Best 9: Top events for the week ahead in Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment, Feb. 20-27

Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the move-fast-and-break-things B9:

➤ For a couple of years now, Green Magic Yoga in downtown Santa Cruz has been at the center of Santa Cruz’s not-so-underground psychedelics movement, hosting events, lectures and workshops, many with out-of-town guest speakers and performers. The studio’s directors, however, have decided to close the studio space due mainly to “costly city requirements.” On Friday, Green Magic is hosting its Studio Farewell Party for an evening of “conversation, dance, visionary art and community.” The evening’s guests include psychedelic activist Osher, sexologist Ashley Manta and DJ Avira, who specializes in ecstatic dance. The event is billed as “The Psychedelic Connection,” and though the local psychedelics movement isn’t going anywhere, it marks the final time you’ll be able to see it in its incubating space. Come with an open mind and a hungry heart. 

➤ More than six decades (!) since their “invasion” of the U.S. music scene, The Beatles remain as relevant and popular as ever, giving the Santa Cruz supergroup the White Album Ensemble endless opportunities to continually explore that beloved Beatles sound. The band, itself more than 20 years strong, plays back-to-back “unplugged” shows at the Kuumbwa.

➤ Neither is a famous name, but Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley are both regarded as two of the finest acoustic/bluegrass musicians on this or any other planet. Ickes is elite when it comes to the dobro, and singer/guitarist Hensley is an American treasure. The two of them have been playing as a duo for a decade and bring their wizardry to the Kuumbwa next week.

➤ If the ghost of the legendary James Brown were ever to appear on a stage, Monday might be the time. It’s on that evening, at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, that two former members of Brown’s band, singer Martha High and trombonist Fred Wesley, bring their respective bands together to pay tribute to the late Godfather of Soul in a show sure to be conjure Da Funk in its purest sense. 

➤ Yes, the name is a familiar one. Bassist Sam Grisman is, in fact, the son of legendary mandolin master (and creator of “Dawg” music) David Grisman. And the younger Grisman comes to Felton Music Hall with a show paying tribute to the music his father created in collaboration with Jerry Garcia. It’s Dead-meets-Dawg next-generation Thursday night in Felton.

➤ Gender is a hot topic these days in everything from the gender gap in the electorate to the status of trans people. Author Jennifer Finney Boylan navigates that world well, even with its many land mines, in her new book “Cleavage: Men, Women and the Space Between Us.” She’ll be at Bookshop Santa Cruz next week.

➤ If you think that there’s not a jot’s worth of difference between one clam chowder and the next, it is time to enlighten thyself. This weekend, the annual Clam Chowder Cook-Off returns to the Beach Boardwalk, showcasing the wide variety and diversity of “chow-dah!” in all its creamy goodness. Late winter sunlight, the ocean air, a tasting sample of various chowders — that’s the California Good Life, people.

➤ If there’s a more infectious and irresistible dance beat than “Best Friend” by The English Beat, I’ve never heard it. That’s one of only several huge hits the U.K. band (known simply as The Beat in their native country) scored in the ska-revival heyday of the 1980s. For more than a decade, however, head Beatster Dave Wakeling has been a California guy and has been a regular on the West Coast circuit. Check him out Saturday night at Felton Music Hall.

➤ If Moe’s Alley ever institutes a hall of fame for its favorite performers, you have to believe that Coco Montoya will be among that first induction class. The lefty guitar master, a student of the great Albert Collins, brings his blistering blues style back to Moe’s for a special Sunday afternoon show.