An Evening of Trysts and Turns: Queer Thoughts from Matt Kailey

Three of Colorado's biggest gay authors will appear at The Mercury Cafe tonight for An Evening of Trysts and Turns: Queer Thoughts from Matt Kailey, Dan Stone and Jerry Wheeler. 

Matt Kailey is an award-winning author, speaker, blogger, and community activist. He has been an activist in the Denver LGBT community and nationally since 1997, has written several books, appeared in five documentary films, and educated audiences across the country about transgender and transsexual issues. 

Tonight he will be reading from his latest book, Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects, a "before-and-after" memoir/essay collection about growing up female and living as male for the past 15 years. His other books include Just Add Hormones: An Insider's Guide to the Transsexual Experience, about the ins, outs, ups, and downs of transition, and Focus on the Fabulous: Colorado GLBT Voices, a collection of 33 Colorado GLBT authors. 

Find him at his website/blog at www.tranifesto.com.

An Evening of Trysts and Turns: Queer Thoughts from Matt Kailey, Dan Stone and Jerry Wheeler.

Save the date this Friday, August 3 for
An Evening of Trysts and Turns: Queer Thoughts from Matt Kailey, Dan Stone and Jerry Wheeler.

Come to Mercury Cafe and hear Matt, Dan and Jerry as they read from their most recent books.

Poetry? Essay? Erotica? These and much, much more. And feel free to stay after the event and buy a signed book. Or three.

Azra at Mercury Cafe

The Mercury Cafe presents Azra in a musical journey through the Balkans on Saturday, August 18 at 8 p.m. 

Accompanied by Petar Teodosijev on accordion, Brett Bowen - percussion, Boris Kaplanskiy - piano, and Bennet Cohen - bass, and Meg York - clarinet, Azra sings traditional and rarely sung melodies from Bosnia, Serbia, and Macedonia, in addition to selected Russian Romance songs. 

Azra is a singer of Sevdah from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her singing reflects the lyrical melancholy of Balkan folk with sultry elements of Gypsy Jazz and Andalucian Flamenco tradition.  Her performances illuminate an inner world forever marked by the war in the Former Yugoslavia, and her immigrant life in the United States.

Raised in Bosnia, on Tom Waits, Django Reinhardt,  U2,  Broadway  musicals, opera and classical music Azra received formal musical education at the Zagreb Music Conservatory in Croatia.  A dramatic mezzo-soprano, with unique ornamentation and expressive singing style, Azra is a captivating stage performer.

She is currently collaborating with Petar Teodosijev, a virtuoso accordionist who spent years performing with Teodosijev Ensamble and Roma legend – Esma Redzepova.  The collaboration between Petar and Azra is envisioned as homage to their Yugoslavian roots and homage to a country that is not more. The album, entitled “Azra Sings” is expected to be released in August 2012 and contains 14 tracks of rarely sung traditional songs from Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia, and a block of Russian romance songs. 

Tickets are $15 at the door (cash or check) and reservations are recommended by calling Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St., Denver, CO 80205 at 303-294-9258. 

Things to do in Denver when you're gay: Automatica

This Wednesday, May 2 at Mercury Cafe, Gorinto and the NDiDA Collective present Automatica, a night of multimedia exhibition and performance showcase that produces works within the expanding realm of digital media. Automatica will feature installation works, followed by a series of performance pieces that will include live processed sound/video art, experimental voice ensemble, aesthetic noise, performance art, and creative movement.
 

Automatica is intended for mature audiences willing to explore innovative approaches in digital media and performance. The mix of instrumentation, projection, distortion, manipulation, extraction and collaboration will stimulate the mind and invigorate the senses.

Tickets will be $5 at the door. Events begin at 8 pm.

Valentines Day at The Mercury Cafe!

The Mercury Café present their Annual Valentine’s Follies, “Citizens United Doggy Style” February 3 - 24.  This is a dark, sick, perverse, romantic comedy with performances Fridays in February at 7:30 p.m. with a special Valentines performance on Monday, February 14 at 7:30.p.m. Tickets are $10 and available by calling the Box Office at 303-294-9258.

The Motley Players take wide aim at the long list of public figures including, Antonin Scalia and his wife, Maureen, Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia, Tim Tebow, George P. Bush II, Nancy Grace, Ted Nugent, and Katy Perry.

The Mercury Cafe also hosts Gumbo Le Funque's first annual Dirty Blues jam featuring Denver Blues legend Wende Harston. Special guests include Jeanie Schroder, a Bassist/Tubist, playing with world renowned DeVotchKa, the Diamond Dolls Dancers, and more on February 11 at 9 p.m..

Gumbo Le Funque is a funky, dangerous group of musicians and miscreants. These misfits are not throwbacks to another time or space-people of the future, but timeless and passionate musicians.

The Queen City Jazz Band's vocalist, Wende Harston, is a complete entertainer - she sings, dances and acts. She has appeared in many feature films and made-for-TV film series. She can be seen in local theater productions as well. She writes songs and is trying her hand at authoring a mystery novel.

Denver based group DeVotchKa recently took their celebrated live act across the globe, delivering spirited performances to audiences in places such as Istanbul, Belgium, and Poland. In Paris the band opened for Muse playing to massive crowds of 90,000. The Diamond Dolls are an all-girl dance troupe from Denver, Colorado. They focus on dances such as the Charleston, Vernacular Jazz, Classic Showgirl and more. Run by Becky Vigil, the group was formed in January of 2011. The Diamond Dolls have performed at national events such as Lindy on the Rocks, Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout and the Colorado Intercollegiate Swing Battle.

A community conversation about the economy at Mercury Cafe

Have you been affected by the economic downturn?

Do you have concerns about the government's solutions?

Do you have any thought on how we got here or how we should move forward?

Well, come on down to the Mercury Cafe on Sunday, August 16 at 1:30 p.m. for a community conversation about the economy hosted by Coloradans for a Fair Economy and the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.

If it is clear that no matter what we do, we must do it together, come join with your neighbors at the Mercury Cafe to share in the first steps toward building a new way forward.

Matt Kailey reads from his book Just Add Hormones at The Mercury Cafe

The reading was great, the service was terrible, and the water-saving toilets in the bathroom were very cool.

Forgive the jostling around for the first 10 seconds or so - it calms down after that and it's smooth sailing for the rest of the clip.