Internationally-known poet and journalist Ron Jones fuses jazz, storytelling and poetry together in his Buddha Blues, playing July 21-30 at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center. Jones wrote, performs and directed the piece. Buddha Blues is about growing up in San Francisco while getting an unusual gift from Dad, solving the murder of the famous Insect Lady, coaching a basketball team whose mascot is a penis, and skinny-dipping in a "talking" pond. An experimental piece, the one-man Blues uses stories, poetry and jazz to tell the adventures of "an everyday Buddha with the blues."

A published author and journalist, Jones wrote the books "The Acorn People," "The Wave," and "Say Ray," the American book Award winner in 1985. A Peabody Award winner, he has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize twice.

Linton Hale accompanies Jones on percussion and piano. Damon Molloy created the video images.

Tickets are $10. The New Conservatory Theatre Center is located at 25 Van Ness Avenue. For tickets, call (415) 861-8972. The New Conservatory Theatre is on the web at http://www.nctcsf.org.

-- By Christine Ehren