In case you didn't already know: it's a great weekend to be in Sacramento. In addition to the arrival of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) at the Convention Center, it's also the finale weekend of Sacramento Beer Week. Both were epitomized at Thursday's Art Bike Kick Off Party at Hot Italian. Hot Italian was serving their Beer Week special--a Moretti in a glass you get to keep--and Sierra Nevada was on site giving out samples of their beers. Three Art Bikes were on display (have you seen the other nine around town?): a Trike (that you were encouraged to climb on for a photo opp), a Shark Bike, and a St. Patty's Day Bike. The crowd was asked to submit their vote for their fa

Oliver Lake is a renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. His singular alto saxophone playing has been heard in a myriad of settings, from the groundbreaking World Saxophone Quartet to performing with rapper Mos Def. He’s arranged music for Lou Reed and Björk, composing for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and regularly collaborates with various musicians, poets and dancers around the world. In 1967, Lake helped establish the Black Artists Group in his native St. Louis, Mo., an organization formed to create a sense of community and to set an artistic and business example for young musicians, writers and other artists that still resonates to this day, especially in Lake’s own Passin’ Thr