Sontraud Speidel at the Hillside Club, Berkeley

Berkeley's Hillside Club is the home of an imaginatively-programmed concert series that mixes jazz, world, classical, and other musical styles.

This month's concerts include The Four Bags, who might be called a chamber-jazz group, on January 26, and, on January 31, the pianist Sontraud Speidel. I'm likely to get to the latter concert. Speidel's program includes works by Robert Schumann, Clara Wieck Schumann (the virtuoso pianist and great love of Schumann's life), and Johannes Brahms. The latter is represented by his rarely-heard Opus 1 piano sonata, Schumann by Kreisleriana and Kinderszenen, and Clara Schumann by Quatre pièces fugitives.

All concerts are $15 ($10 for Hillside Club members). The Hillside Club is located at 2286 Cedar Street in Berkeley; phone (510) 845-1350 for more information about the concert series or check the concert web site.