The List

Support The Jazz & Democracy Project®

2011-11-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Jazz & Democracy Project® (J&D) uses jazz as a metaphor to bring American democracy to life, enrich the study of U.S. History in elementary, middle, and high school, and inspire youth to become active, positive contributors to their community.

This music integrated curriculum uses literary, aural, visual and kinesthetic activities to teach students 10 years and up about the jazz process and how this mirrors elements of the democratic process. Without needing any previous musical experience, all J&D students understand what musicians must know and be able to do in order to create Jazz, and how similar concepts are part of The U.S. Constitution, American democracy, and civic engagement in the 21st Century.

Make a tax deductible donation to J&D today!

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Lalah Hathaway: Effortless Beauty

2011-11-30T08:44:00.001-08:00

True vocal masters have the ability to sing a lyric and make you feel the intention behind those lyrics. Contrary to the lip-synced, auto-tuned din that comprises all too much of today’s popular music, real singers can stand before you—live—and stimulate genuine emotion, not just eroticism. Lalah Hathaway is such a singer. Her live performances are almost a throw-back to showmanship and stage presence of days gone by. She casts a spell on audiences and makes each person feel as though they alone are being serenaded right in their own living room.

The first ingredient in Hathaway’s magic spell is her tone, which is at once deep like the rivers and sparkling like that crystal stair, as earthy as it is ethereal, as sassy as it is sensual, and as steadfast as it is nimble. This may be a secret ingredient passed down from Donny Hathaway, arguably the greatest male soul voice for generations, not to mention a mother with classical voice training. However, audiences may be surprised to know that for every part soul, Hathaway is equal parts laughter.

“I definitely count among my influences as well as Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway and Joni Mitchell, I count Richard Pryor and George Carlin. To me humor is such a part of my everyday life that it effects and informs my art. [My band members] have to be hilarious. They have to absolutely be extraordinary players first, but then they have to also be hilarious. I really, really thrive laughing. And so generally, really serious people don’t last in my band too long. And everybody in the band is really great and extremely funny.”

The songstress goes on to display her funny bone when asked if she is very particular about how or what her musicians play. “I’m very particular that it doesn’t suck.”

That said, “the people that I choose to play with and have that experience with are great. So I never really worry about it. I just let it come through.” And herein lies the beautiful mystery of Lalah Hathaway. She possesses a voice with so much inherent presence, and she so easily navigates scales most singers can barely fathom, that the entire performance seems completely effortless. Spoiler alert: for Hathaway, it is.

“What I do for me is so natural that I don’t know what it is…. I’m in [the zone] a lot of the show. I’m like a channel and I really feel blessed. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, it looks so effortless when you’re doing it.’ And really, I’m gonna say that it is effortless because I really try to stay open to allowing the music to come through and do the work for me.”

“Some of us understand that we don’t understand. So it’s one of those things that we try to explain year after year…but music is a magic art. I don’t get it. I have the same thing happen to me that happens to you when I see music that I love: I’m transported, I’m transfixed. I wonder, ‘Where did that come from? Who decides to put that there? How did they get those lyrics?’ All the same questions you have, I have. I just have the blessing of being able to sometimes contribute to whatever is that magic.”

Yet, while some things remain a happy mystery, others are more deliberate.

“When I’m not in the zone I may be too self aware, or I have gas, or the promoter is a pain in the ass, or there are people talking or smoking a cigarette in the front row, or I don’t feel well that day, or I have a headache, or I have work to do tomorrow, or I’m distracted. All of that stuff happens from time to time, but it’s rare that it takes away from my experience of at some point being in that zone because it really is my passion and it is a high for me. So when I go to get that high, I’m determined to have it.”

Her journey as a musicians seems pre-determined as well. One could hardly ask for better family pedigree, but for Hathaway, “I’m a musician because I was born to be a musician.” And like any good musician, she sees herself on a constant path of growth and learning even with the recent release of her sixth album, Where It All Begins.

“Growing up in this business and coming into my own as a woman, as a human, as an African American woman, as a musician, as a band leader, as a business, as a brand—there’s so many things right now that I’m at the top of just figuring out. And I’m kind of a late bloomer, so right now it looks like I’m at the beginning—which is really the reason for the title of the record. I have really learned how to be open, how to not be too reactionary, how to take compliments and criticism in stride, how to deal with the audience, how to best communicate with the fans. (I’m an avid social networker!) I’ve learned a lot of stuff. I’ve been in this process for many years, and so it’s been this ultimate university for me and I continue to learn all the time.”

Though the path may be never-ending, all of Hathaway’s life experience came to bear on this latest project—her second with Stax—thanks in part to an unfettered creative process. “I worked with John Burk and he said, ‘Go ahead and put the record together that you want to put together.’ And I felt like I had done that in the past, but I really did that this time because it was me finding the songs, finding the producers, calling in favors, working with people that I really wanted to work with.”

And true to form, the ever burgeoning artist learned something new along the way: “Part of the process of the record was realizing that everybody is an artist in some way. People don’t all sing or dance or sculpt or write, but every day is your chance to create art out of your life. Your life is really your art. And I’m really serious and passionate about that, and I want people to embrace the idea.”

The art which inspires Hathaway will come as no surprise to fans, as she reaps what she sows. “What feeds me is music that people create with the intent to really make you feel something.” And her intent while performing is, “to help you escape into wherever it is you are trying to go, and create a beautiful, comfortable space for you to live in, because I know how I feel when that kind of space is created for me: I relish it and love it.”

Bay Area audiences are bound to fall in love all over again this weekend at the Oakland Yoshi’s, a crowd and a venue that holds particular meaning for Hathaway. “There’s something special about Yoshi’s. That’s just a room that I love. There is a magic in that room…and the people are there for a show. They came to get down—even through the Sunday matinee! That stage is definitely one of my home stages.”

And therefore we can count on Hathaway to wave her incomparable vocal wand, casting the spell that will make all of us feel right at home this weekend at Yoshi’s. Her performances are simply not to be missed, for as her latest album suggests, each one transports us back to the source where all music begins, and reminds us just how beautiful the journey can be.

Lalah Hathaway

Friday, December 2nd - Sunday, December 4^th

Yoshi’s Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Fri, Dec 2 at 8pm $30 & 10pm $26
Sat, Dec 3 at 8pm & 10pm $30 both sets
Sun, Dec 4 at 7pm $30 & 9pm $26

Kenny Garrett @ Yoshi's Oakland

2011-02-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

(Foto Hasse Ferrold)

Kenny Garrett returns to Yoshi's Oakland this week for just two sets on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Garrett is one of those players who always plays as if it were his last time; he leaves it all out on the stage. Witnessing that level of commitment, for me, is worth the price of a ticket. What is more, this visit to Oakland has an added bonus: Ronald Bruner, Jr. on drums. Some of you may have seen or heard him recently with The Stanley Clarke Band. If you did, you saw a relentless and audacious young drummer who will mesmerize you with speed, precision, and an unyielding groove. In fact, Bruner is likely to steal the show.

This will be jazz that you can bob your head to--perhaps even feel compelled to dance. Yet and still, Garrett is steeped in tradition and will provide an earnest look into the music, and into the heart of a musician who reaches into his soul for every note.

Kenny Garrett Quartet with Ronald Bruner (d), Benito Gonzales (p) and Nat Reeves (b)

February 8th and 9th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Tuesday 8pm $20

Wednesday 8pm $20

Lalah Hathaway @ Oakland Yoshi's

2010-12-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

The incomparable Lalah Hathaway graces the Yoshi's stage starting tonight. There is little more that I can say about the great Ms. Hathaway that I haven't already said in previous posts (1, 2, 3). She will go down as one of the greatest Soul singers of all time. And as I always say, never miss an opportunity to see the masters!

Lalah Hathaway

Dec 30th - Jan 2nd

Yoshi's Oakland

Thursday

8pm & 10pm: $28

Friday - New Years Eve!

8pm show $50

11pm show $100 (Includes Champagne Toast and Party Favors)

Saturday

8pm & 10pm: $28

Sunday

2pm matinee: Kids $5 / Parents with children $18 / General $28

7pm show $28

We're Talkin' Jazz #7: Mike Stern & Randy Brecker

2010-11-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

The Jazz Heritage Center pre-concert talk series, We're Talkin' Jazz, continues next weekend with an interview with guitarist Mike Stern, and trumpeter, Randy Brecker. Join us at 3:30pm before the Sunday matinee for an intimate conversation with these two influential artists, and gain insight into the supergroup that Mike Stern has assembled for this Yoshi's run. Audience Q&A to follow. Interviewed by yours truly...

Mike Stern & Randy Brecker
We're Talkin' Jazz pre-concert interview
The Jazz Heritage Center Media & Education Center (next door to the Yoshi's SF box office)

Sunday, December 5th

3:30-4:30pm

FREE to Yoshi's ticket holders & JHC Members (become a JHC member here)
$5 Donation all others
REGISTER HERE!

Mike Stern Band featuring Randy Brecker, Dennis Chambers, and Anthony Jackson

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore Street @ Eddy)

Friday, December 3rd

8PM: $26 / 10PM: $18

Saturday, December 4th

8PM/10PM: $26

Sunday, December 5th

5PM: $5 kids / $15 adults with kids / $26 general

7PM: $26

The Master Returns: Ahamad Jamal @ Yoshi's Oakland

2010-11-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, by now all of you know my motto: Never pass up an opportunity to see the masters. And Ahmad Jamal is certainly a master of piano in the idiom of American Classical Music (a.k.a. Jazz). I've written about him in previous posts, and was thrilled to speak with him for over an hour last December, resulting in one of my most prized articles. All I can add at this point is that I saw this four person ensemble at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September, and was thrilled by the addition of Herlin Riley on drums. Jamal has a history of picking great drummers from New Orleans, but Riley brings the second line like no other I've seen with Jamal, providing a boistrous lift to the rhapsodies that define Jamal's signature style.

Simply put, this show is not to be missed.

Ahmad Jamal

Friday, November 26th - Sunday, November 28th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Friday 8pm & 10pm show $30

Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $30

Sunday 2pm Kids Matinee $5 Kids, $18 Adult (With Kid), $30 Adult (General)

Sunday 7pm show $30

Ahmad Jamal - piano

James Cammack - bass

Herlin Riley - drums

Manolo Badrena - percussion

Geri Allen's Eric Dolphy Tribute @ Yoshi's Oakland

2010-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Francis Wolff)

Composer, band leader, flautist, alto saxophonist, and bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy was said to be one of the sweetest souls on the jazz scene. This made his passing all the more tragic. The story I was told was that because he was a Black jazz musician, he was treated for a heroin overdose when he was actually experiencing a diabetic coma, and therefore died while on tour in Europe. Whether that's true or not, soprano and tenor titan John Coltrane took Dolphy's passing hard. I believe Trane played a concert or two after Dolphy's death on alto in tribute.

This week at the Oakland Yoshi's, famed pianist, Geri Allen, performs her own tribute with Don Byron on bass clarinet--an instrument that Dolphy almost single-handedly made into a jazz instrument. Now, most of you know my rule about posts: I rarely advertise a show when I cannot vouch for the musician/band. I've never seen any of these musicians, save one. However, there are two reasons why I'm sure this show is worth the price of admission: (1) Geri Allen is a highly regarded pianist whose integrity to the music is unquestionable, and (2) Jeff "Tain" Watts is a must-see drummer.

(Photo by Jackie Leapage)

(Photo by Ken Franckling)

Tain is the gentle monster at the kit. I say monster because his swing is ferocious, yet I've seen him play so soft and tenderly, he made a young woman cry at my table one night. He is the full spectrum of musicianship, and partly the reason why I believe jazz education is vitally important for the youth of today.

This band is going to do Dolphy proud. Don't miss it.

Geri Allen: Tribute to Eric Dolphy

Friday - Sunday, September 24th - 26th

Yoshi's Oakland (560 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Friday 8PM Show: $24, 10PM Show: $24

Saturday 8PM Show: SOLD OUT, 10PM Show: SOLD OUT

Sunday 2PM Matinee: $5 kids/ $18 adults with children/ $24 general, 7PM: $24

Geri Allen - piano

Oliver Lake - alto sax

Don Byron - bass clarinet

Dwayne Dolphin - bass

Jeff 'Tain' Watts - drums

McCoy Tyner @ Yoshi's SF

2010-09-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Mars Breslow)

"What matters is how you resolve things," said McCoy Tyner in conversation with Ben Sidran during the classic Talking Jazz interviews. Of course, he was talking about how he voices chords, but there is a lot to be learned from the masters--on all levels.

If I were interviewing McCoy this week (which I really wish I was), I would ask him about those moments in his current ensembles when other bands might be coming to the end of a song, yet McCoy's bands seem to engage a higher level of intensity. You can almost feel yourself sitting up a little taller in your chair as they dive even deeper into the swing. Listen for those moments. They will move you.

This time McCoy has assembled some of the best side-men in the business. I often distrust all-star assemblages simply because they are not a regularly working band who have their own collective sound. But all of these guys know how to listen, lead, and follow. Hargrove and Jones have worked together in numerous settings, so you might glimpse a special connection there, but rest assured that all will bring their A-game as they co-create with one of the greatest pianists in the history of American Classical Music: Jazz!

McCoy Tyner w/ Roy Hargrove (t), John Patitucci (b), and Willie Jones III (d)

Thursday - Sunday, September 23rd - 26th

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore at Eddy)

Thursday 8pm: $35, 10pm: $25

Friday 8PM Show: $40, 10PM: $30

Saturday 8PM & 10PM: $40

Sunday 5pm: $5kids/$20 adults with kids/$30 general, 7pm: $40

Susana Baca @ Palace of Fine Arts

2010-09-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Go out of your way to see Susana Baca. I repeat: go out of your way to see Susana Baca. She's magic. See my previous post for more detail, but for right now, know that you should go out of your way to buy tickets and witness this show!

Susana Baca

Wednesday, September 22nd

8:00pm

Palace of Fine Arts Theater (3601 Lyon Street, SF)

$25 / $35 / $50

$65 seating includes VIP reception with the artist

Click here for tix

We're Talkin' Jazz #6: Jacky Terrasson

2010-08-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Devin DeHaven)

Pianist, composer, and band leader, Jacky Terrasson, will be the 6th guest in the We're Talkin' Jazz series at The Jazz Heritage Center. Ever since Terrasson burst upon the jazz scene in 1993 by winning the Thelonious Monk Piano Competition, he has consistently recorded richly refined and remarkably free-spirited music. Terrasson is a two time Grammy nominee (Kindred, Best Jazz Album, 2001 and Into The Blue (2004) with Emmanuel Pahud). In 2003 he also earned Best Jazz Artist of the Year (Prix Django Reihnardt , Academie de Jazz), Best Jazz Album of the Year for Smile (Victoire de Jazz) and two Django d’Or awards for Best Jazz Album and Best Artist. Now, after delivering 10 CDs for Blue Note Records, Terrasson makes his Concord Jazz debut with Push, an 11-track gem of dynamic pianism that opens up a new door onto his creative technique and ingenuity.

Join us in the JHC Media & Education Center just next to the Yoshi's box office for an intimate conversation between Terrasson and yours truly, followed by Q&A.

The Jazz Heritage Center

1330 Fillmore Street (@ Eddy in SF)

Wednesday, September 1st

6pm - 7pm

JHC Members and Yoshi's ticket holders get in FREE!

General Public $5

Go here to reserve tickets

JHC Membership of just $60 gets you access to the entire and ongoing We're Talkin' Jazz series for one year. Join now!

We're Talkin' Jazz #5: Tony Lindsay

2010-08-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

11-time Grammy winner and Santana front man, Tony Lindsay, will be the 5th guest of the We're Talkin' Jazz live interview series at The Jazz Heritage Center. Lindsay will be performing at the San Jose Jazz Festival on Friday, August 13th. Come hear from the international star who calls the Bay Area his home. Q&A to follow.

The Jazz Heritage Center

1330 Fillmore Street (@ Eddy in SF)

Wednesday, August 11th

6pm - 7pm

JHC Members get in FREE!

General Public $5

Go here to reserve tickets

JHC Membership of just $60 gets you access to the entire and ongoing We're Talkin' Jazz series all year long. Join now!

Fillmore Jazz Festival 2010

2010-07-03T03:47:00.000-07:00

(Festival poster by Michael Schwab)

The Fillmore Jazz Festival is on this 4th of July weekend. Of the 24 bands playing the festival up and down Fillmore Street, I can vouch for two:

Bobby Webb

Saturday, July 3rd

Eddy Street Stage

2-3:30pm

I once hired saxophonist Bobby Webb to play a gig at Stanford when I was an undergrad. He was the hit of campus that night, and he hasn't lost a step since. Bobby is known to say, "It ain't a party 'til we start playin' The Blues!" Other Blues men might not be able to back that up, but bet your bottom dollar that this set is going to make you shake a tail feather and sing out loud!

Marcus Shelby Orchestra

Saturday, July 3rd

California Street Stage

4-6pm

I've always been a stickler about big bands: they are a rare sight these days, so whenever you get a chance to see one, you shouldn't pass it up. It just so happens that Shelby's is also a good big band. I've written about them in the past, so for now, simply know that you should make your way to the California Street Stage at 4pm to see one of the Bay Area's jazz gems.

Cassandra Willson @ Oakland Yoshi's

2010-06-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Cassandra Wilson is all about the groove. I know she's a singer, and typically when you think of groove you think of bass and drums, or the entire rhythm section. However, Wilson reaches me because she ensures that every song she sings has an infectious groove of some kind, even at slow tempos. To this end, she is one of the only artists I've seen who surrounds herself with stage monitors. It's as if she is creating a pool of sound, and you can witness her swimming in the sound waves.

Wilson's voice carresses every last note, and her band follows suit. Prepare from some of the tastiest music you've heard in some time...

Cassandra Wilson

June 19th - June 20th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $40

Sunday 7pm & 9pm show $40

Lalah Hathaway @ SF Yoshi's

2010-06-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

It is Father's Day Weekend, and Lalah Hathaway, daughter of the greatest vocalist in soul music history, Donny Hathaway, performs at the SF Yoshi's. This is going to be special.

I have written about Lalah in the past (post1, post2). The one thing I will add here is that Lalah Hathaway possesses an understated and underrated skill that is all too rare among modern singers: the ability to sing a melody straight, and transmit the emotion of the lyric through the sheer power of her tone and conviction. So often, singers resort to vocal gymnastics in order to elicit emotion. Lalah has as much vocal control as any singer out there today. In fact this ability is usually displayed during the vamp in such a way that makes audience members scream out. However, unlike many, without using any particular vocal trickery, she can sing you a melody and make you believe it--plain and simple, yet as profound as the Blues itself.

As I've said before, Lalah is one of the few singers on a very short list of artists that I would pay to see perform every night of my life. She's always that good, her band is always that good, and you simply don't want to miss it. Not ever, but espeically not this weekend.

Lalah Hathaway Celebrating Father's Day

Friday, June 18th - Sunday, Jun 20th

SF Yoshi's (1330 Fillmore Street @ Eddy)

Friday 8pm show $30, 10pm show $22

Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $30

Sunday 5pm matinee: Kids $5/Parents with Children $20/ General $30, 7pm show $30

Marcus Miller: Speaking Balance & Spirit

2010-06-08T16:17:00.001-07:00

His latest recording, Marcus, credits Marcus Miller on both four and five string bass guitar, fretless bass, various keyboards (organ, Fender Rhodes, Moog synth, clavinet, Wurlitzer), beat and rhythm programming, sitar, guitar, acoustic guitar, “milky way” guitar riff, bass clarinet, B-flat clarinet, drums, bongos, tambourine, shaker, and background vocals. He also wrote original material on the album and produced the entire project. This information alone might lead one to presume that Miller is a completely self-absorbed musical savant, for such extensive musical abilities must consume every waking hour of his life. However, to the contrary, Miller is a Renaissance man who has mastered the art of balance.

