Best 9: Top events for the week ahead in Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment, May 15-22

Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the May-flowers B9:

➤ Fifty years ago this month, a group of music nerds calling themselves the Kuumbwa Jazz Society — can’t you hear the reaction at the time? “Wait, the what? Jazz Society” — held a free concert in San Lorenzo Park on the opposite side of the river from downtown Santa Cruz. Today, everybody in town knows how to pronounce and spell Kuumbwa, because it’s become a local, a regional, heck, even a national powerhouse in the world of jazz. This Sunday, a half-century after the fact, the Kuumbwa Jazz Center returns to San Lorenzo Park for a big 50th birthday jam. The event is free to the public and features the great local Brazilian band SambaDá, the big, bold dance band the Joint Chiefs fronted by the fine vocalist Tony Lindsay, as well as West Grand Brass Band and the Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band, also with beaucoups of fine food, beer and wine. Insider’s tip: You get in free if you dress like it’s 1975 … of course, you get in free regardless, but do it anyway. 

➤ Given that Santa Cruz County was the longtime home of the late Lou Harrison, a titan in avant-garde music, it’s fitting that Santa Cruz-based New Music Works is throwing a spotlight on the musical legacy of queer artists. NMW’s latest concert, “50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride in Santa Cruz,” takes place Sunday at Peace United Church. It features the work of Harrison, Henry Cowell (not the state park namesake), pop singer Sufjan Stevens and others, including locals Michael McGushin, who conducts the NMW ensemble, and D. Riley Nicholson, the executive director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. It’s a big celebration and an essential part of Pride festivities on the near horizon. 

➤ The writing life can be frustrating and lonely, and everyone afflicted with the need to write could use a good word from someone who’s been down that road. Bestselling poet and writer Maggie Smith arrives at Bookshop Santa Cruz next Wednesday to showcase her new book, “Dear Writer: Pep Talks and Practical Advice for the Creative Life,” and to chat with former Santa Cruz County poet laureate Danusha Lameris about the craft of writing and pursuing the wild beast of creativity. 

➤ It’s always a fun vibe when Event Santa Cruz honors locals doing great stuff. Yep, The NEXTies are here, hosted by Bella Bonner and Matthew Swinnerton. The idea is to give out big, heaping piles of love to people in the community, from artists and musicians to mentors and community builders. Hang with the people who make Santa Cruz hum Friday at Woodhouse Blending & Brewing. And, please, dress to impress!

➤ Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond has a winner on its hands with its new four-weekend run — a Tony Award winner, to be precise. It’s Simon Stephens’ “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” which won the Tony for best play a decade ago. The play is a triumph of honoring neurodiversity, telling the story of a teenaged boy brilliant at mathematics but unequipped to deal with the everyday challenges of life. MCT’s “Curious Incident” opens Friday and plays every weekend through June 8.

➤ Saturday night at the Beach Boardwalk is always a fun scene, but this Saturday night could very well be memorable. For the first time ever, the Boardwalk is hosting a drone show, featuring more than 200 tiny drones in the night sky, precisely choreographed to form an array of images and words, sure to elicit a chorus of oohs and aahs. The show is free, and gets started at about 8:45 p.m. Saturday. Think fireworks without the danger of fire or the loud ka-booms, and with much more bedazzling precision. Welcome to the future. 

➤ Stand-up comedian Brad Williams calls himself a “part-time dwarf,” and has made his short stature his ticket to stardom with comedy specials titled “Coming Up Short” and “Fun Size.” On Sunday, Williams brings his latest tour, “Growth Spurt,” to the Santa Cruz Civic to crack on everything from race to sex to relationships to disability. He’s been a major player in TV, feature films, stage shows and even podcasting. He’s also perhaps the most famous superfan of the Denver Broncos, but we all have our personality flaws. Go see him anyway. 

➤ At one time, the Minnesota-based band The Bad Plus was famous for their moody, jazzy, often avant-garde piano-trio interpretations of well-known rock hits like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” But that’s not all they do. A few years ago, the band veered away from the piano, brought in a new guitarist and saxophonist and reinvented itself as a quartet. The group’s most recent release, “Complex Emotions,” lays the groundwork for their latest explorations. They play next Thursday, May 22, at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. 

➤ Those older folks who love the sweet sound of the mandolin have to be grateful to Sierra Hull, solid proof that the younger generation is picking up the mando tradition. Originally signed to a recording contract at the tender age of 13, Hull has matured into an adventurous and soulful artist with a new album out titled “A Tip Toe High Wire.” One of the most exciting faces in bluegrass brings her mandolin magic to Felton Music Hall on Saturday.