLand Oracle,” and “Incandescent.” She is a self-described “cultural architect invested in creating structures for culture making.”
Dr. Nzinga welcomed the crowd of 50 or so music lovers by framing her musical selections. The three albums chosen: Curtis Mayfield’s Curtis, the first produced on his own label, in 1970; Marvin Gaye’s 1971 album What’s Goin On?, which flows through commentary on the issues facing Black people and America in one of its most tumultuous times; and Sade’s Diamond Life, which came out in 1984 and skyrocketed the singer to fame with her sultry, dulcet voice. Mayfield and Gaye question policy, political decisions and positions, while Sade highlights the joy, depth and beauty of Black people and community.
Dr. Nzinga said she selected these albums for particular reasons, one of them being an opportunity to educate through music. These albums are, for her, “smart art” that affects the listener. These albums craft “stories about life, reality, revolution and diving into issues like war, hate, subjugation, poverty and power,” she said.
Of Mayfield’s Curtis she said, “This is a particular album from a very particular time, when political sentiments were at a point when we really believed in something. This is very timely music, 50 years old and hella timely, ain’t nothing changed. Then there is the artistry of the music.”
“Hurry / People running from their worries / While the judge and the juries/ Dictate the law that’s partly flawed / Catcalling, love balling, fussing and cussing / Top billing now is killing / For peace no one is willing / Kind of make you get that feeling,” Mayfield sang, (from “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go”).
Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” lifts up issues that we grapple with today. The songs illustrate the point of view of a Vietnam vet returning home to a place he doesn’t understand, a place mired in poverty, drug use, and racial inequities.
“We’re in the same era,” Nzinga said. “Nothing is new. Not the police, not the internal strife, none of this is new. I mean this was 50 years ago and it’s still a timely conversation, wars, the environment, police actions.”
“Father, father / We don’t need to escalate / You see, war is not the answer / For only love can conquer hate / You know we’ve got to find a way / To bring some lovin’ here today,” Gaye sang (from “What’s Goin On?”).
Nzinga said she picked Sade’s album because it shows that in spite of all of this, “we here, we breathin’, we’re loving each other and we’re making art. We live and love in spite of the struggle.” Tracks like the title song “Your Love is King” and “Hang on to Your Love” emphasize the importance of keeping love and intimacy tangible and present. “Hang on to Your Love” tells listeners to not give up on love, to fight for it even though it’s not easy sometimes. “Be brave when the journey is rough / It’s not easy when you’re in love / Don’t be ashamed (Afraid) when the going gets tough / It’s not easy don’t give up … If you want it to get stronger / You’d better not let go / You gotta hold on longer / If you want your love to grow / Gotta stick together / Hand in glove / Hold tight, don’t fight / Hang on to your love,” Sade sang (from “Hang to Your Love”).
I went to the event thinking Nzinga would read her poetry backed by beats, so to hear her use music as a mechanism and platform for her message about Black solidarity and community was quite interesting. The albums she chose tackle the messages she conveys with her writing and theater productions.
This was a great way to experience new music for those unfamiliar with Mayfield, Gaye, and Sade — as Dr. Nzinga said, to share views and viewpoints that show a throughline from our past to our present and that give us perspectives on universal issues and themes. “It’s having a political conversation through music,” she said.
“This might be the best poetry gig I’ve had all year. It’s an interesting way to do the work, being an influencer, a tone setter.”
Definitely go check out the Selector Series when it returns in 2024 with season eight on Wednesdays at Bar Shiru. It’s a great way to engage with music you may not know, meet local creatives making art and propelling change in Oakland, and imbibe a libation that is truly delightful.
Check out their IG for season eight of the Selector Series @barshiru. You can find out more about Dr. Ayodele Nzinga at her website.