“You’ll notice that songs that have really strong melodies, the rhythm usually takes a back seat. And music where the rhythm is driving you, sometimes the melodies take a back seat. Sometimes when the harmony is really complicated and really thick, you can’t feel the rest of the music because the harmony is so intricate. So I try to create music that has a balance between those elements so that one doesn’t over power the other. Or, if I can’t do that, if I have one song that is really melody based, I try to make sure the next song balances that out with a strong rhythm because—particularly live—when you finish at my concert I want you to have felt every emotion available to you. I want you to feel like you want to dance, I want you to feel like you want to sit down and concentrate on what we’re playing, I want you to experience joy and remember the pain of losing somebody, and how you felt when you first fell in love. All those experiences I would like you to experience in my music and in my show, so I think it’s really important to have a balance so that you can allow people to feel all of those things.”

While balancing musical elements allows audiences to access both breadth and depth of emotion, the husband and father of four gains profound insight as a result of balancing his personal and professional life.

“For a lot of musicians—and for a lot of people that aren’t parents yet—the world really is about them, and the world is about what can they do to feel better, and what can the world give them to make them feel good. And the biggest difference with being a parent is it becomes not about you. And it’s honestly not about you. I mean, it's not like you have a baby and you go, ‘Okay, you know what? I've got to change my perspective.’ It's not a decition. It just is. The only thing that’s on your mind is, ‘What can I do to provide a nurturing environment for this kid, and give this kid what they need?’ And that really helps your music. The first stage of making music is [when] you find out that you’re good at it…so you’re playing for the attention. And then maybe there’s another stage when you’re playing for the healing qualities that it presents for you: it makes you feel better. But then there’s another level that you get to once you’ve made albums and CDs and once you’ve toured the world, once you’ve met people who have been profoundly effected by your music: it stops being about you. Then it starts being about what you can do, what you can present to the world to make people feel good, or make them feel something. And that’s the same as being a parent: it becomes not so much about you. I think it’s a parallel that you reach when you get to a certain point in your life.”

Miller arrived at this place in his musical career long ago. With nearly 600 recording credits to his name, the bass virtuoso has been a first-call session musician since the 1980s for R&B, Soul, and Pop stars alike, as well as straight ahead Jazz greats. And while this is partly due to a technical facility which took years of development—and which still requires hours of daily maintenance—Miller is clear that his ability to reach audiences requires something more.

“I don’t play the fastest, I don’t play the loudest, I don’t play the highest or the lowest, but I think there is something about my spirit that allows me to connect to people. And I think that’s the most important quality of my music. And so when I’m standing on the stage getting ready to go on, I say, ‘Hey, man, just be honest, and make sure that your spirit shows, and everything will be fine.’”

The spiritual component of his music making stems directly from Miller’s upbringing—both familial and musical. Every Sunday his family would go down to the basement of his grandfather’s church and perform for each other. “That scared me more than any concert I’ve ever done! It was a big deal. It was a rite of passage, you know?” In addition, Marcus got in good with the plethora of top-notch musicians hailing from his home town of Jamaica, Queens, all of whom required a particular standard—even definition—of musical excellence.

“I remember seeing a lot of musicians who were really talented go up there and get no response from our crew in the jam session because the thing wasn’t infused with that spirit. It was just a lot of notes. So I think I learned from good people. I grew up in a good, musically spiritual environment where we learned that…you had the notes and you had the rhythm and you had the harmony, but then you had to infuse it with the energy of your spirit to make it come to life. If you’re not really finding that soulful quality to your music, then you’re just jivin’.”

Accessing and communicating his spirit through music remains a focus of Miller’s playing to this day—particularly when improvising. This process often involves mental calculations happening at the speed of inspiration, but the best moments occur when the mind gets out of the way altogether.

“If you’re improvising, you’re always thinking a few seconds ahead of yourself because you gotta figure out where you’re going to go next and what am I gonna do in this moment that is coming up. And sometimes you’re going, ‘Okay, I hear this line in my head. Can I execute it? Do I have the technique to play what I’m imagining at this moment?’ And sometimes you say, ‘You know what, I don’t think I can make that, so I’m going to come up with another idea.’ You’re editing, and this is all happening in split seconds. And then there are other times when those questions aren’t even there. Think it, and it just comes out of your hands. It’s like when you hear people talk about being in the zone. Sometimes it’s just there. You don’t have to worry about it, you’re not second guessing yourself, you become one with the music, and that’s the moment that we’re all looking for. And you never know when it’s going to happen because I’m not sure of everything that it takes to create that moment, but when it’s there you absolutely know it.”

True to the call-and-response traditions of African American music—both sacred and secular—Miller conceives of this heightened experience in terms of speech where effective communication in a musical language eventually makes way for inspiration.

“It feels like you’re having a conversation with somebody that you really know well, and they’re with you. They’re hearing everything you're saying, and you’re hearing everything they’re saying.... Music is a language, so when I say what you’re ‘saying,’ [I mean] what you’re playing on your instrument—you know, you’re talking. And when you’re saying something and you can feel the response of people understanding or relating to what you’re saying, it encourages you. And when the musicians are on the same page, that encourages you. The next thing you know, man, your mind is turned off and you’re just playing all spirit.”

Even though Miller admits that he isn’t quite sure how these moments come to be, he associates them with an openness and a willingness to take risks—the same risks his counter-parts in Jamaica, Queens used to take, and also the same risks taken by his favorite musician: Miles Davis.

“You have to be the kind of person who is open to doing that, because you have to really open yourself up. You gotta be really willing to fail and to look foolish…. When I was in Miles’ band, he’d go for a note that he didn’t know if he was going to get. And sometimes the note would crack, but it never stopped him from going for that note the next night. He would always go for it. Half the time it would crack, half the time he would make it. The funny thing was when the note cracked. It seemed like that affected the audience more than when he hit it clean, because it showed that he was going for something that he didn’t know whether he was going to be able to make or not—as opposed to those musicians who don’t miss a note, and it’s all slick and it’s all glib and it’s all, ‘Hey, I’ve done this a million times. I’m so talented!’

“What would you rather feel when you look at a musician? Would you rather feel like, ‘Wow, that guy’s really talented,’ or would you rather say, ‘Wow, man, I’m feeling emotion I haven’t felt in years listening to this guy play!’ And so I think the people who can get their minds out of the way, and who get the focus off of their technique are the ones who stand a better chance at reaching people. And the musicians who aren’t afraid to let their pants fall down and stand there in their underwear are the musicians who have the best chance of really getting to that other place in music.”

Akin to these risks is the search every jazz musician takes to find their unique voice. And while all are on the journey, “There’s only a few musicians who when you hear three notes you go, ‘Oh, man, that’s Herbie [Hancock]!’ And none of us can tell you how that happened. The only thing is, we stopped trying to sound like other people early on in life. When you first learn, you imitate other musicians…but eventually you gotta stop that and try to find your own notes.”

With this charge in mind, Miller will speak new life into a classic Miles Davis collaboration this Friday, June 11th as part of the SFJAZZ Festival Spring Season. Miller co-produced and wrote three quarters of the 1986 album, Tutu, but when the Cité de la Musique in Paris first approached Miller with the concept in 2009, he reacted with a hesitation that would have made the late Miles smile.

“My first reaction was, ‘Nah, man, because Miles hated that. Miles didn’t like looking backwards and trying to recreate the past.’ But I really did want to pay homage. I thought it would be really cool—particularly since it was close to 25 years since we did Tutu—so I said, ‘What could I do?’ And then I thought, ‘What about if I got some really young musicians that were barely born when Tutu came out, and have them discover this music and reinterpret it and create something new for today?’ I thought Miles could get behind that, and that’s when I got excited about it. So I started looking for the youngest, baddest cats I could find.”

And he found them. During a master class at Berklee College of Music, Miller spotted then 20 year old Alex Han on sax. “He was just ridiculous. His soul is so mature, that I was really impressed by him. I said, ‘Come on, find me the other bad young cats!’” Enter Louis Cato on drums who is, in a word, “bad!” Miller has been playing with Federico Gonzalez Peña for the last few years. “He was Me’Shell Ndegéocello’s keyboardist and musical director for years and years, and he’s bad bad bad!” The band also features Christian Scott on trumpet who has been making big noise in the industry since his 2006 debut album, Rewind That. “He’s an amazing musician, and I asked him if he would be interested in performing this music. I said, ‘Look, I don’t want you to try to re-create Miles…. We want to just take this music and see where we can take it.’ And Christian was down for that.”

“The first rehearsal sounded just like the Tutu CD. And I said to them, ‘Look, thanks guys for that nostalgic experience, but that’s not what I want to do. I want to see where we can take this music into the future.’”

Like the split second decisions made while improvising, the future is now. Expect Miller and crew to pour intense emotion into each note on Friday, hearkening back to the legacy and intensity of Miles Davis as much through the choice of repertoire as their ability to explore and communicate at the spur of the moment. Any Marcus Miller show involves killer grooves and a dialogue between musicians and audience alike. And amidst all the emotions you are sure to feel, you will also know that you have seen the history and future of Jazz all balanced on one spirit-infused night of music.

Marcus Miller

Tutu Revisited: The Music of Miles Davis featuring Christian Scott

Friday, June 11th

Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness Avenue @ McAllister in SF)

8pm

$35 / $55 / $75

Marcus Miller - bass

Christian Scott - trumpet

Alex Han - saxophone

Federico Gonzalez Peña - keyboards

Louis Cato - drums

We're Talkin' Jazz #3: Pat Martino

2010-05-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Pat Martino will be the third artist featured in the We're Talkin' Jazz pre-concert talk series, held in The Jazz Heritage Center Media and Education Center (adjacent to the SF Yoshi's box office), hosted by yours truly. As always, you can expect an intimate and introspective dialogue with time for audience Q&A.

The Jazz Heritage Center

1330 Fillmore Street (@ Eddy in SF)

Wednesday, June 2nd

6pm
JHC Members get in FREE!
General public: Request for donations at the door
*Reserve a seat here

We're Talkin' Jazz #2: Rachelle Ferrell

2010-05-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

(Special thanks to James Knox for the photo)

Rachelle Ferrell will be the second illustrious guest of the We're Talkin' Jazz pre-concert talk series, held in The Jazz Heritage Center Media and Education Center (adjacent to the SF Yoshi's box office). Please join us for an intimate talk with this rare gem of an artist, as she peels back the layers of her boundless gifts. Yours truly will host the interview, with time for audience Q&A.

The Jazz Heritage Center

1330 Fillmore Street (@ Eddy in SF)

Saturday, May 8th

6pm

JHC Members get in FREE!

Yoshi's Rachelle Ferrell ticket holders get in FREE!

General Public $5

JHC Membership of $60 gets you access to the entire and ongoing We're Talkin' Jazz series all year long. Join now!

*Reserve your tickets for the pre-concert talk even if you are already a JHC Member or hold a Yoshi's ticket for one of Rachelle Ferrell's sets this weekend!

Rachelle Ferrell: Principles Without Boundaries

2010-05-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Rachelle Ferrell is a singer’s singer. She has been selling out Bay Area performances since her debut album was released in 1992 because every show is a vocal clinic that absolutely demands the presence of Jazz, Soul and Gospel singers far and wide. Her combination of tone, agility and range are incomparable. She possesses a range that spans some seven octaves into the whistle register where few women can reach, and down to the baritone range, almost exclusively a male register. Where most singers might have to ask a band, “In what key do you normally do this song,” one imagines Rachelle Ferrell asking, “Which register would you like me to sing it in?” She can produce as pure and angelic a tone as you have ever heard, and sustain it so long that you will wonder if her body even requires oxygen. That tone may suddenly burst into gut-bucket vocal gymnastics, cascading down from the top to the bottom of her range, pitch perfect at every step along the way. What is more, she will produce tones that you have rarely, if ever, heard from a human being, and yet when they have passed, you will find yourself overcome with the outburst of emotion transmitted directly to your spirit.

Rachelle Ferrell performances are so mind-boggling that one wonders how she came to be. What forces of nature could have possibly combined to create such an awe-inspiring talent? How is she able to reach into the heart and soul of audience members and make them scream out with elation one moment, and quietly mend the broken places in all of us the next? Not surprisingly, the answers lie in an artist who believes in connection, unity, surrender, the limitless possibilities given to each of us, and the honor of being a conduit for all of it.

Ferrell’s mother was a tailor, and she stored enormous pattern books beneath the grand piano which dominated their living room. No more than 6 years old, Ferrell used these books as cover to hide beneath the piano unnoticed and listen to her father and his best friends, “Uncle Spencer Holly” and “Uncle Boots,” create a comprehensive musical experience.

Fueled by the joys of artistic creation and a fifth of liquor that sat atop the piano, Ferrell’s father and Uncle Boots would take turns playing the upper and lower ranges for up to twelve hours. In addition to the sound emanating from the piano, each pianist had a unique growl which presumably helped him coordinate his muscle movements and achieve the desired effect from the keyboard. This tapestry of sound was syncopated by laughter from all three men, and particular squeals of delight from Uncle Holly who sat in a chair nearby.

“Only two of them played the keyboard. My Uncle Holly was like the cheer leader/rabble rouser, and he would call out the songs. He couldn’t play anything. He was like the music aficionado—the connoisseur of music, the music lover. So, I guess in retrospect I grew up with that archetype in the microcosm of what music is about and how music is created and sustained: we had the music makers and the music lovers all in this relationship right there in the same room. And [Uncle Holly] was just as actively involved in the making and the creation of the music as his two friends that were actually on the keyboard.”

It is no wonder that Ferrell’s stage presence makes you feel as if she were performing just for you at your own home. She invites lively call and response by directly addressing audience members, honoring requests on some occasions, and enticing groans and squeals of delight consistent with the highest implications of the African American oral tradition. Ferrell considers her audience “my folk”, right along with the band members and sound engineer, and her intention while performing is clear: connect with the particular family assembled in the jazz-club-turned-living-room on any given evening.

“You get to a place where you know you have your end covered and then you can reach out to others, reach out beyond yourself. And so for the last 15 or so years, that’s where I’ve been: in a space of awareness of how music can connect people and can connect me with others. And once we create this connection, we set up this circuitry whereby through all of the gifts that are thrown in the same pot…we collectively go places that we cannot go alone. And being a lightning rod for that, or a facilitator or a catalyst for that is what I endeavor to do because where we get to go together—it’s amazing.”

As you might imagine, Ferrell hardly considers this task or responsibility a job. Performing, communing with the audience, and going to untold places is something she gets to do, and Ferrell is grateful for the ability and the opportunity to connect with a primal force that she believes lies in all of us.

“I believe the original purpose of music is sacred—that doesn’t mean religious, it means sacred. And I believe that sound is built into the foundations of the universe. And sound is something that wherever it is that we all come from originally—because we know this ain’t home—sound was there, and music was there. And so it’s a way to cut through all of the perceptual boundaries of race, color, creed, social economic status, position, hierarchies, caste systems, cultures, countries, languages—it cuts through everything that’s here on this planet. That’s how I know in my being that sound and music—beautiful sound—is a part of each and every one of us. It’s something that we shared before we got here…. I think it’s The Creator’s way of saying that regardless of what veneer you put on it on this planet, there is a oneness and there is a singularity that exists. And music is a vehicle to bring us back to that.”

More than just a vehicle to the oneness, for Ferrell the best music is created from a collective unification across multiple dimensions of being. There is a magical place, a “zone”, if you will, that she knows very well.

“From my experience it has to be somewhere between two worlds. You’re not altogether in the physical and you’re not altogether in the spirit world. It’s another dimension that one exists in where you translate directly from the spirit into the physical. You become a direct conduit. It’s in between worlds and it’s hard to get there…. I can’t sing two Cs and an A-flat and then get in there. There’s no secret code or combination or sequence that I can do. It’s something that happens collectively. It’s when everyone connects at such a deep level that we move as one and that synergy starts jumpin’ off and it’s like—you know it when you’re in there!”

Like anyone who has experienced this place, Ferrell freely admits, “I can’t get there enough. It’s my goal to get there and do whatever it is that I do from that space, because if I do not—if I can’t get there—then it just becomes rote, it becomes a job. I become a mechanic, a mechanical practitioner of the music. But if I do get into the zone, if I do learn the art of surrender and, you know, practice, practice, practice, practice, and then learn how to release everything that I’ve practiced and give myself and my gifts and everything that I’ve developed over to that dimension, then it’s on!”

Ferrell’s voice—particularly her mega range—certainly alludes to another dimension. Yet, just like her desire to translate and transmit the divine oneness through her embodied physical instrument, the story of how she developed her out-of-this-world upper register lies firmly rooted in provincial life experience.

“The range came to be from growing up out in the boonies, not being able to get strong radio signals, and as a result I just began to listen to…the sounds of nature. I lived near a fire station, and when the whistle would go off, I would try to copy it. When I would hear particular birds sing, I would try to make the sounds that the birds made. And because I didn’t really have formal training, I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to be able to sing certain things. I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to be able to hold—or even attempt to hold—a note as long as a mechanical device like a fire siren. No one told me that there were physical limitations for a singer, that there are boundaries and parameters for singers, and other parameters and boundaries for mechanical devices. So I guess out of my ignorance I would just sing wherever I wanted to and whatever I wanted to.”

Here we have evidence of one way that potential innovations come to fruition: no one tells you that you cannot or should not. The significance of this freedom is not lost on Ferrell, who is keen to create similar conditions for her vocal students.

“We come here with so many infinite possibilities and potentiality, but as soon as we start getting into the dogma, the rules and the regulations and the protocols and the principles…all that stuff serves to shut you down and shrink what’s possible. One of the things that I really love about teaching now…it’s like a conundrum of sorts to my approach: how to teach principles without boundaries. How do you teach one to do something by not harping on or focusing on what not to do? Because you never know what someone has in them.”

No true fan of Ferrell could be surprised by anything this boundless talent would offer, yet it does appear that she is exploring the furthest reaches of her own inner universe. What is more, she is happy to include audiences in the journey. In fact, it appears the journey would not be the same without us. Thus, we would be well advised to catch a glimpse of this transcendent performer this Mother’s Day weekend at the San Francisco Yoshi’s. Our presence will certainly usher in a uniquely collective experience, and perhaps along the way Ferrell will teach us what she knows about finding ourselves there more often.

“Music has taught me everything I need to know about life. That sounds absolute, it sounds like a huge generalization, but because I have spent so much of my time engrossed in music, it’s in everything. It’s in everything I do, it’s in everything I say. I can’t get away from it now if I wanted to. So it has been my babysitter, it has been my lover, it has been my best friend, it has been my refuge and my solace, it has been my encourager, it has been my challenger, it has been the one to kick me in the pants, and it has been my mother and my father. It’s been my sister, it’s been my brother, it’s been the example and my teacher, and anytime there is something that stumps me and I can’t understand it, I go further and deeper into the music, and sooner or later it’s given to me. Now I don’t know if that’s The Creator’s way of loving me because of the way that I communicate, but that’s what music does for me. And—if that’s not enough—I get to share that with others, and bring others joy, bring others encouragement, inspiration, relief, fun, play, pleasure, solace, refuge—even if it’s temporary…. It’s an amazing position to be in and a huge responsibility and an honor.”

Rachelle Ferrell - Celebrating Mother's Day

Friday, May 7th – Sunday, May 9th

Yoshi’s SF (1330 Fillmore Street @ Eddy)

Friday 8pm show $32, 10pm show $25

Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $32

Sunday 5pm Matinee $5 Kids, $20 Adults (with kids), $32 Adults (general)

Sunday 7pm show $32

Rachelle Ferrell – vocals and piano

Kenneth Crouch – keyboards

Billy Odum – guitar

Raymond McKinley – bass

Little John Roberts – drums

Terence Blanchard @ SF Yoshi's + We're Talkin' Jazz #1

2010-04-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

What I have written about this band in a previous post rings even more true today as I listen to Blanchard's latest offering, Choices. Committed to the music and the collective creative process, each song stays with you on an emotional level partially because the band lets the music dictate itself and their performance of it. There are songs where I don't think of, or hardly even notice the trumpet--a sign that Blanchard is committed to the music his group makes more than his ego. That said, Blanchard answers the call of emotion when necessary and blows inspiration with a regal cry.

You should expect nothing less of the live performance this week: a unit devoted to creating music together at the spur of the moment, a performance where integrity and authenticity reign supreme. What is more, Blanchard's group grooves hard!

There is an added extra bonus this week at The Jazz Heritage Center, adjacent to the Yoshi's box office. Yours truly will be sitting down with Blanchard for a pre-concert talk as part of the We're Talkin' Jazz series hosted by the JHC in partnership with Yoshi's. This event is free to the public, so go here to reserve a space.

