Jazz Dog

Jazz in the Neighborhood

ART • EQUITY • ACCESS

ART • EQUITY • ACCESS

Edward Simon Trio

Friday, May 18, 8:00 pm at San Francisco Community Music Center

Pianist Edward Simon – a native of Venezuela who has made a name for himself over decades in America as a jazz pianist, bandleader and composer-arranger, along with being a Guggenheim Fellow and member of the hit SFJAZZ Collective – has created fresh, supple interpretations of melodies from all over Latin America. His latest album Latin American Songbook won him an NAACP Image Awards for ‘Outstanding Jazz Album’. For this performance, Simon’s trio features two of the most distinguished players from the Bay Area: drummer Alan Hall and bassist Peter Barshay, whose subtly virtuosic performances brim with lyricism, color and groove.

The New York Times has praised Simon’s “light, warm touch” as a pianist, while the Jazz Journal International singled out “his deep emotional statements.” Listen to samples of Simon’s latest album here.

Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street, San Francisco
$18 advance / $20 day of show / $10 students & seniors

The Actual Trio

Wednesday, April 25, 7:30 pm at  California Jazz Conservatory

The Actual Trio is a vehicle for the compositions of iconoclastic Bay Area guitarist John Schott (Junk Genius, T.J. Kirk). Bassist Dan Seamans (New Klezmer Trio, Lost Trio), and drummer John Hanes (Henry Kaiser, Victor Krummenacher) provide the foundation for Schott’s adventurous-but-accessible compositions, marrying deep pockets and joyful swing to wayward harmonies and spontaneous excursions. Ranging from joyful tributes to Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz and the Golden State Warriors to an anguished response to the 2016 election, the Actual Trio’s recent release Act II solidifies and deepens their singular identity.

About the Actual Trio, John writes: “I think trios thrive on independence and improvised conversation, so Dan, John and I always prioritize being in the moment and making it new. But we start from my compositions, which can get quite involved. My touchstones for this trio are Ellington in trio settings, Monk, Ahmad Jamal, and Horace Silver, while at the same time acknowledging that I play an electric guitar, not a piano. There is a much deeper tradition in jazz of piano trios rather than guitar trios. The way they orchestrated their compositions, each instrument playing parts, each group having its own distinctive groove, placing the beat just so, voicing chords just so. The directness, the concision, the simplicity, and the pride of rhythm sections.”

Jazz in the Neighborhood’s Wednesday night series at CJC is presented with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Photo credit: Myles Boisen

Dann Zinn Quartet: The Art of Saxophone

Thursday, April 26, 7:30pm at Piedmont Center for the Arts

The Dann Zinn Quartet features Dann Zinn on saxophone, Glen Pearson on piano, Jeff Chambers on bass, and Leon Joyce, Jr. on drums. This eclectic group will play work newly written for this concert as well as original compositions from Zinn’s critically acclaimed recordings. Renowned for his passion, fire, and the haunting melodies that create a pure and accessible sound, Zinn’s music has given him the reputation of being  “a game changer” who is taking jazz to new directions. The virtuosity of the playing and the creative output from this band makes them one of the Bay Area’s best.

Piedmont Center for the Arts, 801 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont
$20 advance / $25 day of show / $5 student rush

Erik Jekabson Quintet

Wednesday, May 2, 7:30 pm at Rendon Hall at the California Jazz Conservatory

The Erik Jekabson Quintet performs original music by trumpeter Erik Jekabson.  The band plays modern jazz with funk, fusion and latin jazz influences.  Much of the music is groove-oriented and has lyrical melodies, but it also has modern and sophisticated harmonies. In addition to Jekabson, the band features Dave Ellis (saxophones), Dave MacNab (guitar), John Wiitala (bass), and David Flores (drums).

