Art Letters: Haley Heynderickx, Elsa Nilsson, two Grateful Dead-themed events and more

This week, experience performances by indie folk singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx, accordionist and composer Alejandro Brittes, and jazz flautist and composer Elsa Nilsson, and browse for unique handmade pieces at FabMo’s Artisan Market. Plus, celebrate the Grateful Dead with two different events: Jerry Garcia Night at Feldman’s Books features musical performances and scenes from a new play about the band, then hear memories of the band’s early days on the Peninsula with a talk at Kepler’s Books a 1960s manuscript written by the late Grateful Dead lyricist Rob Hunter.

Haley Heynderickx
Indie folk singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx arrives at the Guild for a concert co-hosted by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Heynderickx released her first album “I Need to Start a Garden” in 2018. According to the guild, she draws inspiration from her Filipino-American upbringing, the folk music of the 1960s and ’70s, jazz and the acoustic guitar styles of Leo Kottke and John Fahey. Kicking off the show is LéPonds, the solo project of Californian experimental folk musician Lisa Houdei, who has released four albums and compares her song styles to Vashti Bunyan and Norma Tanega. $2 from every ticket sold will benefit the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.
Oct. 6, 7 p.m., The Guild Theater, 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; $45.20-$112.40; guildtheater.com.

Alejandro Brittes
Acclaimed accordionist and composer Alejandro Brittes is considered a masterful interpreter of the music of Argentina’s coastal region. According to Stanford Live, The Boston Globe called him “the leading exponent of Chamamé,” a centuries-old genre whose roots lie in the encounter of South America’s native Guarani cultures with baroque musical influences from the colonial era. He will perform with his group (André Ely on seven-string guitar and Carlos de Césaro on double bass) at Stanford.
Oct. 4, 7 p.m., The Studio, Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford; $15-$45; live.stanford.edu.

Elsa Nilsson/Band of Pulses
Originally from Sweden, jazz flutist and composer Elsa Nilsson moved to Seattle, where she earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornish College of the Arts, and ended up in New York City, where she is an associate professor at the New School College of Performing Arts. Her website states: “Her music embodies the energy of rock and roll, the rhythm of street protest, the soulful improvisations of jazz and the compositional language of classical music.” She will be in Palo Alto at a show sponsored by Earthwise Productions Band of Pulses, a group including Nilsson, Santiago Leibson, Marty Kenney and Rodrigo Recabarren, which received the 2022 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant. On October 11, Nilsson will release the second part of “Atlas Of Sound,” a project that explores humanity’s relationship to place. “Quila Quina -40°17’38.21”N, -71°45’68.48”S,“, a collaboration with Leibson, was written in Patagonia and includes descriptions of local ecosystems, art by Maia Heidel, and poetry by Pukem Inayao.
Oct. 5, 8:30 p.m., Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto; $20; eventbrite.com.

FabMo craft market
At the FabMo Artisans Market, you’ll find handcrafted items made from textiles, leather, wallpaper, tiles, and other materials that FabMo has saved from the landfill. FabMo is an organization that collects and preserves materials from designer showrooms that would otherwise be thrown away and gives them new life by making them available for use by the public. Unique items for sale at the craft market include whimsical stuffed animals, colorful bags, jewelry, accessories and more.
Oct. 6, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Los Altos Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave., Los Altos; fabmo.org/artisans-market.

Grateful Dead-centric events at Feldman’s and Kepler’s
The Grateful Dead is an iconic band with roots on the Peninsula, and the local Deadheads are hosting two events at the Menlo Park bookstore this October to celebrate.

On October 5, Feldman’s Books will host a Jerry Garcia evening celebrating the late frontman’s life and music. Presented in collaboration with the Magic Theater and Culture Clash, the event will take place near where the Grateful Dead, in their previous incarnation as the Warlocks, reportedly played their first concert at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in 1965. Musicians included Steve Wyreman and Joshua Raoul Brody and David Gans will perform, and will feature select scenes from Richard Montoya’s upcoming jukebox musical “Jerry Garcia in the Lower Mission.” Montoya and Gans will also offer a panel discussion about Garcia’s enduring legacy. Later, the owner of Bistro Vida will give a private tour ahead of the opening of his new cocktail bar Loretta, located in the former home of Magoo’s.
Oct. 5, 6-8 p.m., Feldman’s Books, 1075 Curtis St., Menlo Park; $39.19; eventbrite.com.

On Oct. 7, Gans and author Dennis McNally will discuss “The Silver Snarling Trumpet,” a manuscript written by late Grateful Dead lyricist Rob Hunter in the 1960s about the band’s birth and beginnings in Palo, at an event Alto wrote at Kepler’s, a fitting location considering the bookstore’s relationship to the band. “Roy Kepler and the staff at his Menlo Park bookstore allowed us to live in an intellectual atmosphere with a built-in library,” Hunter wrote in the manuscript, which also offers a glimpse into the band’s beginnings and the local scene, according to Kepler’s website Hunters Thoughts on creativity and collaboration.
Oct. 7, 7 p.m., Kepler’s Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (virtual entry also possible via Zoom); $16.74-$51.39; eventbrite.com.