Terence Blanchard Quintet

Tuesday, April 13th - Thursday, April 15th

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore Street @ Eddy)

Tuesday & Wednesday: one show at 8pm $18

Thursday 8pm $18

Thursday 10pm $12

Terence Blanchard - trumpet

Brice Winston - sax

Fabian Almazan - piano

Michael Olatuja - bass

Kendrick Scott - drums

Susana Baca @ Oakland Yoshi's

2010-04-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting years to write a post about Susana Baca returning to the Bay Area. I saw her many years ago at the Great American Music Hall, then a few years after that in London where I was moved to scream out loud mid-song at Royal Festival Hall (and they don't behave that way in England!). After that second show, I wrote all my friends and told them that if Susana Baca is playing within a 2 hour drive, she's worth the travel!

What moved me to scream in London was a particular device which created dramatic tension and release. At the time, she was touring the Eco De Sombras material (a must-have album!), which I knew quite well. But unlike the CD, she would have the all-acoustic band hover on the last bar of the verse or bridge. They would just loop that one bar phrase while Baca reveled in the groove, and while my expectation was ever buildling as I awaited the sheer joy of the chorus. Then, with a subtle signal, the band dropped down in the chorus groove with a sonic explosion ignited by subtely and taste. Aside from Ahmad Jamal, I've never seen another performer do this--let alone enjoy it as much as Baca. She loves the music she sings--and I mean that as a verb. She is actively transmitting love and passion through the music and into the room.

This is Afro-Peruvian music, so for the uninitiated, it may seem distantly reminiscent of Afro-Cuban music, yet subtely unique. However, familiarity is not required to appreciate Baca. As she sings she looks out into the room as if beholding the most beautiful painting that only she can see. And while her gaze seems transfixed, her entire being is swimming in the energy of the music and the consummate beauty of every lyric that pours from her lips. Trust me--you've rarely experienced anything like this. She reminds me of my favorite jazz singer of all time, Shirley Horn, in that Baca is a master of tension and release, and she makes you want to be in love, even if you currently find yourself enraptured in Cupid's wings.

Baca is poetry. Do not miss this chance to see the reigning queen of Peruvian music!

Susana Baca

Wednesday, April 14th & Thursday, April 15th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Wed 8pm $22

Thurs 8pm & 10pm $22

SFJAZZ Picks: Spring Season 2010

2010-03-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

Whenever possible I like to go through the SFJAZZ line-up and highlight a few personal favorites. There are any number of shows that I think will be great based on personnel, general reputation, or CDs in my personal collection (e.g. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dianne Reeves, Lou Donaldson). Below are the must-see shows that I can personally vouch for from past live performances.

SFJAZZ Collective

Friday, March 5th

8pm

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

$25 / $40 / $60

The current membership of the SFJAZZ Collective includes:

Mark Turner, tenor saxophone

Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone

Avishai Cohen, trumpet

Robin Eubanks, trombone

Stefon Harris, vibraphone

Edward Simon, piano

Matt Penman, bass

Eric Harland, drums

All of these cats are what you might call "heavies". My peronal favorites happen to be Miguel Zenón and Stefon Harris. The lightning dexterity and passionate tone of Zenón's playing compelled me to literally walk out of an Andy Bey set at The Monterey Jazz Festival a few years ago to see who was blowing that horn! I have never heard anyone play an alto so fast in my life. Zenón is one of those players whose intellect shines through his playing as well as his compositions without sacrificing an ounce of feeling. He likely won the MacArthur Genius Fellowship because of it.

Stefon Harris is what you call an old soul. First, who plays vibes any more? (Warren Wolf is an answer, but you see my point.) Second, when I first saw him some 15 years ago, he phrased like a player in his 50s. Last I saw The Collective, he made the vibes sound like a B3 Organ on Sunday morning. Crazy touch and lyrical articulation...

I could go down the list, but let me quickly say that Matt Penman is a serious bass player. I saw him at Monterey a year or so ago with Joshua Redman, and the man LAID IT DOWN! Coupled with another lyrical intellect in Edward Simon on keys, and one of the most sensitive drummers on the scene in Eric Harland, expect The Collective to do its thing!

Zakir Hussain's Masters of Percussion

Wednesday, March 10th

7:30pm

Herbst Theatre

$30 / $50 / $70

You see the word "Master" in the title of this gig, don't you? You know what I always say about the masters, right? Never miss an opportunity to see them. Need I say more? Oh, okay. If you insist...

Tabla playing is one of those percussion worlds that you really have to study to fully comprehend. It's not likely that someone who enjoys music mostly in 4/4 time can find the one in a 17 beat phrase--not without a heavy bass kick on the one, anyway. That said, you don't have to even know how to snap your fingers to appreciate Hussain's skill. He is as melodic as he is rhythmic, so be amazed by the simple fact that his tablas are not tuned to the key of any particular song, yet he makes them sing pitch perfect. Further, I am always delighted by the way he contributes a phrase or two that is bob your head, back beat, Soul funky. It's amazing. Listen for those moments, and revel in the far reaches of this percussion universe...

Maceo Parker

Sunday, March 14th

7pm

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

$25 / $45 / $65

Last time I saw Maceo I damn near cried--no joke. It was Monterey a few years back. The music was a) tighter than anything you've ever heard since James Brown himself graced the stage, b) funky for the same reason, and c) he played over his time, then moved stages to play for almost another two hours. I was deeply touched that Maceo is still doin' it, keeping this music alive. He is a living link to one of the main tributaries in Black Music. The man ain't never played a single lick that wasn't funky; he doesn't know how to be inarticulate on his horn. He is a master of this genre, a preacher of the funk. Go and see what this master speaks...

Keith Jarrett, solo

Friday, March 19

8pm

Davies Symphony Hall

$30 / $50 / $70 / $95

The Köln Concert is really all that needs to be said. He makes the piano breathe. Jarrett has described his playing as "drowning" in the moment. Each solo performance is a once in a lifetime journey into the power of musical connection--both the man with his instrument and art form, and the man with his audience. To see Jarrett live is to witness inspiration. Were it not for the force of gravity, it seems possible that he would float around the auditorium with the piano. Go open, and your cup will runneth over.

Bobby McFerrin presents VOCAbuLarieS with special guests The Pacific Mozart Ensemble

Saturday, April 10th

8pm

Nob Hill Masonic Center

$25 / $45 / $65 / $85

Every time I speak with friends about Bobby McFerrin I smile for two reasons. One, Bobby is a joy. He is one of those performers who has never lost sight of his childlike nature. He plays with his art, and always invites the audience to play along.

The other reason I smile is because so many of my friends make fun of me for being such a huge fan of the-Don't-Worry-By-Happy-dude. (I have every album he's released, plus a few bootleges.) I know I cannot convince them otherwise, so I smile in knowing the apparent secret: McFerrin is arguably the most amazing vocal talent of our time. He oozes musicality, able to conjure and fit precisely into almost any genre at the spur of the moment. What is more, he can do things that few other singers can do. His voice is beautiful in every register, and it is as elastic as his ability to take the audience from one edge of the musical globe to another in an instant. I say again, don't miss the masters, this time of the original instrument...

Poncho Sanchez @ Yoshi's SF

2010-03-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

If you're looking to see a show that will feature great musicianship as well as showmanship, look no further. Poncho's band is always tight, and his sidemen will have you laughing out loud in between songs with their comical banter. (His bass player must have a stand-up comedy routine on the side!) Then, when Poncho gets up from the congas to sing lead on a Soul/Funk tune, look out! The James Brown influenced Texas native has been singing lead since the 8th grade. See my interview with Poncho to get some of the back story, but even without it, a Poncho Sanchez gig is always--always--a good time.

Poncho Sanchez with Special Guest Nicholas Payton

March 4th - March 7th

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)
Thursday 8pm show $24

Thursday 10pm show $16

Friday 8pm show $28

Friday 10pm show $20

Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $28

Sunday 5pm show $5 (Kids), $18 (Adult With Kid), $24 (Adult General)

Sunday 7pm show $28

Anthony Blea: Two Worlds, Four Strings

2010-02-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

When most people meet Anthony Blea, they have no idea he’s a violinist. Even when music comes up in conversation, the exchange goes something like this:

“Oh, you’re a musician?”
“Yeah, I’m a musician.”
“Oh! What do you play?”
“What do you think I play?”
“Drums.”
“No.”
“Trumpet.”
“No.”
“Piano!”
“No.”

“They never ever guess violin,” marvels Blea. However, in the next breath he admits, “I guess I prefer it that way. I’ve never been into being a predictable person.”

This was true when it came to one of Blea’s primary interests as a child: sports. He was the kid who team captains would always pick last for schoolyard football games because he was short. Then the game started, and it became apparent that Blea was not only coordinated, he was fast—very fast. He’d burn the competition. After that first game Blea was always the first pick: “I got little man.”

Little man is a fitting title for the budding violinist that was hidden in young Blea’s diminutive frame. Wonder kid is another. Encouraged to audition for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at age 11, Blea was awarded a full scholarship, and sports went by the wayside. “Once I got into the conservatory, [violin] took over."

He first heard violin from his grandfather, who played a style of music from New Mexico that Blea has never heard anywhere else. He was immediately mesmerized by it. “I loved the sound…. I’ve always loved violin. Nobody told me to love it. Nobody told me that I should play it. I wanted to do it.” Yet and still, Blea—of Mexican American descent—realizes that becoming a violinist is somewhat of a freak occurrence.

“I grew up in Bernal Heights where every nationality was represented. If you were Caucasian, you were the minority…. Nobody I knew played the violin. When I went to the conservatory that’s obviously where I met people who played music, but they didn’t live in my neighborhood. So it was kind of like two different worlds.”

Some might liken this to the two distinct genres in which Blea finds equal comfort: classical and Latin. With a Bachelor’s Degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a Masters from the San Francisco Conservatory, Blea has also played with legendary Cuban bassist, Israel “Cachao” Lopez, and some of the Bay Area’s best Latin Jazz and Charanga bands—including his own. But for Blea, while playing across, or even within genres requires certain nuances, his dedication to the music remains the same.

“When I’m playing classical music there’s a difference between playing a concerto, there’s a difference when you’re playing in an orchestra, there’s a difference if you’re playing violin duets, and there’s a difference in playing string quartets. Each little difference like that brings out another angle that you need to pay attention to, or that you have to stress. It’s all violin playing—that’s the commonality. I’m gonna pick up a violin and I’m gonna play it. If I’m playing in a Charanga band, nine times out of ten it’s going to be way too loud, and I’m going to need my electric violin for that. So because of that there’s going to be less subtleties. That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be subtleties within Charanga music, but when you’re playing with a bass and piano and timbales and congas and singers and flute, and there are people dancing, and there’s a sound system, and you’re having a beer, that’s a different experience. But I still strive to put 100% into that experience. I’m still the same violinist and I bring everything: all my training and all my experience to all of those situations.”

Compared to the field of classical music where musicians are largely tasked with reproducing centuries old compositions, one might assume that the improvisational setting elicits more of Blea’s unique voice, that a larger portion of that 100% shows up at a Charanga gig because the improvising musician is composing music at the spur of the moment. However, for Blea the process of creation is not quite so dichotomous, and certainly not more important than the opportunity to create in both settings.

“Anything that I end up playing is based upon something that I’ve done before. Nobody’s picking up an instrument and just making up something totally new. That just doesn’t happen…. [In the classical setting] the notes are there, but I still have to create it at that moment. Jazz or Latin or whatever improvisational stuff, that’s a lot of fun in the sense where you don’t have to worry about interpreting someone else’s notes that they wrote down, or if you play something a little tiny bit out of tune, it’s not the end of the world. But having said that, the music that I’m improvising isn’t half as great as the music that Brahams and Beethoven wrote. So to be able to do both, to me, is really the part that I enjoy because there are a lot people that play Jazz that cannot play classical—or they just don’t.”

In both settings, Blea knows that feeling of other consciousness that some call “the zone.”

“There are musicians that have never achieved that, and they don’t know what that experience is like. I’ve been there. I can’t say it happens every time I play, but I’m always looking for it, and you become like a junkie for that once you taste it…. It doesn’t have to do so much with what type of music it is. The feeling might be a little different because of the different music. You know, if you’re in a club and people are screaming and dancing loud, and the band is just killin’, that’s a great experience. It’s amazing. It’s not any better or worse, it’s just totally different from playing a Beethoven quartet and getting that exactly the way that you imagined it should be.”

Many who have played with him feel that Blea’s own infectious sound and fierce ability can inspire an ensemble toward that place. But Blea is much more humble when it comes to his craft.

“If I’m playing in a group, I feel I’m just part of the voice…. I live with myself. I see myself. I can’t look at myself like other people do. I’m with me all the time, so I’m not impressed so much by what I do. But every time you go and you pick up that instrument, and you sit down and play it, you have to prove yourself again. My best performance is my last performance.”

Blea’s next performance will be a rare opportunity to witness his voice in both classical and improvisatory contexts all in one night of music. This Sunday, February 14th, he will feature The Musical Arts Quintet and The Anthony Blea Latin Jazz Sextet as part of the Tu Gusta Musical Sunday series at Coda. The string quintet will play Tango and Afro-Cuban compositions by bassist Sasch Jacobsen, with occasional percussion accompaniment from Oakland’s Javier Navarrette. Both Jacobsen and Navarette will join Blea for the second set which will feature the tasty Charanga grooves that Blea has been playing since the late 70s when he was a member of Tipica Cienfuegos, John Santos’ first band.

“Nobody ever gets to hear me playing a mix of stuff like that. People that know me from the classical world always say, ‘When is your band playing? I want to come and hear you play.’ People that have only heard me play Latin stuff, most of the time they don’t even know that I play classical. So for them to get a chance to hear me play classical, I think, will be cool.”

Cool indeed, the understated Blea will tell you, “I just show up and play,” but the short kid from Bernal Heights is able to balance two worlds of music on the four strings of his violin. Sunday night at Coda is therefore an atypical musical event where one of the Bay Area’s greatest home grown talents will display a breadth of artistry few can match. You won’t need your theatre glasses to see this violinist, but dancing shoes might just be in order.

Anthony Blea and Friends

Sunday, February 14th

Coda (1710 Mission St. @ Duboce in SF)

8pm

$10

Set 1 - The Musical Arts Quintet:

Sascha Jacobsen - bass

Shain Carrassco - cello

Charith Premarwdahna - viola

Jory Fankuchen - violin

Anthony Blea - violin

Javier Navarrette - percussion

Set 2 - The Anthony Blea Latin Jazz Sextet:

Anthony Blea - violin

Sascha Jacobsen - bass

Christian Tumalan - piano

Pepe Jacobo - drums

Javier Navarrette - congas

Rolf Johnson - trumpet

Destani Wolf: Transmitting Love and The Blues

2010-02-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

Destani Wolf is the kind of singer who compels audiences into a feeling through the sheer power of her own surrender. She doesn’t just sing with emotion, she transmits emotion through song. At some point in every performance she stands emotionally naked before the crowd, her soul lain bare, giving the nuances of her heart to the audience. While others might be inhibited or even afraid of occupying such a vulnerable place, the founder of Brave Wolf Productions not only seeks it, she draws strength from it.

“There’s a sense of freedom. And as much as I know I’m completely vulnerable, I feel really strong. But I also feel open and that this force is traveling through me, and it gets stronger and stronger the more I can feel other people feeling it. That’s the amazing thing about energy: you can feel an audience going there with you and it just takes you higher. I feel like we’re all traveling on this ribbon in the sky. So for me it’s a really powerful, emotional place, and I think that I can tap into it without knowing necessarily if the audience is going to go there with me because it’s something that I strive to feel and let go. I try to be that vessel, but I can definitely feel the energy go throughout my entire body when I know that there are other people who are going there with me.”

And they have been going there with the Berkeley native since she was a teenager. Starting voice lessons at age 9, Wolf received a standing ovation after she sang before 3500 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds at the ripe old age of 14. Nervous though she was, Wolf located that magical place while singing the Blues.

“I was completely shaking! I have footage of it where my knees are shaking when I first got up there, but then the Blues just brings some other character out of me. I just went somewhere else and I was in it…. And it was really deep to have that wave of people at a festival giving back, giving that energy. All of a sudden it’s transmitted and I could feel that within: that I wasn’t the only one experiencing it. So it’s this kind of circular motion and it can take you to an even greater space.”

It is hard to imagine a Destani Wolf performance where the audience does not resonate with the energy streaming forth. There is, on the one hand, the sheer power and versatility of her voice, from sultry temptress, to tear-the-roof-off belter, to her trademark “trumpbone” where she nimbly navigates the space between a trumpet and trombone. What is more, Wolf is intentional about connecting and articulating emotions for everyone in the room. Her upcoming performance at The Jazzschool on February 13th, for example—“Love and the Blues”—is not just a cheesy Valentine’s Day gig for lovers.

“As much as Valentine’s Day is kind of a ‘Hallmark Holiday’, people are affected by it no matter what—whether they’re with somebody or not. So I wanted to have a show for everyone: for people who are single, for people who are in love, for people who are in love but have issues [laughter]. A lot of times the Blues come because you’re in a relationship. So basically I wanted to have a show where everybody could leave feeling like I was talking to them, and maybe for them.”

Connecting with and potentially speaking for her audience is more than a stage persona for Wolf. Talking with her about her craft anyone would be quick to learn that feeling is the primary objective, and that music is the way that she locates herself within and makes sense of the world—both as an individual, and now as a mother.

“I am always singing—always—when it comes to just, whatever…the mail came today! [Music] helps me to strive—lyrically—to be able to pinpoint certain ways that I view the world. It gives me that drive to want to lyrically communicate an emotion, or a way that I view the world, or myself—to really try to put that into a lyrical form that is pure. It gives me drive to find those lyrics. It gives me an outlet to be vulnerable, to be open, to feel…to feel childlike, to feel happy, to allow myself to feel sad emotions, anger—to truly be in a moment.”

“Having a child now, I’m explaining the world to somebody through song. I realize that I hear music with everything—with the blender going, with the horns in the street or whatever it is. I am creating music constantly in the moment.”

Also a voice teacher in the Los Angeles area, Wolf has learned not to take her emotional sensibilities for granted.

“Half my lessons are about us being able to get to a place of why [the voice student is] unable to express themselves through their vocals because it’s so vulnerable, and it takes a lot of courage to be able to go to that place…. It’s amazing how many people are afraid to feel.”

Yet, this is precisely why Wolf’s vocals are so powerful. Coupled with a wholly endearing and genuine stage presence, Wolf is able to let herself go and feel the magic in each moment. And the journey summons hidden places within herself, personas with whom she is not yet intimately familiar.

“Sometimes there are characters that come out of me that I don’t even know. Sometimes when I’m doing things like Funk and the Blues, it’s like some other character from somewhere else is coming out of me [and] saying things, expressing different sides. I don’t know where it comes from! I just let it take me there…. And that’s the beauty of that inspiration. It makes me want to keep going to that place.”

Because Wolf is so intent on locating the magic of inspiration in each performance, she requires a band that can meet her there, or help create the space. Above all, each member of her band must possess one thing: heart.

“That is a really important thing for me: to really be able to have people who are on the same page as me, and wanting to go to that place where we’re creating in the moment. And usually that means my connection with the drummer. That’s one of the biggest things for me…. They are the heart beat. They can build a moment where you feel like this is the only place to be: right here, right now. The drums have so much power. [They are] the original instrument next to the voice. So for me it’s that innate, maybe even primal connection…. And the thing is, as a singer, if I want to be heard I need to be able to communicate with that drummer and have him drop out when I need to say something. And then if I feel like, you know, “No, let’s get it going! Let’s build together right now,” I can communicate with the drummer and we can take it to a whole ‘nother level together. If we’re on the same page then we can just mold a song and the rest of the band will follow and feel it.”

Destani Wolf is keenly aware of how difficult it is to sing the Blues. A simple musical form, the Blues requires one to articulate profound emotion with a raw precision and down home feeling that anyone can comprehend. Luckily for the Jazzschool audience, she’s been doing this all her life, and one of her mentors, legendary guitarist Johnny Talbot, will be there to make it plain. With these two leading the way into the trademark Destani Wolf tapestry of sounds and grooves, the audience can expect to feel heard, spoken for, and even loved by an artist so in touch with herself and the music that her connection alone is sure to unify the room in sound. Whether you are lucky in love, sadly alone, or somewhere in between, your heart will be nourished by one of the Bay Area’s most inspirational talents on Valentine’s Day weekend. Don’t miss it.

Destani Wolf: Love and the Blues

*Featuring Bay Area guitar legend, Johnny Talbot, of Johnny Talbot and De Thangs

Saturday, February 13th

The Jazzschool (2087 Addison Street @ Shattuck in Berkeley)

8pm

$18

Steve Hogan – bass

Joel Griffin – drums

Maya Kronfeld – keys

Joshi Marshall – saxophones

Gavin Distasi – trumpet

Roy Hargrove's RH Factor @ Yoshi's SF

2010-01-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

If you were walking through a record store in late May or the summer of 2003, the album to put all R&B projects to shame was to be found in the jazz section: Hard Groove, by famed trumpeter Roy Hargrove. That album contained the best Soul and Funk tracks any contemoporary artist had put out in years. It rivaled--or at least hearkened to--some of the great Soul and Funk music of the past, and is certainly better then the vast majority of R&B which has been promoted since. What sets it apart is the feel of the music. You can tell that it was recorded with the band present in the studio together, as opposed to the more common practice of musicians laying down their parts one by one, sometimes over months of time. No, these musicians were listening to one another live and making a collective art. In this sense, the RH Factor is the best of what jazz teaches us, infused with our indigenous art form's grandchildren--Soul and Funk--and never forgetting its ancestors: The Blues.

This show kicks off week two of the first two week residency of Roy Hargrove at the SF Yoshi's, an honor bestowed upon McCoy Tyner at the Oakland Yoshi's years ago. Last week Roy was burning up the stage with his quintet and special guest Pharoah Sanders. This week I have my fingers crossed for the same band that came to the Oakland Yoshi's years ago when Hard Groove first hit the stands, including the clean and soulful vocals of Renee Neufville, and the incomparable Bobby Sparks playing almost everthing that contains keys: synthesizers, Rhodes, B3, Moog...and he can make all of them talk. This is, of course, figurative, but it's almost literal with Bobby Sparks. He can make any one of the keyboards in front of him sound like a human singing. It's incredible.

You'll also be treated to a rare sight: two drummers. Many ask why, but upon first seeing it with this band years ago I was hard pressed to find anything more beautiful than two drummers in the same pocket. Some say redundant, I say the more rhythm the better. Watch how they lift the music...

This show will contain elements of Hip Hip, Gospel, Jazz, Blues, and as I've said, Soul and Funk. It wouldn't be fair to call it alchemy since all of these genres are so closely related, but it is rare to see these genres melded together so well. Don't miss it!

Roy Hargrove's RH Factor with special guests Lyrics Born and MORE!!

January 14th - 17th

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore St. @ Eddy in SF)
Thursday 8pm show $26, 10pm show $18

Friday 8pm show $30, 10pm show $22

Saturday 8pm & 10pm show $30

Sunday 5pm Matinee $5 kids, $18 Adults with kids, $30 Adults w/o kids

Sunday 7pm show $30

Latin Masters @ Oakland Yoshi's

2009-12-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

(Photo from www.arturosandoval.com)

In June I alerted you to Latin Masters at the SF Yoshi's with Eddie Palmieri, making special mention of Giovanni Hidalgo, considered the greatest conguero to walk the planet. I also wrote an extended piece on Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Cuban drum wizard and reigning king of the left foot clave technique. Both are innovators on their respective instruments, and they will go down in history as two of the best to ever play in the Afro-Cuban percussion tradition--a mighty tradition, indeed. What is more, their musical connection on the band stand is pure magic, demanding two sold out tours of Europe as a duo in the past year. Their uncanny bond is fortified by nearly 30 years of frienship and mutal admiration. El Negro once told me "Giovanni is a fountain of music," and Giovanni said of El Negro, "Horacio is a great, great, great, great human being...a great person [with] great imagination and love and passion for his instrument and what he does."

Starting tomorrow these two kindred spirits will be joined on the Yoshi's stage by one of my all time favorite Afro-Cuban pianists, Rebeca Mauleón. Not only does she possess the skill and fire to hang with these two rhythmic trailblazers, Mauleón has had both Negro and Giovanni on her own recordings. Therefore, expect a love and more mutual admiration to shine through in the music.

Equally salient is the impact of Irakere on Mauleon's recent recording. She's long been a fan of the ground-breaking group, lead by the headliner on this gig, Arturo Sandoval. A Gillespie protege, Sandoval is one of history's true trumpet virtuosos. He can play a ballad to make you cry, a rumba to make you dance, and at this gig you may hear both the highest note you've ever heard come out of a trumpet, as well as the lowest.

Often all-star shows can produce incredible individual performances but mediocre ensemble playing because the artists don't have the history or familiarity of a band. This is a rare opportunity to see an all-star assemblage that shares various historical and musical connections (e.g., both Giovanni and Arturo were on Paquito D'Rivera's album, Reunion, considered by many the greatest Latin Jazz recording of all time). Therefore, this show promises to create precisely the kind of musical magic that I know El Negro, Giovanni, and Mauleón desire from every performance.

I'm a sucker for any show with Negro & Giovanni, but add Mauleón and Arturo, and you have the potential for a musical explosion that may just require a Yoshi's remodel! As I always say, don't ever miss the masters...

The First-Ever: Arturo Sandoval All-Star Band, featuring Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Rebeca Mauleón, and more!

December 26th - 28th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

All shows $30

Saturday 8pm and Sunday 7pm SOLD OUT!

Arturo Sandoval (trumpet)

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez (drums)

Giovanni Hidalgo (congas)

Rebeca Mauleón (piano)

Joe Cohen (sax)

Dewayne Pate (bass)

See With Your Ears: Marcus Shelby Paints The Season Bright

2009-12-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

(Photo by Scott Chernis)
On December 16th and 17ththe Oakland Yoshi’s stage will be teeming with musicians as approximately 40 members of The Pacific Boychoir (PBC) surround the 15-piece Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (MSJO) for a special two-night holiday engagement. The MSJO will open with instrumental numbers from Duke Ellington’s arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite, followed by other Ellington classics featuring the PBC, e.g. “Come Sunday,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” and a piece Ellington specifically orchestrated for voice, “On A Turquoise Cloud.” In addition, Shelby has arranged pieces from his celebrated oratorio on the life of Harriet Tubman, as well as Christmas classics, “Go Tell It On The Mountain”, “Little Drummer Boy”, and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”.

The chance to hear selections from Ellington’s arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite is reason enough to attend the show. Professional big bands are a rare breed, and the MSJO is one of few that can navigate these particularly difficult charts. Even absent Duke’s trademark arranging genius, the opportunity to experience Shelby’s would be well worth the price of admission. He is one of the most earnest arranger/composers you will find, dedicated to the integrity of the music itself, and the subjects of his larger works. He conducts thoughtful research that allows him to capture the essence of time, space, character and mood, and he combines all these in a vivid canvas of sound for your ears and imagination alike. What is more, to support the MSJO is to support the Bay Area jazz scene, for Shelby is intent on creating work for his fellow musicians.

“I started this band 10 years ago. When I was thinking about putting it together, I wanted to have a long term commitment and concept that would be a process of building, a process of development, a process of growth, and to allow all of that over time. Part of that long term concept was not to just put together a band to do gigs and clubs, but to develop projects, to work with other arts disciplines—like dance companies, or theatre companies, or film projects—and to do the type of work that I really wanted to do: write for the jazz orchestra, develop compositions that could really capture life and character, much like classical composers.”

Unlike other bands—large or small—the MSJO has a particular historical and educational focus.

“Currently the characteristic of the band is really about developing music and compositions and arrangements that deal with history—specifically African American history—[and] taking stories that are inspiring that also have a relationship with music. For example, Harriet Tubman and how she used music to do the work that she did, or how music was used in the Civil Rights period to successfully unite people and to overturn social injustices—or how music has always been a critical part of social progress.”

“The other part of it is really trying to support the scene in the sense of creating work so that there is work for other musicians to participate in. The work that I’m trying to do is very much influenced by everybody that’s in the band who I’ve tried to maintain a long term commitment to.”

By the law of returns, there should be no shortage of continued work for the MSJO because Shelby puts a substantial amount of research into these larger works, traveling to places like Montgomery, Alabama, in order to prepare a piece on Rosa Parks. He uses elements of music to capture specific aspects of historical context and feeling, all of which inform the musical representation of his primary subject.

“When you talk about evoking a mood, or a sense of time and space, then you’re talking about rhythm. Is it going to be something that’s going to have a slow movement—a dirge? If you’re talking about New York City is it going to have the same rhythms as Montgomery, Alabama? Probably not. So there are ways you work with rhythm to sort of translate time and space. Then there is color—just the nature and the emotion of people. How passionate are they? If you know that, then you know how to choose your chords because chords are really an effective way of capturing emotion and color, temperature—how hot the situation is, or how cold it is. So if you’re literally translating these experiences, these are the tools. And then there’s the third thing: the character of people—the quirkiness or the coldness. No one place is going to have only one type of people, so you want to be able to see all the different types of ways that melody can capture this character because that’s what melody does: it captures the character of an idea or a person. And so these real life experiences put you even closer to realizing what that subject is.”

Though he may seem systematic in his literal translation, Shelby also knows to leave room for an essential ingredient of jazz. “I also think music is effective when it leaves space for the imagination—much like a painting. So the trick is to really try to give someone who is listening that space for imagining, but also in a sense creating the sort of template of where that imagination takes place.” For Shelby, this occurs when he has provided room for a band member to solo. “When that soloist is going on that journey in those chords and rhythms and melodies you’ve given them in the [improvisational] space, that’s where the listener is imagining: ‘What could be happening in the context of this form?’” Recall that the form is all of the literal translation that Shelby has chosen to aurally paint a scene in which his main character resides. So when the soloist takes flight, the audience is equally free to interpret that solo within the larger canvas. “What I may think that soloist is playing might be different from what you think. That’s the beauty of jazz, really. That’s what Louis Armstrong invented—or Buddy Bolden, maybe. That’s really what’s so exciting about jazz: it allows for imagination right there.”

The imagination of a soloist strikes even deeper chords for Shelby.

“When a musician is performing they’ve got a thousand and one decisions they are making, particularly in jazz: what note to play, how loud to play, when to play, etc. I think that you can look at a musician who is performing on stage and through their solo you can probably get a good sense of their nature—their spirit—by the choice of their notes. The choice of their notes is a reflection of their ideas. Their ideas is a reflection of their spiritual inner being. And I think that all of that is a determinant of how they want to articulate that in their music.”

“A lot of times—particularly in jazz—a jazz musician can be quite pent up on trying to play something that reflects their genius: how fast they can play, or how many notes they can play over a chord, or how much knowledge they have of the literature—and that has to come out every time a note comes off of their instrument. There’s a moment when someone lets go where there’s not that sense that you have to prove yourself. There’s the sense that you’re complementing, you’re leading, you’re following. There’s this back and forth like a dance—it’s a beautiful dance—as opposed to someone demanding to lead. That’s dictatorship. I think that in jazz the beautiful challenge is that you have this really complex dance going on and early on when you had this—particularly in New Orleans where you had [polyphonic improvisation]—you still had the character and uniqueness and parity in all the voices. And so that concept extended to today is what I think is beautiful about our music. Everyone is playing at the same time, but there’s the sense that, ‘Oh, I hear the trumpet. Oh, I hear the trombone. Oh, I hear the sax. I hear the bass!’ But they’re all in a very democratic setting. So when you let go then you’re not trying to always lead, you’re not trying to always dominate. You’re not worried if you’re playing that note right. You’re not worried if you’re hitting that phrase exactly right. You’re relaxing and you’re listening and you’re responding.”

Shelby’s ability to verbally articulate the subtle profundity of jazz is on par with his talent for arranging. Trust that he has captured with equal accuracy and brilliance the essence of every number to be played next week. Expect both his band and The Pacific Boychoir to shine, illuminating a facet of the holiday spirit as yet unknown to you, but sure to touch your spirit and allow your imagination to soar.

Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra and The Pacific Boychoir

December 16th and 17th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

8pm shows $20
10pm shows $12

Left At Rio: Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge Re-Present Obscured Brazilian Music To The World

2009-12-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

Pianist, educator, and author Mark Levine has written what many consider to be bibles in the field of Jazz theory: The Jazz Piano Book (Sher Music, 1990) and The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). He begins the latter, “A great solo consists of: 1% magic, 99% stuff that is explainable, analyzable, categorizeable, doable. This book is mostly about the 99% stuff.” Fair enough for the purposes of a book on music theory, but when asked about the magic of making music, Levine is thoughtful about that 1%.

“I once heard Bobby Hutcherson say, ‘When everything is going right, when I’m really playing my best, and everybody is playing their best, it’s like the music is coming from some place else and it’s just going through me.’ And I relate to that because whenever I feel like I’m playing my best, that’s what it feels like: coming from some other place. But I’m not a particularly religious person, so I don’t think it’s coming from God. It’s just a peculiar combination of our own personality make-ups, our history, our childhood, our education—everything. And in that there is something magical at some point. Whether it’s soul or what, I don’t know what it is. Like we’re tapping into something that’s out there—we just gotta find a way in. And when we do, everything is right.”

“It’s a feeling of tapping into something which connects me to the rest of the world both physically and also in terms of time, the flow of time. I’ve connected with Louis Armstrong and I’ve also connected with somebody 50 years in the future that’s going to listen to one of my records and connects with that… I just read something last night: our conception of what time is, is skewed because we’re immersed in it. In one sense there’s really no such thing as time. There’s just a series of events that all take place at the same time, yet we experience it as a sequence. I don’t know. All that stuff is really hard. I wrap my head around it all the time and I come up with no answers!”

While the nature of time itself may elude him, one thing has been certain throughout the life of Mark Levine: when the music spoke to him, he knew it. Growing up in Concord, New Hampshire, there wasn’t exactly a Swing Street, but at age 6 or 7 his mother took him to the municipal auditorium to see Perry Como. “I remember that night thinking, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do when I grow up!’ (Not wear cardigans and sing like Perry Como, but [be a musician]).” Then, at age 13, Levine was Best Man in his brother’s wedding. “So as a present for being Best Man, he gave me a bunch of 10-inch LPs....a whole bunch of white guys from the West Coast. ‘Yes! Wow! I love this music!’” Fast forward to one night in New York when Bobby Porcelli took Levine to The Palladium for $5 to hear two bands he’d never heard of: Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente. “I said, ‘Yeah! I want to learn this music!’” Levine went back to Boston where he had studied music theory at Boston University, and joined the only Latin band in town. The pianist had given thirty days notice, so flautist and saxophonist, Dick Meza, and conguero, Don Alias, had time to sit Levine down with a bunch of Eddie Palmieri records and teach him how to play Latin music. “But they also threw in a bunch of Brazilian records. That’s when I first became aware, ‘Hey—Brazil—there’s something happenin’ there!’”

Shortly after this, Levine moved to Los Angeles where the trumpet player, Luis Gasca, told him that Moacir Santos was looking for a piano player. “I remember the first time I heard [Moacir’s music] I was utterly mesmerized by it. What is this?” Though he had limited experience with Latin music—and even less with Brazilian music—Levine got the gig. There was a short-lived and under-appreciated week in Lake Tahoe and Reno which represented the only gig Levine ever played with Santos, and in 1975 he played piano on Santos’ recording, Saudade.

Despite popularity in Brazil and a great deal of respect among U.S. Jazz musicians, Santos is not widely known in the U.S. This is due in part to the timing of his arrival in the U.S., circa 1970, when Sergio Mendes and Brazil ‘66 were all the rage. “At the time everybody was signing Brazilian groups left and right,” remembers Levine. Legend has it that it was Mendes who took Santos to Blue Note records, who signed the newcomer to a three record deal anticipating another Mendes-esque success. But when the executives didn’t get the music they expected, they put less and less behind each record. “And then, many years later a friend of mine, Jack O’Neil—there’s nobody on the planet who has bigger ears than him—went to Blue Note and he says, I’d like to license the Moacir Santos LPs for two years and put them out in a limited release. They said fine, they signed the contracts and everything. They went down in the vaults—couldn’t find the masters. Not there. At that particular point in time the project hit a wall. So [Santos is] pretty much unknown in this country.”

Enter Off & On: The Music of Moacir Santos, the latest release by Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge, celebrating their CD release at the San Francisco Yoshi’s on December 14th. Levine puts the record squarely in the “World Music” category because he is combining genres: Brazilian, in which the songs were originally conceived by Santos, and Latin or Afro-Cuban, the style in which Levine’s band interprets many of the compositions. This is possible because the genres share a fundamental commonality: “Cuban music and Brazilian music are both in clave,” the syncopated two bar rhythmic pulse central to Afro-Cuban music, also found in both Bossa Nova and Samba. “[Brazilians] don’t observe the same rigid rules that the Cuban music does, but you can snap your fingers [in clave] to Gal Costa just as easily as you can to Chucho Valdes.”

Despite this core similarity, these two genres have rarely been combined. Luckily for Levine, one of the few musicians who has done so, Michael Spiro, is The Latin Tinge percussionist. This made interpreting the Brazilian music in an Afro-Cuban context relatively easy. “As soon as I gave the music to Michael Spiro, I knew that it would happen automatically. He was familiar with Moacir’s music…and I knew as soon as we started to play some of these tunes, on the way to Rio he would take a left and go to Havana. And we did.” However, that left turn is not without controversy if you’re following the strict rules of Afro-Cuban clave.

“Some of Moacir’s music is unusual in that it has 7-bar phrases—things that tend to throw the clave off. So you either have to tweak the music to fit the clave, or nothing. If you’re playing with strict Cuban-oriented musicians it’s just a break in the rules, and they don’t like it. But Mike is flexible enough; he’s familiar enough with Brazilian music. He just worked with it. So we broke the Cuban rules a few places—we had to. I mean, all of a sudden you got two 7-bar phrases in a row and that’s the hook that makes the tune? You don’t automatically add an extra bar just to make it work for clave purposes.”

One thing that certainly works on both the album and live in concert is the musical togetherness and connection between members of The Latin Tinge. “The band itself is a little over 10 years old. [Drummer, Paul Van Wageningen] and Mike were original members. They’re a pair, a team. They’ve played together for many, many years. Mikey tends to take the lead as far as what rhythm to do, and occasionally he’ll actually verbalize and tell Paul, ‘Do this rhythm.’ But most of the time it’s non-verbal communication. They have worked together so much that one does something and the other follows.”

John Wiitala I’ve played with as a Jazz bassist for 20 years or more. He’s been my bass player of choice. He was not a Latin bass player, but I noticed on Jazz gigs occasionally we would play a Latin tune…and he played great tumbao. Most bass players can’t even feel it. He’s been, by far, the best bass player to play with the band.”

Wanting to add another solo voice to the band, Levine decided to add flute on this album, but he didn’t know of any flautists off hand. Everyone he asked gave the same name: Mary Fettig, who doubles on alto saxophone. “She knew Moacir’s music, she’s been playing Brazilian music for 20 or 30 years, she works with Marco Silva who plays some of Moacir’s music, so she was really a great choice. So I think I got a great band! I think it’s very well balanced…. I feel that everybody in this band is positive. They like playing with me, they like playing the music.”

The harmony and balance in the band is mirrored in the multi-layered arrangements themselves. Many of the melodies sound like lullabies. “However, there is a complexity that’s parallel to that simplicity—or locked in with it. So something that sounds almost like a nursery rhyme nevertheless occurs in a 7-bar phrase. Those are the things that jolt you. Your body tends to—maybe because of dance—organize itself into even-numbered bars. And all of a sudden you have an odd numbered phrase in there—boom—that creates a major upset in our psyches. Some people stumble and fall, and other say, “Wow, what was that? I want to do that!” Guess which camp Levine falls into.

Levine admits to using a broad brush to paint the world’s music into two basic categories: those with core rhythms having 1-bar, as opposed to 2-bar phrases. Jazz, for example, repeats a 1-bar rhythmic pulse. (Imagine snapping on two and four as you listen to any swing tune. Your snapping is the same in every bar.) The clave pattern is separated into two bars: one contains the “2-side” of the clave, and the other the “3-side”. Whichever phrasing you prefer, Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge will give you ample opportunities to snap your fingers, pat your feet, and sway your hips. Thanks to a complicated dance of Brazilian rhythms, Afro-Cuban grooves, and Jazz improvisation, all with simple melodies delicately placed on top, this music is at once intriguing and accessible, re-presenting a well respected yet little known Brazilian composer to American audiences. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to see what happens when you take that left at Rio and find yourself on the shores of Havana.

Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge – “Off & On: The Music of Moacir Santos” CD Release

Monday, December 14th

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)

ONE SET ONLY! 8pm show $10 advance, $14 at-the-door

Mark Levine (piano)
Michael Spiro (percussion)
Paul Van Wageningen (drums)

John Wittala (bass)

Kristen Strom (flute and saxophone)

Ahmad Jamal: A True American Classicist

2009-12-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Ahmad Jamal is frank, “There are only two art forms that developed in The United States: American Indian art—which is still pushed back—and American Classical Music…this thing they call Jazz.” When he graces the San Francisco Yoshi’s stage next weekend, Jamal’s very presence will carry with it 100 years of our Classical Music. Few living musicians have had first hand contact with the repertoire, styles, and pioneers from the early 20th Century, through virtually every major innovation in our indigenous art form, to the present day. Of the precious few who have, Jamal may be the only one who can boast a technical brilliance that is the envy of ticklers more than half his age, and swing that must have Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and all the masters of yester-year cheering nightly from the big jam session in the sky.

Born on July 2, 1930, Jamal was a child prodigy pianist who, at age 3, began mimicking pieces his Uncle Lawrence played note for note. “Music chose me. I didn’t choose it, that’s for sure. You don’t make any conscious decisions at 3 years old. I was just born to play the piano.” He had his union card at age 14 (two years before the legal minimum, thanks to the union president turning a blind eye), and he performed regularly with men in their 60s. “We had a different camaraderie then. The older people really inspired the younger people, and that’s what should happen all the time. Ben Webster gave me a pair of cuff links, for example. I never forgot it. I loved Ben, and he loved me.”

At around three o’clock in the morning one night at The Washington Club, an after hours spot in Jamal’s beloved hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Art Tatum walked in, the man whom many consider the greatest piano proponent of American Classical Music.

“That only happened once. I wasn’t around Art Tatum much, but that was enough for the rest of my life. It’s quality, not quantity that counts. So Art Tatum was very motivating, to say the least.”

Tatum wasn’t the only one who inspired the young Jamal. Pittsburgh was replete with legendary artists of all kinds: musicians George Benson, Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Kenny Clarke, Roy Eldridge, Earl Hines, and Billy Strayhorn, as well as dancer Gene Kelly, painter Andy Warhol, playwright August Wilson, and founder of The National Negro Opera Company, Mary Caldwell Dawson. Jamal shares the illustrious list with a great sense of pride. “I play like I play because I’m from Pittsburgh.” Due to early exposure with master practitioners and dedication to the craft for over three quarters of a century, on any given night Jamal is bound to present music from the pantheon of American Classicists. “I don’t ever want to be around a person who doesn’t change their mind. You have to be flexible in life. So that’s what I do: I’m adjusting my programs every day, saying, ‘This works, and this doesn’t work tonight.’”

Regardless of what tunes the maestro calls, Ahmad Jamal performances consistently showcase stunning unity and balance. His ensembles are the epitome of swing. Able to shift tempo and change dynamics at will, the group seems to breathe together. With a seemingly psychic communication they may suddenly explode in volume just as boldly as they punctuate with tenderness, even silence. Thunderously dense passages resolve into calm melodic space after the storm, creating a sonic silver lining that highlights both the beauty in rain and blue sky, if only because they weathered the storm together. All of this, reflects Jamal, has to do with lived experience.

“Whatever your life is, it comes out in your work. So my work is very emotionally charged because I’ve lived a very interesting life, a very emotionally charged life. I may make you cry, I may make you laugh, I may make you think. But those are things I’m doing. So whatever I do, some of that is going to project to my public—some of that’s got to project.”

Project, indeed. Transmission may be a more precise term—to his sidemen as much as to the audience. Yet, that doesn’t fully explain the magic connection which allows his ensemble to change musical directions as though they were one being. On the one hand, Jamal explains that it’s sheer communication on all levels: social, musical, compositional, and improvisational. “Without communication you’re gonna be in trouble.” There’s also experience, talent, and character which are requisite for potential sidemen. “You can’t play this music if you don’t have character. You must have some qualities that make up a good person, or you must have the intentions to be a good person. Sometimes we’re not successful in our attempts to be sound characters, but at least if the intention is there, eventually you’ll get there. So you have to have a person who really is trying to do positive things. You don’t want negativity on a band stand. The negativity produces bad music. It’s as simple as that.”

But there actually is a bit more to it. School is in session:

“You have to be a good leader. A body is no stronger than its head. So you have to be a good leader and one that respects the people that are working with you so they can respect you. You know, what goes around comes around. And I’ve managed over the years to respect others, and they respect me. And that’s what you see on the band stand. You see respect and love. It’s ignorant to entertain the concept that you can play with bad vibrations, because you can’t.”

“You have to stay with what you do best, and you have to be around the practitioners who do it best with you. You have to have practitioners who are in tune with what you are doing—musically, character-wise, and socially. A person has to be in tune with himself first, and he has to have others who are in tune. Out of tune players don’t make for good music.”

Then the master begins to speak of inspiration.

“We are receiving vessels. We don’t create anything. All we can do is receive and reflect creativity. People have the wrong impression of creativeness. You can reflect creativity—you’re not going to create. You can discover, but you can’t create. There is nothing new under the sun.”

Another master, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, once told me that the best moments in music happen not when the musicians are playing the music very well, but when the music is playing the musicians. Jamal knows the feeling. “It’s a wonderful unification of spirit and body, and certainly a wonderful communication between ourselves and what is controlling this universe. To me everyone is afforded that opportunity—everybody. It’s up to them to make the decision to accept or reject [it].”

Jamal most often plays American Classical Music in an ensemble setting. This means that he is co-creating at the spur of the moment with others. “People think you’re just sitting down and just playing what comes to mind. That’s not so. You have to be a skilled artisan to improvise.”

Jamal identifies a key skill in this process: “catching,” akin to catching a cold, though in a positive way. “When you’re in tune, others follow. Whether they’re on the same philosophical bent or not, it can be so powerful that it reaches many, many hearts and minds.” In fact, Jamal finds that focusing on the commonalities between us helps create his art.

“I believe there is more in common than what we don’t have in common, if we’d just reflect. So that’s what happens on a band stand: we have a lot of things in common. And if we use those things we can accomplish a lot. If we take advantage of the things we have in common musically, then we can get the magic.”

“I’d like all my moments to be like that. That’s the consistency, and that’s a gift. When you reach that level you’ve been blessed with a great gift because very few of us can sit and write a book and it dictates itself. You ever hear that? The book begins to dictate itself. You’re the vehicle through which the pen is writing, and music is the same way. When you reach that level, consider yourself one of the gifted ones on this earth.”

Not surprisingly, Jamal has a healthy dose of humility to accompany the sage insights.

“I’m discovering things every day. It look a lot of lotta lotta: a lot of struggles, a lot of battles, a lot of sadness, but [there is also] the desire to get there, the desire to reach the goal. And then you’re happily surprised if you see a little glimpse of that goal. But to say you’ve arrived is a big, big mistake. I’m not going to say that. When the scholar says he’s a scholar, he’s no longer a scholar. To say you’ve arrived is dangerous. I’m still trying to arrive. So I’m trying to reach that level. There are a few glimpses and a few indications that I know a little teensy bit about it.”

Fans, fellow musicians, and critics alike have given much more credit than that for decades.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s The U.S. State Department sent so-called “Jazz Ambassadors” around the globe. “They sent American Classical Music all over the world to try and create a unification, or some kind of bond between nations, or some kind of dialogue. So they decided to send Ella Fitzgerald, or Louis Armstrong, or Dizzy Gillespie, or Dave Brubeck.” If you’re searching for the keys to creating unity in your own life, sit near the stage at the San Francisco Yoshi’s this weekend. Just a teensy drop of magical quality may fall from the Steinway and provide you substance for the remainder of your days.

Ahmad Jamal

December 10th – 13th

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)

Thursday 8pm show $26, 10pm show $22

Friday SOLD OUT!

Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $30

Sunday 2pm Kids Matinee:

$5 Kids, $18 Adult (With Kid), $30 Adult (General)

Sunday 7pm show $30

Ahmad Jamal (piano)

James Cammack (bass)

Stephen Williams (drums)

Manolo Bradrena (percussion)

Lalah & Joe @ Oakland Yoshi's

2009-11-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

Consummate soul singer, Lalah Hathaway, returns to the Oakland Yoshi's with legendary pianist, Joe Sample, this holiday weekend. There is little more I can say about Lalah that I haven't said before (see previous post). She possesses one of the most skilled and sensuous voices on the planet, displaying equal parts technical ability and more importantly, soul. Reunited with Joe Sample, they will surely carress our ears with music from their 1999 instant classic, The Song Lives On.

Pricey though it may be, this show is not to be missed. The first time I saw Lalah, she banished guile from the room with "When Your Life Was Low," and I went back to see five consecutive sets, never tiring of her ability to breathe new life into the repertoire. She's known to have background singers and a rhythm section that makes the audience stand up and scream. Count on one of the most mesmerizing and inspiring performances you've ever seen...

A Special Evening with Joe Sample & Lalah Hathaway

Friday, November 27th – Sunday, November 29th
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
Fri - Sat 8pm &10pm $40
Sun 7pm & 9pm $40

Steve Gadd @ SF Yoshi's

2009-11-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

© Jonathan Moral - http://jmdi.smugmug.com/

I should have known that I could suggest this show. Steve Gadd is widely considered one of the greatest drummers of all time, famous for a less-is-more approach, incredible pocket, and musicality. But, in keeping with The List brand, I rarely publicize a show I cannot personally vouch for, and this was my first time seeing this drumming legend.

Having gone to the 10pm set last night, I can now tell you with confidence that this show is not to be missed. They played some of the tastiest and most tender Blues I've heard in a long while. Every line and phrase was breathing, lyrical, and spoke directly to the the music itself, the other musicians, and the audience as a whole. In keeping with his reputation, every lick from Gadd simultaneously defined a deep pocket, supported the soloists, and propelled the groove. And Ronnie Cuber is just about the most nimble baritone sax player you'll ever hear, matched by DeFrancesco's delicate touch on the B3, and the groovin', singin' lines from Bollenback's guitar.

Simply put, this is how music should sound. Don't miss it. Tonight's 8pm set is already sold out, so secure your entry for tonight's 10pm or tomorrow's 7pm set right away!

Steve Gadd & Friends featuring Joey DeFrancesco, Ronnie Cuber, Paul Bollenback

Tonight and tomorrow only!

Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)

$25

The World In Our Backyard: Orestes Vilató

2009-10-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

Photo by Tom Ehrlich

If you are born in Camagüey, Cuba, become a founding member of The Fania All-Stars, record with Israel “Cachao” López, Ray Barretto, Cal Tjader, La Lupe, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin, and tour the globe with Jackson Brown as well as Santana for over nine years, it seems impossible—not to mention inappropriate—that anyone would label you a “local musician”. Yet, because Orestes Vilató lives and regularly performs in the Bay Area with Rebeca Mauleón and John Santos, that is precisely how locals in the area regard him. Never mind that the finest European conservatories request his instruction two or three times a year. Never mind that audiences the world over consider him “El Maestro”, master of the timbales. Never mind that his latest album, It’s About Time, is nominated for the Best Traditional Tropical Album Latin Grammy.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have masters in our backyard, and one should never pass up an opportunity to see the masters.

This Sunday, Vilató’s Godson, John Santos, is celebrating his own birthday, plus 50 years of music from “El Maestro” at the Oakland Yoshi’s. Through Vilató’s playing, audiences will glimpse La Cubanidad, the way traditional Cuban charanga bands approached the timbales, “the way they used to play in the country, and the outskirts and the mountains” of Cuba.

“In Cuba [timbales] were just an accompanying instrument and very simplistic. In New York guys like Tito Puente put a little more respect on the instrument and actually put the instrument in front of the band—made it an attraction…. But I liked the instrument because of the basic [roots] of the instrument—the danzón—which was not popular in New York. But since I heard that when I was a kid, and I liked the traditional music of my country a lot, it stayed in my mind. And like they said in those days, whoever didn’t know how to play danzón wasn’t a complete timbales player.”

Vilatós first band was that of danzón master, Belisario Lopez. Next, he played with Jose Fajardo, another danzón master whose band featured none other than Israel "Cachao" López on bass. Vilató attributes his timbales style to these early experiences:

“One of the things that helped me is that I started with charangas. Charangas in those days were acoustic—acoustic violins, acoustic bass, acoustic piano—so the timbales uses a stick which is almost the size of a chopstick that you find in a Chinese restaurant—that’s what I learned to play with: very thin sticks.”

“I’m a softer, more melodic player. I try not to bang. If I see that we’re playing in a small place and I see people are covering their ears, I’m conscious of that. A lot of timbaleros just don’t have the control in the volume to go with the band. See, if the band goes up in volume, I go up with the band. If the band goes down, I go down. Sometimes people say, ‘I can’t hear you,’ but if you take my instrument out of the band, you hear a hole. They’re supposed to feel me, more than hear me. It should bring love, not harshness.”

This philosophy shines through each selection on It’s About Time. For example, on “Remembering Ray” the timbales melt into the track immediately following the traditional nine-stroke roll, only to resurface with occasional fills before a fiery solo, and finally driving the groove beneath a horn section free-for-all. The solo on this track is one of few timbales solos on the album. For years, since the days of an ealier New York band, Los Kimbos, Vilató has received questions about the number of solos he takes:

“‘How come you don’t do that many solos in your group?’ It’s because my group is a dance group, and it’s supposed to be a group for dancing and for listening. I mean, if I want to do a jam album, then I’ll do solos from top to bottom, but this is not a jam album. This is music, and every note that has to do with [It’s About Time] has to do with me, my life, and my concept of music which is very simplistic. But still you hear chords that sound big, and there’s only piano, bass, and one flute there. That’s the way I wanted it: it sounds full, simplistic, easy to listen to. I think that’s one of the reasons The Academy gave me the nomination: because they could hear the album. It wasn’t an album to show off how fast I can solo.”

Perhaps another reason why The Academy nominated It’s About Time is that everyone on the recording plays the way Vilató does: “I play as a team—that’s what it is all about. A lot of the people today play for themselves, and they don’t care what the piano is doing or what the singer is doing. I play around the space where they don’t sing or they don’t play, or the arrangement has a little hole.” Likewise, Vilató notes that all the musicians on the recording played in ways that would enhance his sound—without even a hint of instruction.

“If I had told them, ‘Do this and do that,’ it would not have come out any better. They did exactly what I had in mind without me telling them what to do—which was really amazing because we did the music in two days. Also, we recorded the full band live in the studio.”

Because Vilató finds beauty in the traditional, more simplistic way his instrument was played in Cuba, that does not imply that he is unable to mesmerize a crowd with dazzling technique. “I was one of the first who started complicating the timbales—but up to a limit…. Sure, be modern—I was always modern, I was always taking chances—but without forgetting the root of the instrument which is very important.”

This Sunday we all have the opportunity to experience the great depths of Afro-Cuban tradition that reside right here in the Bay Area. Though his brilliance and profound knowledge of musical history have often been over-looked, Vilató’s focus is where it has always been: “Once you’re there and you play for the people, that’s it. That’s the biggest trophy.” It is high time that we give back to the masters who keep our shared musical traditions alive. All they ask is that we dance to their music.

Si No Tiene Swing...A Rhythmic Celebration of Orestes Vilató's 50 Years on Latin Music's Cutting Edge, and John Santos' Birthday, featuring The John Santos Sextet with special guest El Maestro Orestes Vilató

November 1st

Yoshi’s Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
7pm show

$18

Poncho Sanchez: Soul on the Spot

2009-10-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

Fotos by Follett's

Poncho Sanchez is the youngest of 11 siblings, including 6 sisters who loved to dance. At home they would put on the same music that famed radio disc jockey Chico Sesma would spin at monthly Latin dances at the Hollywood Palladium: Tito Puente, Machito, Mongo Santamaría, Cal Tjader, Joe Cuba, and Orquesta Aragón. Sanchez describes getting goose bumps whenever he heard the music of his heros:

“That music would go on and bam, it was time to do it! [My sisters would] start dancing and I’d be on the sidelines saying, ‘Yeah, I wanna dance too!’ All of that excitement, rhythm and all of that stuff flowing together would get me very excited. I could hardly wait until I could go to the [Hollywood] Palladium.”

Sanchez feels his early and undeniable connection with Latin and Latin Jazz music is partly responsible for why he is now a professional musician:

“That was implanted in my brain and in my heart—in my soul. As a little boy I loved that music and I knew about Tito Puente and Cal Tjader when I was just in grade school. And it’s pretty rare because my friends had no clue who Tito Puente and Cal Tjader were in those days, but I knew who that was, I knew what it sounded like, and I knew—more importantly—how it felt. For me, I felt that music: the rhythm, the soul—it was just happening to me. And we’re talking I’m just a kid!”

Oddly enough, Sanchez’s lack of ability on his first instrument—the guitar—is equally responsible for his becoming a Grammy winning musician. As a 7th grader in Southern California he picked up a few songs from a high school student on his block. After just a few months of exposure to the guitar, Sanchez’s father moved the family back to Laredo, Texas, where Sanchez was forced to practice the only three songs he knew. A year later the family returned to California and Sanchez reconnected with his old friends from the neighborhood. By this time they had surpassed his guitar playing skills, and formed a band called “The Halos.” But The Halos needed a singer.

“I didn’t think I was a singer, I thought I was a guitar player. And then I thought, ‘Hell, I’m gonna do the best impression of James Brown that I can think of!’ And don’t forget, now, I’m a good dancer because I used to watch my sisters dance. And so I got up there and I started dancing like James Brown and throwing the microphone around—I acted like I knew what I was doing. And after the song was over the guys in the band said, ‘Man, Poncho, you sing great! And you’re a good dancer, too.’ And I was like, ‘I am?’ And from that moment on I’ve been the lead vocalist of every band that I’ve ever been in. And that was totally on the spot in 8th grade.”

But Sanchez was a reluctant front man. His friends sent him home to learn a stack of 45s for a wedding that same weekend. When he arrived at the gig, Sanchez was petrified to see the microphone out in front. Even more terrifying was the expectation that Sanchez—virgin to the stage—would make the announcements in between songs. “Pull that mic back by the drummer! I’m not going out there! I barely know how to talk in a mic,” said the thirteen year old Sanchez. Put on the spot once again, he was forced to learn the tricks of the trade by trial and error.

Between 10th and 11th grades Sanchez began buying his own LPs. He had always been a fan of James Brown, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and the plethora of Motown acts, and by this age he was getting into Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Also, his older sisters started handing down their albums, and he bought more of what they had: Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, and Mongo Santamaría. From these recordings he became intrigued by the sound of the congas, and then fate literally placed congas on his path:

“I would walk to school and there was a pawn shop on the way and they had two congas in the window. So I looked at those congas for about 6 months every day coming and going to school. They were $62 a piece. I started saving my money from my little gigs on the weekends. It took me about 4-6 months and I saved enough to get one conga…. [My father] helped me get the other conga. I went to the garage [to practice], but I had no clue. I would start listening to the Mongo Santamaría records and Cal Tjader and all that, and I could hear [the sounds of the pattern]. I could hear a pop, like a slap, and then an open tone. And I went, ‘Wow, how do they get that sound?’”

Luckily, by this time Sanchez was old enough to get into The Lighthouse, a jazz club in Hermosa Beach. But he didn’t have a car. So he told his “Vatos Locos” from the barrio, “If you take me to Hermosa Beach I’ll put 50 cents of gas and I’ll pay your way into the club.” Though reluctant at first, his friends admitted after the gigs, “Hey, those vatos play pretty good up there, eh!” One of those vatos was Sanchez’s hero, Mongo Santamaría. “I would sit and watch them play, and then I’d go home and say, ‘Okay, Mongo did it like this.’ I would try to copy and imitate them. And that’s the way I learned to play—just by watching. Thank God I watched the best guys in the world: Mongo, Armando Peraza, Victor Patonja with Willie Bobo. I would watch every chance I got…. Trial and error once again!”

Reflecting on this early part of his development, Sanchez is compelled to offer, “I think there’s been a little special touch here.” For Sanchez that special touch is spiritual:

“I think a lot of this had to come from somewhere else other than just me. I’m a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe there is a higher standard, a higher somebody than all of us that goes around and gives people certain little things. And I feel that I’ve been blessed with something like that…. I think there is some spiritual help here because when I got those two congas I went into my mother and father’s garage at the house and I learned to play from these old records. Now, it couldn’t have been just me in there. Just me, the records, and I learned it? No, I don’t think so! I think there was somebody else in that room: there was me, those records, and I think God was in there because how did I learn this stuff?”

“I had been playing for two weeks and my sister said, ‘Man, you’re finally making a little bit of sense in that room! You know what? I’m going to bring a professional conga player over here to give you a lesson. This guy is a professional Puerto Rican conga drummer, and he plays every Thursday night at this club I go to in LA.’”

True to her word, Sanchez’s sister arranged for a professional conga player to give him a lesson in the garage. “I put on my favorite Cal Tjader record, and I started playing, and after the song was over I told the guy, ‘Well, that’s the kind of stuff I do.’ And the guy said, ‘Hey, man, how did you do that with your left hand right now? And how did you do that with your right hand?’ He started asking me questions! He said, ‘Man, you sound good! How long you been playin’, six or seven years?’ And I said, ‘Six or seven years? Two weeks, man!’ And the guy said, ‘I don’t know, dude, you sound pretty good to me. How did you learn to get the slaps and open tones?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. I just listened to the records and tried to do it. I saw Mongo Santamaría play twice, so I watched the way he did it.’ He said, ‘You learned like that?’ ‘How else could I learn? You’re the first guy whose ever come in here to show me anything!’”

“That’s the only conga lesson I’ve had in my life. And now they make Poncho Sanchez congas! So I really believe that there’s something else there spiritually and there was some stuff going on there that helped me get over that hump, and I still call on that every day.”

Whether you consider yourself a believer or not, Sanchez’s conviction as a conga player, singer, and band leader is undeniable to this day. See for yourself this Saturday night at Herbst Theatre where the band will take part in the SFJAZZ Festival’s Latin Legacy series. Show goers can expect pinpoint, infectious rhythms ripe for dancing, and selections drawn from the multi-Grammy winner’s latest album, Psychedelic Blues. This latest release hearkens back to the Latin and Latin Jazz music of his household growing up. For example, the final cut on the ablum, “Con Sabor Latino”, was the theme song and name of the AM radio show hosted by Chico Sesma who once inspired Sanchez’s sisters to dance both at the night club and in the living room. So come out on Saturday night to feel what moved Sanchez as a child, and experience the soul of his special touch.

Poncho Sanchez

Saturday, October 24th

8pm

Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness, SF)

$30/$50/$70

The Unbridled Joy of Rebeca Mauleón

2009-09-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

At any given Rebeca Mauleón performance you are likely to see her rocking in time on the piano bench as if physically riding the groove. It appears her seat must be ablaze as the one time Flamenco dancer stands to dance behind the piano while she rips through fiery montunos, driving the hand-picked band through her relentless Afro-Cuban arrangements. In conversation with the multi-faceted artist/educator, one quickly finds that this unbridled joy and energy is a theme which has sustained Mauleón throughout her ever-deepening exploration into multiple realms of music.

Mauleón is a self-taught pianist. She began playing at age 3 in a household where Flamenco music shared equal air time with Billie Holiday and Vivaldi. As a youngster she was a fan of the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Blood Sweat & Tears, and she loved Bach, one of the most rhythmic classical composers. She remembers not really being engaged by formal lessons, having recently located an old exercise text where as a child she scribbled, “I do not like or love this book.” When she was 6 or 7 years old, Mauleón learned Vince Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy by ear, and felt most comfortable with Ragtime. A rhythmic theme begins to emerge.

“For me, the groove has always been there…but it wasn’t until my teen years and really devoting myself to Cuban music that I completely fell in love with the piano.” Mauleón vividly recalls at age 15 going to a neighborhood park in Bernal Heights where a gathering of Cuban drummers were playing rumba. “I said, ‘What’s that,’ and they told me. And I said, ‘Where can I go and learn it,’ and they told me. And two weeks later I was in a band playing Afro-Cuban music in a Charanga Orchestra. At that point I never looked back. I heard Cuban music and I went, ‘That’s what I want to do!’”

And she did it: playing, composing, and arranging, including works commissioned by Latin Jazz Legend, Tito Puente. But she did all this by ear. Practice comprised of dropping the needle on a record, listening to a passage, and figuring out for herself how to play it. She received no direct tutelage in Afro-Cuban music, and “It wasn’t until I took a private lesson with Mark Levine that I realized how little I knew about music theory. I went home feeling humiliated with myself, realizing there was this whole world out there that I should know, and I didn’t.”

But Mauleón was not dissuaded. Just as she had plunged herself into Cuban music, she dove head first into music theory. “My thirst for knowledge is unbridled. I feel like there is never any ‘there’ there. There is always something more that I need to learn, adapt technically [or] chop-wise. I feel like I have a constant hunger for wanting to improve and that just gets me going every time.”

This relentless attitude has created the musical Renaissance woman that Mauleón is today. Already a pianist, composer and arranger, she was an early adopter of computer music programs as an undergrad at Mills College. This was perhaps the first step on the road to a 2009 Latin Grammy nomination as producer of It’s About Time, the debut album from timbales master, Orestes Vilató. On Februrary 26th, 2010, Mauleón will debut her Suite Afro-Cubano with the Oakland East Bay Symphony at the historic Paramount Theatre. She has scored video games and documentaries, and on top of being a wife and mother of two, Mauleón is an author and tenured professor. “I really do feel blessed. I feel like this is truly a gift that I have music in my life that covers all these different aspects, all these different realms. And its joyful.”

Even with all these musical incarnations to choose from, Mauleón derives a special pleasure from live performances, due in large part to the connection she shares with the musicians who comprise her band. Of Cuban drummer, Jimmy Branly, she comments, “Not only is he a brilliant musician, but he is the sweetest guy, and it’s so hard to find that combination. And then when he plays he gives 200% of himself every time. He’s never half there—never—even when he’s not feeling well.” The same is said of percussionist Jesús Diaz, bassist Gary Brown, guitarist Vernon Black, trumpeter Mike Olmos, and trombonist Marty Wehner, all of whom will accompany Mauleón as part of Afro Kuban Fusion at the Oakland Yoshi’s this Sunday for a special 2pm children’s matinee. Mauleón plays with this line-up often, creating the conditions necessary for musical magic. One such moment was captured on her recent CD, Descarga En California

“All those tunes are first takes with no rehearsal. We basically got in the studio, I handed them the charts, and I said, ‘The basic framework is this. Hit the record button. Let’s go.’ So there’s a moment at the end of Peruchineando where I’m playing this lick, and Jimmy, the drummer, starts doing it, too. We can’t see each other, [yet] we did it and then we ended the exact same way at the same time. And we both—while we were playing—stood up and went, ‘Ah!’ That was the moment when I reiterated to myself, ‘This is why I do what I do.’”

When asked to comment on what causes these hair-raising coincidences, Mauleón ponders, “I think it’s a combination of an acoustical phenomenon where the sound waves are all locked in and they’re resonating in your body and you hook into that. Because for me when I’m playing it’s as if there were motion—an unspoken, an indescribable motion of ‘forwardness.’ What I do is I imagine that I’m riding a horse and I’m moving forward. And so that’s the only way I can describe it. And I’ve only ridden a horse once in my life and I wasn’t very good at it! But there’s a feeling of I have to move.”

“But I also find, lately, equal satisfaction in those quiet and tender moments that are very subtle. As you mature you realize it’s not all about being fast and loud—although that’s a pretty big part of Afro Kuban Fusion. We like to be fast and loud because it’s unbridled and that’s what you want to get across. And especially with kids. Kids love fun, exciting music. But adults like it, too, and we all feed off of that.”

With electric guitar to accompany lead trumpet and trombone, the music of Afro Kuban Fusion hearkens after the legendary Cuban fusion group, Irakere. “That was always a band that I admired and I thought one day I’d love to have a band like that—the aesthetic of Irakere: blending the jazz world with Afro-Cuban traditional music and rock and funk. That’s where I feel like I’m moving.”

Whatever musical moves she makes on Sunday, Mauleón’s compositions invite every listener—young and old, black or white—into her jubilant musical world, one that she admits is not ethnically her own, yet still resonates deep within:

“I am of Spanish-Basque origin, [but] it didn’t really matter what my ethnicity was, what my gender was, it just was something that I felt naturally. I felt that this music meant something to me on an organic level that I still can’t understand. So my spiritual oneness with the music is something that I will always be grateful for, and I will always acknowledge that there is something other-worldly that’s there—and especially because the music comes from that place. That’s where these drum rhythms come from. And that’s why I was telling my students, ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re singing about secular stuff, it comes from a sacred place.’ And that may not even be necessarily relevant to you, to who you are in your religious origin or your ethnicity. It’s music of the planet. And somehow I tuned in on that and that’s where I feel at home—totally at home. It’s whatever speaks to you—you don’t question it.”

Sunday’s performance will be the latest chapter in the on-going story of Rebeca Mauleón exploring herself, and she will undoubtedly dazzle us with the unbridled joy that her process of self-discovery always yields: “I just don’t feel like I’ve arrived at the conclusion of who I am artistically. There is always going to be something around the corner that I’m going to discover that’s going to join this trajectory. I’m not really reinventing anything, I’m just finding there are so many things that bring me joy.”

Rebeca Mauleón & Afro Kuban Fusion
Sunday, October 4th
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
2pm kids matinee
$5 kids, $16 adults

AguaLibre @ Ashkenaz

2009-09-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

I last saw AguaLibre at the Oakland Art & Soul Festival two years ago. It was an absolutely killin’ performance. Rapper Rico Pabon has undeniable flow and stage presence, and the voice of Destani Wolf is equally inspirational as it soars above the infectious Latin/Soul/Funk/Reggae grooves.

AguaLibre is one of my all time favorite Bay Area bands. Their sound is so enjoyable that you’ll be forced to ponder, “How come no one else makes music like this!?” Whatever the answer, you’ll be happy that you showed up at Ashkenaz this Friday night with your dancing shoes on. I dare you to try and remain still!

AguaLibre
Friday, October 2nd
Ashkenaz (1317 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley)
9pm
$12 door / $10 advance / $8 with bike
*All Ages*

Wynton & JALC @ UCB's Zellerbach

2009-09-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm writing you this morning from Monterey where last night as part of the 52nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival I saw Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. I say it every time one rolls through town, but it's true: one should never miss the rare opportunity to see a big band--let alone a big band of this quality. The arrangements are fiery, the section work is tight, and the soloists are killin'. The JALC provides a glipse into the pre-WWII Swing Era where bands of this stature produced a wall of sound fortified by undeniable swing. You cannot help but be moved.

Seeing a big band is also a great opportunity for those of you who are unsure how to judge the quality of a solo. I say this because the rest of the band will let you know if the cat is really sayin' somethin'. Watch for on-stage chatter, changes to the looks on their faces, and perhaps--like last night--the sudden leaning back in their chairs when the soloist plays a particularly nasty lick.

Big bands are the grandest expression of our nation's classical music, yet for the past 65 years or so, they have been impossible for a band leader to maintain. Thankfully, Jazz at Lincoln Center is able to underwrite and thereby preserve the tradition of the touring big band in this country, and Wynton and his band members have done their due diligence toward maintaining the integrity of big band music itself. Better get it in your soul while you have the chance...

A word on Zellerbach: That $32 ticket is a good seat! The sound is better in the 2nd and even 3rd tier than it is in the rear of the orchestra section, below the balcony overhang.

Wynton Marsalis & The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Tuesday, September 22nd, 8pm
Zellerbach Hall (Bancroft @ Telegraph in Berkeley)
$32/$46/$68/$80
(510) 642 -9988 or click here for the ticket office

Terence Blanchard @ Oakland Yoshi's

2009-08-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

The first note that Terence Blanchard let flow from his horn the very first time I saw him live made one thing very clear: this man has something to say, and he is here to let you know. That performance at the 2004 North Sea Jazz Festival remains in my memory as one of the most earnest trumpet performances I've ever seen. So I would tell you to attend this show because you will hear someone who has something worthwhile to listen to, and equally important, he has done the necessary prepartion to communicate his intentions. Further, Blanchard's band is a real band. These are cats who have been together for some time, who listen to one another, who respond and support one another, and who are keenly aware that this art form requires a collective effort. So in addition to--and certainly lead by--Blanchard's own sincerity, this group performs their craft with the highest integrity, resulting in that thing for which we reserve the term art.

Terence Blanchard
Aug 28th - Aug 30th
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
Friday and Saturday 8pm & 10pm show $22
Sunday 2pm Kids Matinee $5 kids, $18 adult (with kid), $22 adult (general)
Sunday 7pm show $22

Terence Blanchard - Trumpet
Brice Winston - Sax
Michael Olatuja - Bass
Kendrick Scott - Drums
Fabian Almazan - Piano

Steve Smith and Vital Information @ SF Yoshi's

2009-07-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

I went to Yoshi's tonight so that I could report back and tell you if you should see this show tomorrow night. The answer is YES!

Steve Smith runs a drumming clinic. In addition to his astonishing technical skill and his choice of consistently tasty licks, notice his economy of motion. Like most great drummers, his torso remains largely still while his hands run around the kit with effortless speed and precision. He entertains the crowd with stick tricks--including twirls and single stick rolls--virtuoso brush work, and melodic solos that are easy for the uninitiated to enjoy. They even performed a song based on South Indian rhythms where Smith plays one groove on the kit and vocalizes a complex Indian (tabla) rhythm at the same time. (Show off! :-)

The rest of the band are equally in command of their instruments. (The keys player performed two songs on accordion and absolutely killed it!) Each of them are all-stars in their own right, but they play together like a band, listening and supporting one another at every turn--whether you heard it coming or not!

What makes this show ultimately enjoyable is that every song shows supreme musicianship while remaining accessible to all listeners. Whether it's funk, blues, or swing grooves, it's simply good, groovin' music. Whether you get a thrill from the chord changes, from doubling the time, from cutting the time in half, or from the mercurial grooves they play in each composition, it's a thrilling sonic roller coaster that both the musicians and the audience enjoy.

Tomorrow is the last night, so get your tickets right away!

Steve Smith and Vital Information (Steve Smith (d), Tom Coster (keys), Baron Browne (b), Vinny Valentino (g))
July 7th
SF Yoshi's (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)
8pm & 10pm shows $22
* Enter code "vital" when you checkout on-line for $10 tix while supplies last!

Dafnis Prieto Si o Si Quartet @ Stanford

2009-06-25T00:53:00.001-07:00

The last time Dafnis was in town I focused my attention on one of my favorite pianists, Manuel Valera. Manuel will be on this gig, but let me give the drummer some.

Dafnis will do things at the drum set that you've never before seen. For example, the last time I saw him he angled his stick in such a way as to play the snare drum and the high hat at the same time. Then he proceeded to blur his hand between the two, creating an electric sizzle that certainly made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

As opposed to other drummers who you might say paint rhythmic colors over the time, Dafnis seems to attack the time. When he takes a solo notice the starts and stops, and the dense sonic passages juxtaposed with rests, all of which create enormous tension and release. And, of course, if you're so inclined, be mindful of the way he flows in and around the clave pattern. It's there, and he will provide you land marks here and there, but you will be challenged to keep hold of it when Dafnis gets inside the rhythm, seemingly turning it inside out, only to explode on the one.

If we're lucky, Dafnis will also display his ability to speak rhythms. The last time I saw him he took out a pair of claves and spoke a series of intensely complex rhythms into the mic while holding the clave pattern steady. He is able to play the clave pattern with his hands and sing the pattern in reverse, or oven at a slower subdivision. It's simply incredible.

Dafnis is an incredible talent, with a drumming style that appears all his own. His playing will amaze you and his compositions will excite you. Trust that it's worth a trip down to The Farm.

Dafnis Prieto Si o Si Quartet
Dafnis Prieto, drums; Manuel Valera, piano; Armando Gola, bass; Peter Apfelbaum, tenor sax
Sunday, June 28, 7:30 pm
Campbell Recital Hall, Stanford University
$36 general, $18 students

The Karriem Riggins Virtuoso Experience @ Oakland Yoshi's

2009-06-24T23:06:00.001-07:00

Earlier this evening I went to see The Karriem Riggins Virtuoso Experience. The band featured DJ Pete Rock on turn tables & Apple laptop computer (whose presence alone makes me reminisce about the days when hip hop brought me joy), Mulgrew Miller on piano & Fender Rhodes, Joe Sanders on upright bass, and Warren Wolf on vibes. In short, the band was tight and swinging, but after four nights of Giovanni Hidalgo and El Negro this past weekend, you'll excuse me if my attention was focused on the drum set. Coincidentally--or perhaps not so coincidentally given El Negro's wondrous left foot--I noticed something in Riggins' drumming that I have never noticed in any other drummer.

Typically when a band is swinging, the drummer will clap the high hat together on the 2nd and 4th beat of every bar (the same place where hip show-goers tend to pat their feet or snap their fingers). In this way, the drummer gives the groove a certain bounce while simultaneously marking time. At numerous points I noticed that Riggins' left foot was bouncing up and down, but the high hat was not moving. This was because he had taken his foot off the high hat pedal, and was simply tapping it on the floor. As I paid closer attention, I realized that he was using the high hat like another drum head: hitting it--or clapping it--to syncopate or accent the groove at moments of his choosing. I point this out only because, as I said, I don't know that I've ever noticed a drummer do this, and it is something to watch and listen for during tomorrow's sets.

The other nuance to be mindful of occurred during interplay between Riggins and DJ Pete Rock. Trade secret: when mixing tunes DJs often adjust the tempo of the two songs to make them match, then after they've successfully mixed from one song to the next, they re-adjust the tempo back to normal. Notice how Riggins makes the subtle adjustments in tempo, never once loosing the groove that fuels the collective head bobbing in the audience. There were times when I couldn't tell if the percussion I was hearing was from the recording, or from Riggins, but I was pleased by the resonance of the sound scape, and the joyous interplay: it was like witnessing a child playing along to their favorite records, joining their own voice to a chorus by the masters.

This show is a rarity, generally and certainly at Yoshi's. Though I began bemused by the lounge effect of DJ Pete Rock spinning Ahmad Jamal tunes in a live music venue, in the end I delighted in the alchemy of the evening: jazz via turn-table, jazz via live band, hip hop via turn table and live drummer, plus some freestyle rapping to round out the evening. As Pete Rock said, "That was fun!"

The Karriem Riggins Virtuosos Experience Tour with special guest DJ Dummy
June 25th
Oakland Yoshi's (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
8pm & 10pm shows $20

Pharoah Sanders Quartet with Zakir Hussain

2009-06-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

Pharoah Sanders has one of the most beautiful tones you'll ever hear come out of a tenor saxophone. Whether he's screaming through an up tempo number, or giving you a warm sonic hug during a ballad, his tone is soulful and earnest. He is also a Coltrane disciple, having played with the late master near the end of Coltrane's career. Thus, going to see Pharoah is one of the closest links I have to experiencing what it must have been like to hear John Coltrane live.

If this were not reason enough to attend, Pharoah will have with him one of the world's all time great percussion masters, Ustad Zakir Hussain on tablas. (The title "ustad" is bestowed upon him precisely to note his mastery.) I am by no means a tabla expert, and Indian music will make most outsiders' head spin just trying to find the first beat in a pattern, but you needn't be an expert to know when a master is at work. Far from it, Hussain's rhythm, the variety of tones and melodies he will produce, and the virtuosic speed he is able to display may leave you breathless.

Pharoah always brings a powerful spirit to his performances. I can only imagine what it will be like with an ustad on hand. Don't miss it.

Pharoah Sanders Quartet with very special guest Zakir Hussain
Jun 25th-Jun 28th
SF Yoshi's (1330 Fillmore at Eddy)
Thursday 8pm & 10pm shows $34
Friday and Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $36
Sunday 2pm Matinee $5 (children), $18 (Adults with children), $36 (Adult General)
Sunday 7pm show $36

Rare Feet Light Up San Francisco Nights: The Six Limbs of El Negro

2009-06-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

When Eddie Palmieri, “The Sun of Latin Music”, shines his signature sound on the San Francisco Yoshi’s June 18th - 21st, show-goers will be treated to an exclusive assembly of Latin Jazz luminaries. Among them is one star whose light seldom shines on the Bay Area. Like a comet orbiting the gravitational pull of Palmieri’s 50 years in the business, the Yoshi’s audience will have a rare opportunity to see one of the greatest Afro-Cuban drummers of all time: Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, master of the left foot clave technique.

“He’s one in a million,” says Walfredo Reyes, Sr., another Cuban drum pioneer. Reyes was the first to incorporate Cuban percussion instruments into the traditional jazz drum kit starting in the early 50s. This makes him El Negro’s predecessor in a long line of Cuban rhythmic innovators that includes Candido Camero, the first to trigger the clave pattern on a cow bell using a foot pedal. Though Reyes has a left foot clave rig on the practice kit in his Bay Area home, he acknowledges El Negro as the foremost expert.

“There are people that try clave on the left foot all over the world, but Negro is exceptional. His clave is so beautiful. Negro maintains that rumba clave so nice and soft—it’s like a dream.”

Even though he is widely considered the reigning king of the left foot clave, try running the word “master” by El Negro and you will be met with a humility truly fitting of the title.

“How can I say I mastered it? It’s so endless—forget about it,” says Hernández. “The beauty of it is that the more you advance the longer you can see. So, you advance this little bit and you see that there’s another mile out there. And then a little bit more, and then four more miles! The more you go, the farther it gets. Forget it!”

Even if rhythmic possibilities are infinite, El Negro is miles ahead of all others who attempt the rhythmic feet (pun intended). What sets his technique apart is the independence of his remaining three limbs while his left foot keeps the clave pattern rock steady. “Other drummers will turn the rumba clave into the son clave [by displacing the third accent in the pattern], but when El Negro puts it in, it stays rumba—and on hard tunes, too! Even odd meters,” marvels Reyes.

In addition to playing the clave pattern, El Negro’s left foot will hop back and forth between the cowbell and hi-hat pedals, making it seem there is someone else playing the bongo bell on the down beats while the hi-hat claps together on two and four. The left foot—almost another member of the band—will also trigger the second bass kick pedal, adding an intense rumble to solos and grooves alike. All the while, El Negro’s other three limbs remain completely free.

But El Negro’s playing is no gimmick. No matter how complex a polyrhythm, each hit is executed with supreme touch. A bell pattern, for example, is played by his right hand as if there were a percussionist on the stand playing just that pattern, never mind the three other instruments that same hand might be hitting to complete the groove, and never mind the other three limbs. He’s also not one to grand-stand. El Negro plays only what the music calls for, and can slip into the background, propelling the music as much through feeling as with sound. This is Afro-Cuban or Latin Jazz, after all. It’s about communication—having a conversation. And to converse with anyone, you must hear them and respond.

This brings us to El Negro’s fifth limb: his ears. Amidst the flurry of magic hands and dancing feet, he is always listening and reacting to other musicians on the stand with the utmost precision, sometimes anticipating where they are headed before they have arrived at the crossroads themselves. El Negro equates this with the independence of his limbs:

“You see, that is coordination. Coordination is not just about your limbs, it is about your ears, too. I mean, you have to play, you have to learn, but it’s about freedom in the end. What we’re learning is freedom. Freedom to do anything you want to do, but you’re listening to what’s happening in the music.”

“There is a teacher, Gary Chester, who wrote an amazing book called The New Breed. He was the first one to create a system of singing on top of all the coordination exercises. So it’s like you are learning another limb, and that was very helpful to keep a channel open for your ears. It teaches you to play and also remain totally alert to anything that is happening around you—and not just listening to the music. You can be listening to the music, and watching a girl, and talking to somebody else about the movie last night, and keep on playing at the same time—keep on rocking it!”

El Negro has developed a book and demonstration DVD, Conversations in Clave, which break down the development of four-way independence in Afro-Cuban rhythms. But don’t think you can buy the book, practice for a while, and come out of the shed charging extra for your left foot at the next gig. It took El Negro five years to get comfortable with the clave as a pattern, and another ten years in order to develop freedom against the pattern. And we’re not talking a few hours a day, either. “You want to know the secret? Practice from eight [am] to eight [pm]!”

This brings us to El Negro’s sixth limb: his heart, or his love of playing drums. Not surprisingly, this was evident from a very young age. El Negro’s uncle bought him his first drum set when he was only four years old. “I played it so hard that I destroyed it in four days! I was having the best time of my life. I put it in front of the TV—I will never forget—I put the TV to the music program, and right there I put my drums. It was great!” He was gigging professionally as a teenager, and he took over the drum chair from Ignacio Berroa at EGREM Studios in Havana, where for years he recorded 24 hours a day, taking only cat naps on a mattress upstairs between sessions.

“I have never had to force myself to practice or to play—never. There is nothing for me more pleasant than having a coffee in the morning and getting into my studio. And maybe I don’t get into the studio and go to the drums straight away. Maybe I turn on the computer and sit down and listen to what I put down the last time, but sooner or later I say, ‘I wanna play my drums.’”

In fact, El Negro wants to play his drums in a way that no drummer ever has.

“You see, Giovanni [Hidalgo] can play a concert of one hour by himself—easy—and you will be on the edge of your seat the entire time! Zakir [Hussein] also can play for one hour. I think it’s time for us drummers now. Somebody has to make it there: to be able to sit down for one hour and make music like that.”

While Giovanni Hidalgo and Zakir Hussein, the world’s leading conga and tabla masters, respectively, play tuned percussion, El Negro does not see any melodic limitations with the drum kit. He views the piano as 88 drums, and he approaches playing drums as a melodic endeavor, not merely a rhythmic one.

“I like to make music with my instrument, not just use it to accompany somebody rhythmically, but to make melodic music out of it—which I believe is possible. And I know that the possibilities are right there in the drums. I know you can sing a song with just the drums. You have to be a bad mother in the best shape of his life, but it’s possible. It’s endless. All I wish is that I could be in my studio for one year without having to travel. I know that if I could just get in there for one year, I could come out like Einstein!”

El Negro’s rare genius only comes to town maybe once every two to three years. Do not miss this opportunity to see one of the all time drumming greats display his unparalleled ability.

Eddie Palmieri and the Pan-Caribbean Summit featuring David Sanchez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Bryan Lynch, Carlos Henriquez, and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez
Thursday, June 18th - Sunday, June 21st
Exclusive engagement only at the San Francisco Yoshi’s
Thursday 8pm & 10pm shows $35
Friday and Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $38
Sunday 2pm matinee $5 (children), $18 (adult with child), $38 (general adult)
Sunday 7pm show $38

Latin Masters @ SF Yoshi's

2009-06-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

Eddie Palmieri is a living legend whose career spans over 50 years. He began as a timbales player, and translated that rhythmic sensibility into a signature compositional style with fiercely percussive horn arrangements. He also invented the piano vocabulary that ticklers use to speak Latin/Salsa piano to this day. So not only did he discover his own sound--the Holy Grail of both Jazz and Latin Jazz musicians--Palmieri helped define the sound of the entire genre.

In addition to Palmieri's significance to the history of the music, what makes this show special is the personnel rounding out the band. Bryan Lynch is one of the baddest trumpeters in the field of Latin music. The same can be said for David Sanchez on tenor saxophone, and on bass will be Carlos Henriquez from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. But most importantly, Eddie has tapped two men who will go down in history among the greatest congueros and drum set players of all time: Giovanni Hidalgo and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez.

These two have recently completed their "Traveling Throught Time" tour of Europe, celebrating their mind blowing collaboration on CD and DVD. While they are widely regarded the reigning kings of their respective instruments in Latin/Afro-Cuban music, together they are simply magic.

Giovanni's contribution to the world of Latin percussion began years ago when he applied the drum rudiments (the fundamental ABCs of drumming) to his hands on the conga drums. His significance is so profound that El Negro refers to conga playing "before Giovanni, and after Giovanni". Notice that no matter how fast he is playing, every sound is distinct. His slaps explode sharply amidst open tones, muffs, and the pitter patter of his right hand (Gio is a lefty).

El Negro is the leading proponent of the left foot clave technique, which is to play the clave pattern (rumba clave, in this case) using a foot pedal operated by his left foot. El Negro plays the clave in duple, triple, and odd meters, no matter the tempo. What many audiences seem to miss is that you will also hear his left foot hopping back and forth between the cow bell and hi-hat pedals, making it sound as if there is someone on the stage playing the cow bell on the down beats while the hi-hat claps together on two and four. The left foot will also trigger a second bass kick pedal to make the bass drum rumble.

All the while his left foot is living a life of its own down there on the floor, his other three limbs are completely free to play whatever the music calls for. And no matter the complexity of the polyrhythm, El Negro's touch on each drum head, cymbal, wood block or cow bell is so precise that it sounds as if there is a musician on the stand dedicated to that single pattern. The man is simply putting percussionists out of work with his ability to cover multiple parts of what were originally Cuban rhythms played by multiple percussionists. But what makes him a supreme talent and musician is his attention to the music and the other musicians on stage. He listens, supports, responds, and anticipates in such a way as to lift the entire performance, never putting his seemingly infinite ability ahead of the collective art.

My friends, these are the masters of their craft. As I always say, GO SEE THE MASTERS! This show is not to be missed.

Eddie Palmieri and the Pan-Caribbean Summit featuring David Sanchez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Bryan Lynch, Carlos Henriquez, and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez
June 18th - 21st
Exclusive Engagement only at the San Francisco Yoshi’s (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)
Thursday 8pm & 10pm shows $35
Friday and Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $38
Sunday 2pm matinee $5 (children), $18 (adult with child), $38 (general adult)
Sunday 7pm show $38

Roberta Flack @ Stern Grove

2009-06-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Granted, it was almost a decade ago, but the one time I saw Roberta Flack live was at the Blue Note in New York and she sounded better than any Robert Flack CD I own. Her tone is simply sublime. She is a real musician and a true singer. If there is anything I can advise that you listen for, it would be to pay attention to how she sings a melody. Many singers rely on vocal gymnastics to transmit meaning in a song. Sometimes the hardest thing to do as a vocalist is simply sing the melody straight, yet through tone, phrasing, and dynamics, make the listener feel the emotion intended in the lyric. Roberta will deliver a melody directly into your heart, and once it arrives you may wonder how it got there.

Expect to experience the exquisite.

Sunday, June 21st
Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Ave. & Sloat in SF
2pm
FREE!

Christian McBride & Inside Straight @ Yoshi's Oakland

2009-05-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

"Inside Straight" debuted at Monterey last year. In a genius marketing move, McBride asked the audience to send potential band names to his website. Whoever conjured the chosen name would get two free tix to any gig where the band performed under the same name, world wide.

Not only did they exhibit the best marketing scheme of any band at the festival--ultimately receiving thousands of e-mails--they were one of the most swingin' groups of the entire festival. And while McBride is one of the best bass players in jazz today, at once exhibiting a firm grasp of history and the funky exuberance you might expect from a relative youngster, it was his vibraphonist, Warren Wolf, who stole the show. I thought Stefon Harris was the only young vibes man out there, but Wolf will give any vibes player a run for their money. Like Harris, Wolf phrases well beyond his years. It's an inspiration to find someone so young with so much to say.

Simply put, Inside Straight is a real jazz band. They play together and they swing on every groove. Don't miss them.

Christian McBride - Bass
Steve Wilson - Alto/Soprano Sax
Warren Wolf - Vibes
Eric Reed - Piano
Carl Allen - Drums

June 13th - 14th
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $22
Sunday 2pm Kids Matinee $5 (ages 15 and under),
$18 (Adults with children), $22 (General adult)
Sunday 7pm show $22

Vocal Masters @ Yoshi's Oakland

2009-04-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

Over the course of two consecutive weekends, Yoshi's Oakland will host two of the greatest singers you will ever see. They are distinct in their respective sounds, but they are both masters of their craft.

Lalah Hathaway
April 10th - 12th
Friday - Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $28
Sunday 7pm & 9pm shows $28

Lalah is the only singer on my list of musicians who I would see every single night for the rest of my life. She is the ultimate soul singer. Her tone is light and rich. Her singing is sensual and nimble. She caresses chromatics, effortlessly running up and down scales that other singers simply cannot navigate. Like her father, the great Donny Hathaway, she has a way of singing an /n/ sound (e.g. at the end of "mornin'") that will give you chills. Next to my all time girl, Shirley Horn, Lalah is the only singer who has moved me to the point of wanting to be in love through the understated power and consummate sensuality of her performance. What is more, she's likely to have Mike Aabergon keys and Errol Cooneyon guitar, both local boys who can make their instruments speak. Watch how Mike melds his own nimble rhythmic touch with lush harmonies, and how Erroll builds a solo from a single note to an out and out rock romp. Lalah and her band are IT. Don’t miss this show!

Rachelle Ferrell "Unplugged"
April 17th - 19th
Fri and Sat 8pm & 10pm shows $30
Sun 7pm show $30
Sun 9pm show $26

Rachelle Ferrell is on a (very short) list of what I call “next level musicians”: innovators who make unimaginable artistic feats look simple even though before they came along, no one had so much as the conception, let alone the ability to execute them. Rachelle is the most mind blowing female vocalist I’ve ever heard, and I guarantee she will blow your mind as well. She possesses a five and a half octave range, which means she can sing in the whistle/bird range, as well as that of a baritone. She has a pure and angelic tone that at one moment will sustain a note so long that you will wonder if her body requires oxygen at all, and then suddenly it will burst into gut-bucket vocal gymnastics, cascading down from the top to the bottom of her multiple registers. She will also produce tones that you've rarely--if ever--heard from a human, and yet when they've passed you will realize that she just transmitted an enormous amount of emotion through every bone in your body--and seemingly her own! The woman is ridiculous in the best possible way. And if all that weren’t enough, she plays piano and now guitar. Prepare to shake your head in disbelief.

Joshua Redman @ Yoshi's Oakland

2009-03-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

You'll note from the band listing below that there is no piano on this gig. That turns out to be significant for at least one reason: space. More specifically, ample space for you to hear how these musicians--who are each exceptional on their instrument--listen and respond to one another throughout the set. This is always the case in any good jazz band, but without the piano you can more easily hear Penman following and supporting Redman's saxophone line. You will also be able to hear how a good drummer propels a saxophonist--a sacred relationship in the history of this music. Hutchinson is one of the tastiest drummers you can see today, Penman has no end to fluid lines, and Redman has chops from the very top to the absolute bottom of his horn. But most importantly, they will choose with each passing moment to make a coherent statement together, and this intention creates the magic that permeates jazz music.

Joshua Redman Trio
with Matt Penman (b) and Greg Hutchinson (d)
April 1st - April 5th
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
Wednesday & Thursday 8pm & 10pm Shows $26
Friday & Saturday 8pm & 10pm Shows $30
Sunday 2pm Matinee $5 Kids, $18 Adults with Kids, $30 General
Sunday 7pm show $30

SFJAZZ Spring Season '09

2009-03-01T15:23:00.000-08:00

The SFJAZZ Spring Season has begun. Below are my picks for upcoming shows with a brief word or two for each. But before we get to that, a word to the wise: buy your tickets at the SFJAZZ Box Office. Depending on how many tix you buy, the amount of service charges you save could amount to a front row seat!

Tickets:
SFJAZZ Box Office & Retail Store
3 Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level
866-920-5299 (toll-free; $6.00 per ticket service fee)

SFJAZZ Collective

Saturday, March 21, 8PM
Sunday, March 22, 7PM
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
$20, $30, $40, Premium $60

I caught this band last year at Zellerbach. It was one of the best shows I had seen in quite some time. The compositions were equisite, the interaction between the band was sublime, and everyone in the band can seriously play. My favorite is Miguel Zenon on alto sax. He can be tender and ferocious, and you can always hear his mind at work!

Branford Marsalis Quartet with Joey Calderazzo (p), Eric Revis (b), and Justin Faulkner(d)
Sunday, March 29, 7PM
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
$25, $40, $50, Premium $70

I hold Branford in high esteem. A true student of the music who approaches his craft with the utmost integrity, he is a keeper of the jazz--and particularly saxophone--flame. In performance he shows humble leadership, ever dedicated to the music created by the band as a unit, and allowing his sidemen ample solo space. I was a bit saddened not to see Jeff 'Tain' Watts on drums, but Justin Faulkner looks to be a phenom on the rise!

Ahmad Jamal

Saturday, April 4, 8PM
Herbst Theatre
$20, $40, $55, Premium $75

I've said it time and time again: no one swings like the Ahmad Jamal Trio--no one! I would see them every single night of my life if I could. They are the epitome of unity. Pay particular attention to dynamics and tempo, which always seem to be perfectly in sync even amidst sudden changes. I've also noticed that Ahmad's piano style maximizes the effect of tension and release. He will juxtapose very dense passages in the lower register with light runs into the upper register. And before you know it, the band will drop down into a fiercely buoyant groove!

Richard Bona and Lionel Loueke

Sunday, May 17, 7PM
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
$30 General Admission

I recently wrote about Cameroonian bassist, Richard Bona, one of the baddest electric bassists on the scene who possess an angelic voice. Loueke is a Beninese guitarist who also doubles as a singer. These two are prodigious on their instruments, comfortable in almost any musical setting, and masters of complex rhythms and odd meters. I can only imagine the art their synergy will produce. This will be a night of unbridled joy, passion, and musical interplay of the highest order!

The Master: Stanley Clarke @ Yoshi's Oakland

2009-03-01T15:22:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned Richard Bona being one of the greatest bass players of his generation. Stanley Clarke is considered by many to be one of the greatest bass players of all time, both on electric and especially acoustic bass. This set is billed as "Stanley Clarke Acoustic", and so I suspect he will be on upright all night.

Those of you who have been on The List for some time are familiar with one of my mottos: never pass up an opportunity to see the masters. Clarke is an undisputed master of his instrument. The uninitiated will likely witness techniques and harmonics they've never before seen performed by a bass player. Clarke has a way of playing a passage that can be digested by most listeners, then following it with a much more complex, deeper derivative of that initial idea. It's as if he's telling the crowd, "I'm better at this than anything you have done or will ever do in your entire life!"

Like Dennis Chambers on drums, he's such a bad mamma jamma that he borders on disrespecting the instrument. As I mentioned with Bona, all great bass players have an incredible sense of time, but Clarke adds a virtuosity that is simply ridiculous. Prepare for a bass clinic!

Stanley Clarke

Friday, March 6th - Sunday, March 8th

Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)

Friday & Saturday 8pm & 10pm shows $30

Sunday 2pm Matinee $5 Kids, $18 Adults with Kids, $26 General

Sunday 7pm show $30

Richard Bona @ Yoshi's Oakland

2009-02-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Richard Bona is among the best bass players of his generation, not to mention one of the baddest electric bassists currently trotting the globe. He can tip his hat to the great Jaco Pastorius, own odd meters, and rival Nathan Watts on Stevie Wonder classics like "I Wish". At home laying down the bottom of Latin, Jazz, and Funk tunes alike, Bona--like all of history's great bassists--has incredible time. As you take in the show, notice how he always lands squarely in the pocket no matter the flight of fancy his nimble fingers explore during fills, breaks, and solos. He is also one of the smoothest electric bassists you'll ever hear walking the bass at break-neck tempos.

If that weren't enough, the Cameroonian native has an angelic voice. If we're lucky, he will sing the same song, "Samaouma", that he did the last time he graced the Yoshi's stage. Go here for a rendition, and fast forward to 2:07 for what is one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear.

Richard Bona
Thursday, February 19th - Sunday, February 22nd
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
Thurs 8pm show $18 & 10pm show $12
Fri 8pm show $22 & 10pm show $16
Sat 8pm & 10pm shows $22
Sunday Matinee 2pm $5 Kids/ $18 Adult w/ Kids / $22 General
Sun 7pm show $22
$10 tix available for a limited time!!!

The Storyteller: Hank Jones

2009-02-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

I first saw esteemed pianist, Hank Jones, at Sweet Basil in NYC years ago. I haven't seen him since, but I'm told the most notable aspect of his playing remains to this day: every solo has a clear and neatly stated beginning, middle, and end. It may sound simple enough, but any improviser knows the understated degree of difficulty.

As you take in the show, pay particular attention to how he completes each solo: with the perfect resolution. It's as if Jones, age 90, is the crowd's grandfather, and with each song he sits us all on his knee to share the most enchanting tale any of us have ever heard.

And for all of my arts integrationists out there, if you know of teachers struggling to teach their students how to structure good writing, Jones will deliver the first and last lecture any writer needs to hear.

Hank Jones
Wednesday & Thursday, February 4th & 5th
Yoshi's SF (1330 Fillmore @ Eddy)
8pm show $27, 10pm show $22

Long Awaited: Manuel Valera

2008-10-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

At long last I have the pleasure of announcing that Manuel Valera is coming to the Bay Area. I’ve been following his recording career since his manager sent me his demo some five years ago, and in that time the Cuban keyboardist has become one of my favorites. By way of explanation I could tell you to listen for the interplay between his left and right hand, to watch how he is ever building tension and then releasing it, or how he is one of the most rhythmically intricate pianists you’ll ever hear. But for me Valera’s impact is nothing so technical. Introspective and dazzling, as pensive and turbulent as he is tender, Valera is one of the most lyrical pianists I’ve ever heard. Every line comes across as if from a singer. His playing is simply beautiful and this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday he will be playing with the masters on three sides of the Bay. So far as I know this is his first trip to the Bay Area, so be sure not to miss him with...

Arturo Sandoval
Saturday, November 1st
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
$25/$35/$45/$65
8pm
Go to SFJAZZ for more ticket info

Sandoval is one of the great trumpet masters. Friends with the late Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval is an international ambassador of Latin Jazz with some of the greatest range you'll ever hear on the instrument.

Dafnis Prieto
Sunday, November 2nd
Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley
$15/$20

AND

Dafnis Prieto
Monday, November 3rd
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
8pm $16
10pm $10

Michel Camilo once told me that Dafnis is the new king of Latin Jazz drummers in New York City's Village. The Cuban phenom is blazing new trails in the idiom, pushing the music forward with a rhythmic propulsion few can match. In trying to accurately locate his style as compared to other Cuban drummers, I've noticed that he seems to cut time, as if with a dagger. You might say the boy is straight nasty, but he's so bad it's almost disrespectful. These shows are going to be fierce!

Josh Jones Weekend

2008-08-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Scott Chernis)

Josh is playing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night this weekend. This is your chance to catch one of the Bay Area's best if you haven't already (that means you Damian! ;-). It's also the perfect opportunity for me to offer you a way to comprehend his sensitivity, skill, and versatility as a drummer.

I'm such a fan of Josh that I write about him whenever I learn of a gig. My usual spiel includes a word on his ability to listen and respond to his fellow band mates. This weekend he's playing with a trio on Friday, a quartet or quintet on Saturday, and on Sunday he has two other Bay Area percussion maestros sitting in: John Santos and Jesus Diaz. This offers you a chance to witness how his playing changes to compliment the band.

Josh is among a select few drummers who can adapt traditional Latin ensemble percussion parts to the drum set when those instruments are not present (e.g. clave, conga, bongo, and timbales patterns). Then, if there is someone covering those parts, he adjusts accordingly. For example, the last time I saw Josh he altered the groove he was playing on the drum set when a bongo player sat down to join the band. The two began "talking" when the bong player started playing his bongo bell. Josh "answered" this pattern by playing his own bell that sits next to his snare drum. That is, he would hit his bell in the spaces between the bongo bell pattern. The two bells each had a different pitch, so it added another layer to the groove that Josh was playing on his kit, and that the band was creating as an ensemble. So as you watch Josh this weekend, notice how he actively listens and responds to each and every voice in the musical conversation that is Latin Jazz!

Friday, August 29th
Bacar (448 Brannan St. between 3rd & 4th in SF)
8:30pm
NO COVER!
(415) 904-4100

Saturday, August 30th
850 Cigar Bar (850 Montgomery Street between Jackson & Pacific in North Beach, SF)
10pm until closing
$7 at the door
(415) 398-0850

Sunday, August 31st
w/ John Santos & Jesus Diaz
Pier 23 (on the Embarcadero at Battery, SF)
3:00pm - 4:15pm
$20 (covers the cost of an all day music festival lasting until 11pm)
(415) 362-5125

Oakland's Art & Soul Festival

2008-08-29T12:40:00.001-07:00

Aug 30th, 31th & Sept 1st
Noon - 6pm
$10 at door
$5 Youth 13-18 & Senior 65+
12 & under free

Oakland's annual Labor Day Weekend music and dance festival is upon us once again. There will be great music spread all over downtown, but here are my picks for places to be:

Saturday
Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC) Faculty & Friends, 2pm-4:30pm, Oakland's Own Stage (Federal Building Plaza)

The OPC has some real players among their faculty, namely Angela Wellman on trombone and Helena Jack on trumpet. I've not seen them enough to offer key listening insights, but check them out and see if you find their soloing as tasty as I do! As the name implies, they are Oakland's own, and they offer a rare opportunity to see women on the front lines, leading a swingin' jazz ensemble.

Bobby Hutcherson, 4:30pm, Plaza Stage (in front of City Hall)

Hutcherson is an old school vibraphonist with a young man's zeal for performing. I would be remiss not to mention him in my picks. Expect some straight-ahead jazz with some other grooves sprinkled in for variety.

AguaLibre, 4:30pm, Latin Stage - "Cultura Tres Sesenta!" (12th Street & Jefferson)

AguaLibre is one of my all time favorite Bay Area bands. If you've never seen them, don't miss out. The large ensemble is lead by Destani Wolf on vocals and rapper Rico Pabon. I don't want to make it sound like the woman has no skill, but I love Destani b/c she's almost 100% heart. She transmits joy with the best of them, making her one of my favorite artists to see live. And while I am rarely moved my Hip Hop in this way, Rico Pabon is the only MC who has ever made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Again, it's all about positive energy--not to mention the man can flow.

AguaLibre used to be known as O-Maya. They do a mix of Latin/Soul/Funk/Reggae, which may sound like so much that it means very little, but they make it all work like no other band I've seen. For a guaranteed good time, make sure your buns are parked in front of this stage, and expect to shake a tail feather!

Sunday
Fito Reynoso y su Ritmo y Harmonia (Salsa Cubano), 4:30pm, Latin Stage - "Cultura Tres Sesenta!" (12th Street & Jefferson)

This is another band that I have not had enough opportunity to see, but my friend David Frazier plays with them. Frazier is one of few bata masters in the U.S., and a hard core conguero that can hang with the best of them. He also played timbales with Fito at one time, so I'm not sure what instrument he'll be playing. The point is, this band is real deal Cuban music. So if you're looking to show off your salsa moves, but prefer the more traditional Cuban grooves, this is the place to be.

Monday
Plaza Stage (in front of City Hall)
12:25pm Opening Ceremonies/Walter Hawkins & the Unity Mass Choir
2:10pm Love Center Choir
2:30pm Bishop Walter L. Hawkins

The Hawkins Family is considered by many to be the first family in the Contemporary Gospel era, ushered in by Edwin Hawkins' classic, "Oh Happy Day". His brother, Bishop Walter Hawkins, is also one of the great gospel composers/singers, to say nothing of their sister, throw-down, power-house alto, Lynette Hawkins-Stephens. I suspect all will be on hand along with composer, arranger, and counter-tenor extraordinaire, Rusty Watson. Expect the soloists to be sangin' and a wall of sound from what is always one of the best choirs around. Also, when Walter Hawkins really gets going he can hit ridiculously high notes in his tenor range. When he does, notice how the texture of his voice is different than when he sings lower in his range...

Stephanie Mills, 4:30pm, Art & Soul Stage (12th Street & Clay)

Mills may win the award for biggest voice in the smallest body. The woman is fierce with range and tone to die for. I'm sure she'll be singing new selections along with classics such as "Home". Rusty Watson will also be lending his multi-octave range to proceedings. Don't miss this opportunity to to see a contemporary legend live. Word is she gives a great show!

Rare Soul: OMAR @ The DNA Lounge

2008-08-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is a rare opportunity to see what many consider one of the UK's all time great R&B/Soul artists--though he can hardly be put in a strict Soul box. But Omar would be well worth the look even if this wasn't likely to be his only appearance in the Bay Area this year. And don't just take my word for it. "Neo-Soul" lovers might like to know that Erykah Badu and Angie Stone often appear on his albums, and Stevie Wonder is also a fan and collaborator on Omar's latest offering.

Omar is a true musical alchemist. One of my favorite tracks, "Essensual" from the 2001 album "Best By Far", uses a Jazz sample mixed with a Bossa Nova groove. Then there is Omar's characteristic tone laid effortlessly over the top, sounding like your cousin singing along to a Donny Hathaway classic at last summer's family reunion. See what I mean here.

The novel elements found in nearly all his tracks make Omar's music intriguing, yet it remains immediately accessible. For Soul that showcases the music's roots as well as its influence and application on an array of world music, Omar has no equal. Check out his website for more.

Omar
Sunday, August 17th
DNA Lounge
375 Eleventh Street (off Harrison in SF)
8pm-2am
$15 advance, $20 door
(415) 626-1409

19th San Jose Jazz Festival

2008-08-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

The 19th San Jose Jazz Festival is this weekend, August 8th-10th. The cost is $10 per day, $25 for all three days, and children 12 and under are free. For a festival map go here. I've had a look at the line-up and below is just a few words about my picks...

The Jazz Funk All Stars
Saturday, August 9th - 12pm
Main Stage

This band features Tony Lindsay (of Santana fame) and percussionist Walfredo Reyes, Jr. However, I'm suggesting this show simply b/c Dennis Chambers is on drums. His fans consider Chambers the best drummer of all time. Chambers is certainly one of--if not the--baddest Funk/Jazz drummers in history. The man is so nasty, it's as if he disrespects the drums, slapping the cymbals and running around the toms in a blur. The other thing to be mindful of is when he's using his double bass pedal, and when he's not but it sounds like he is. He also likes to toy with the band by taking extended solos where he moves the one. You'll be amused watching the band try and hold a vamp while Chambers moves the time around the them.

The man hails from Paliament/Funkadelic, so rest assured that the pocket is in good hands. This band is going to make you shake a tail feather...

Yosvany Terry
Saturday, August 9th - 4pm
Main Stage

Yosvany is one of the great young saxophonists from Cuba. He is fluent in many styles of music, though I think you can expect a mix of traditional Cuban grooves fused with thoughtful, hard edge Jazz. I don't know who will be touring with him this time, but in short, this is a glimpse at the present and future of Jazz.

John Santos Quintet
Saturday, August 9th - 5pm
Latin Stage

Percussionist John Santos is one of the Bay Area's gems. Always creative and vibrant, you can expect music that will uplift the soul...

George Brooks' Summit f. Zakir Hussain
Sunday, August 10th - 2pm
Main Stage

I almost missed this show, but luckily for us a friend from Boston called and hipped me to the band: master drummer Steve Smith, tabla master Zakir Hussain, guitarist Fareed Haque, and bassist Kai Eckhardt join saxophonist George Brooks. Of this line-up I can vouch for the versatile Steve Smith whose drum technique is flawless. Like many of the great drummers, one can marvel at how much he can do with such little motion. Also, Zakir Hussain is an absolute wonder. I always say that one should never miss an opportunity to see the masters, and Zakir is one for the ages. If you've never seen tablas or other Indian percussion, don't be concerned. You don't have to know anything when you're in the presence of a true master, for they present the undeniable truth.

I've never seen Fareed Haque or Kai Eckhardt but my trusty source tells me these boys can sho' nuff play. This band is going to be ridiculous!

Avance
Sunday, August 10th - 4pm
Salsa Stage

Though I am a lover of Latin music, I am not equally enamoured with Salsa music. I'm more of a traditionalist, preferring a rhumba or a guarija over typical Salsa club music. That said, the best time I ever had at a Salsa club was a night when Avance was playing. These guys are the real deal. And though I didn't have time to verify, this is Karl Perazzo's band (of Santana fame), and so he's likely to be on the gig. In my opinion, Perazzo is the greatest timablero of all time. He is a living master of the instrument who steadily ignites the band with killer fills. He is one of my favorite musicians in that he can transmit energy to the audience through his instrument.

If you're a dancer, this is the one show you can't miss. You'll have to battle the four singers for the best moves on the night!

Josh Jones @ The 850 Cigar Bar

2008-07-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

(Photo by Scott Chernis)

Weeks ago I wanted to write about the Hank Jones gig at Yoshi's this weekend because Hank structures every one of his piano solos like the best bedtime story your grandfather ever told you. Unfortunately, Hank is no longer on the gig. However, Roy Hargrove and Frank Wess are, so Yoshi's may be a good bet this weekend. That said, on to the point of this posting: Josh Jones.

I've posted about Josh before, so I'll copy and paste the previous spiel. But don't go thinking he is in any way perfunctory. Josh is great every time, so if you've got a taste for some good music tonight, there's really only one sure-fire entree on the menu...

Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble
Friday, July 25th
850 Cigar Bar (850 Montgomery Street between Jackson & Pacific in North Beach, SF)
10pm until closing
$7 at the door
(415) 398-0850

As the vast majority of you know by now, Josh Jones is one of my favorite performers and one of the best drummers you'll ever see. If I’m in town and available, I never miss a gig, and every time I remember why: he’s simply beautiful to watch. You can see, feel, and hear him listening to the other musicians, responding to them, and all the while laying a solid groove. Josh's band is my favorite Latin Jazz band in the Bay Area--so much so that I had them play my wedding. You won’t find a better place to be on Saturday night in the city, let alone the mere $7 cover. Further, the 850 Cigar Bar is one of the better, more upscale hangs with room to dance.

If for some reason you've yet to see Josh, don't wait another day!

Stevie Wonder

2008-06-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 5th - Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View
Tuesday, July 8th - Sleep Train Pavillion, Concord

Stevie Wonder is back on tour. If you're wondering if he's still worth seeing, the answer is yes. I saw him last summer and it was a great show. He can still sing better than most anyone in the music business, the band is tight, and you will witness first-hand the quality and variety of his classic repertoire which is rivaled by a precious few.

Stevie Wonder is a master. In my opinion, one should never miss an opportunity to see the masters. Yes, the tickets are expensive, but if you've never seen Stevie Wonder live, it is well worth it.

Josh Jones @ The 850 Cigar Bar

2008-06-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Scott Chernis)

As the vast majority of you know by now, Josh Jones is one of my favorite performers and one of the best drummers you'll ever see. If I’m in town and available, I never miss a gig, and every time I remember why: he’s simply beautiful to watch. You can see, feel, and hear him listening to the other musicians, responding to them, and all the while laying a solid groove. Josh's band is my favorite Latin Jazz band in the Bay Area--so much so that I had them play my wedding. You won’t find a better place to be on Saturday night in the city, let alone the mere $7 cover. Further, the 850 Cigar Bar is one of the better, more upscale hangs with room to dance.

If for some reason you've yet to see Josh, don't wait another day!

Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble
Saturday, June 14th
850 Cigar Bar (850 Montgomery Street between Jackson & Pacific in North Beach, SF)
10pm until closing
$7 at the door
(415) 398-0850

Esperanza Spalding CD Release @ Yoshi's Oakland

2008-06-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 12th
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Yoshi's Oakland (510 Embarcadero West in Jack London Square)
8pm $16 & $10pm $10

Esperanza Spalding is a delight. A year ago I saw her at the Village Vanguard in New York with famed Flamenco guitarist Nino Josele and Cuban drum master Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez. Her playing was nimble and soulful, a mixture of youthful exuberance and evident respect for the bass tradition. In all my show-going I have never witnessed an acoustic bass player dance with the instrument, but Esperanza was one with her bass--and it was beautiful. What is more, the woman can sing! For weeks I went to her MySpace page and listened to her rendition of "Autumn Leaves". And if all that is not enough to get you out to the show, how about supporting a rarity in the world of music: a female bassist!

Expect every number from the 23-year old upstart to be alive, hip, and just a little more than you bargained for. Go here to hear clips from the album.

The List

Support The Jazz & Democracy Project®

**Lalah Hathaway: Effortless Beauty**

Kenny Garrett @ Yoshi's Oakland

Lalah Hathaway @ Oakland Yoshi's

We're Talkin' Jazz #7: Mike Stern & Randy Brecker

The Master Returns: Ahamad Jamal @ Yoshi's Oakland

Geri Allen's Eric Dolphy Tribute @ Yoshi's Oakland

McCoy Tyner @ Yoshi's SF

Susana Baca @ Palace of Fine Arts

We're Talkin' Jazz #6: Jacky Terrasson

We're Talkin' Jazz #5: Tony Lindsay

Fillmore Jazz Festival 2010

Cassandra Willson @ Oakland Yoshi's

Lalah Hathaway @ SF Yoshi's

**Marcus Miller: Speaking Balance & Spirit**

We're Talkin' Jazz #3: Pat Martino

We're Talkin' Jazz #2: Rachelle Ferrell

**Rachelle Ferrell: Principles Without Boundaries**

Terence Blanchard @ SF Yoshi's + We're Talkin' Jazz #1

Susana Baca @ Oakland Yoshi's

SFJAZZ Picks: Spring Season 2010

Poncho Sanchez @ Yoshi's SF

**Anthony Blea: Two Worlds, Four Strings**

**Destani Wolf: Transmitting Love and The Blues**

Roy Hargrove's RH Factor @ Yoshi's SF

Latin Masters @ Oakland Yoshi's

**See With Your Ears: Marcus Shelby Paints The Season Bright**

**Left At Rio: Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge Re-Present Obscured Brazilian Music To The World**

**Ahmad Jamal: A True American Classicist**

Lalah & Joe @ Oakland Yoshi's

Steve Gadd @ SF Yoshi's

**The World In Our Backyard: Orestes Vilató**

**Poncho Sanchez: Soul on the Spot**

**The Unbridled Joy of Rebeca Mauleón**

AguaLibre @ Ashkenaz

Wynton & JALC @ UCB's Zellerbach

Terence Blanchard @ Oakland Yoshi's

Steve Smith and Vital Information @ SF Yoshi's

Dafnis Prieto Si o Si Quartet @ Stanford

The Karriem Riggins Virtuoso Experience @ Oakland Yoshi's

Pharoah Sanders Quartet with Zakir Hussain

**Rare Feet Light Up San Francisco Nights: The Six Limbs of El Negro**

Latin Masters @ SF Yoshi's

Roberta Flack @ Stern Grove

Christian McBride & Inside Straight @ Yoshi's Oakland

Vocal Masters @ Yoshi's Oakland

Joshua Redman @ Yoshi's Oakland

SFJAZZ Spring Season '09

The Master: Stanley Clarke @ Yoshi's Oakland

Richard Bona @ Yoshi's Oakland

The Storyteller: Hank Jones

Long Awaited: Manuel Valera

Josh Jones Weekend

Oakland's Art & Soul Festival

Rare Soul: OMAR @ The DNA Lounge

19th San Jose Jazz Festival

Josh Jones @ The 850 Cigar Bar

Stevie Wonder

Josh Jones @ The 850 Cigar Bar

Esperanza Spalding CD Release @ Yoshi's Oakland

Lalah Hathaway: Effortless Beauty

Marcus Miller: Speaking Balance & Spirit

Rachelle Ferrell: Principles Without Boundaries

Anthony Blea: Two Worlds, Four Strings

Destani Wolf: Transmitting Love and The Blues

See With Your Ears: Marcus Shelby Paints The Season Bright

Left At Rio: Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge Re-Present Obscured Brazilian Music To The World

Ahmad Jamal: A True American Classicist

The World In Our Backyard: Orestes Vilató

Poncho Sanchez: Soul on the Spot

The Unbridled Joy of Rebeca Mauleón

Rare Feet Light Up San Francisco Nights: The Six Limbs of El Negro