Erik has six CDs out under his own name: his most recent album is “Erik Jekabson Quintet” (2017) on the Wide Hive Record Label. Erik also co-produced and played on four other recordings which are widely available: The Electric Squeezebox Orchestra’s “The Falling Dream” and “Cheap Rent”, “Vista: the Arrival” and “New World Funk Ensemble”. He’s recorded as a sideman on numerous other jazz recordings, as well as doing session work in many other genres of music and on movie and video game soundtracks. He’s spent time on the road with Illinois Jacquet, John Mayer, Galactic, and the Howard Fishman Quartet, and has performed at such notable venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Algonquin Room, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Madison Square Garden, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman. When Erik Jekabson isn’t playing and composing, he’s teaching a wide variety of students and running the Young Musicians Program at the California Jazz Conservatory.

Jazz in the Neighborhood’s Wednesday night series at CJC is presented with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Rendon Hall at the California Jazz Conservatory

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Let’s Call This – Anderson/Mezzacappa/Modirzadeh

Wednesday, May 9, 7:30 pm at Rendon Hall at the California Jazz Conservatory

LET’S CALL THIS is a new meeting of three improviser-composers who have developed singular voices as longtime members of the Bay Area creative jazz community. Saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh joins bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and drummer Vijay Anderson to explore original compositions, structured improvisations, and conceptual flights, born from a shared sense of curiosity and possibility. Modirzadeh is known for developing a unique poly-tempered approach to jazz based on the music of Iran. Anderson composes tightly knit music with interweaving melodic lines and a driving momentum. Mezzacappa’s compositions combine asymmetrical grooves with sonic abstractions and free zones of exploration. This performance is a special opportunity to hear the debut of this inventive and adventurous new trio.

Vijay Anderson is a freelance drummer, bandleader, composer, and teacher based in Oakland, California. He has performed and recorded with LA-based multi-instrumentalists Lynn Johnston and Vinny Golia; Bay Area composer/performers Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown, Graham Connah, Darren Johnston, Smith Dobson V, Lisa Mezzacappa, Aaron Bennett, Ava Mendoza, Hafez Modirzadeh, and saxophonist Marco Eneidi. He has worked extensively with Brooklyn bassist Adam Lane as part of Lane’s Full Throttle Orchestra, the Adam Lane Trio, and Adam Lane’s Blue Spirit Band. Anderson has composed and performed original scores for filmmakers Jeff Kao and Tim Hicks, as well as for projects by the Facing East Dance Company. He leads the Vijay Anderson Quartet, the Touch and Go Sextet, and the Silverscreen Sextet.

Lisa Mezzacappa is a Berkeley­-based composer, bassist, and bandleader. Called “one of the most imaginative figures on the Bay Area creative jazz scene” by The Mercury News and “a Bay Area treasure” by KQED, she has been an active part of California’s music community for more than 15 years. Mezzacappa writes music for groups from duo to large ensemble, acoustic and electric, and has collaborated with film, dance, sculpture and installation art. Recent projects include ORGANELLE, a chamber suite for improvisers; Glorious Ravage, an evening-length song cycle for large ensemble and films; and TOUCH BASS, a collaboration with choreographer Risa Jaroslow for three dancers and three bassists. avantNOIR, a suite of compositions for jazz sextet, was released on Clean Feed records in 2017 and earned 4 1/2 stars in Downbeat Magazine.

Saxophonist/theorist Hafez Modirzadeh has performed, recorded, published and lectured internationally on original cross-cultural musical concepts which include “Convergence Liberation” (in Critical Studies in Improvisation, 2011), “Compost Music” (in Leonardo, 2009), “Aural Archetypes” (in Black Music Research, 2001), as well as “Chromodality” (for Wesleyan University, 1992). Twice an NEA Jazz Fellow, Modirzadeh received a Senior Fulbright Award in 2006 to work with Flamenco and Gnawan traditions in Andalucia and Morocco, and again in 2014, to research Turkish Makam harmonization in Ankara. He is a Professor of Creative/World Music at San Francisco State University.

WATCH:

For more information about the artists, visit their sites:

Hafez Modirzadeh – Vijay Anderson – Lisa Mezzacappa

 

Kat Parra Latin World Ensemble

Friday, May, 11 at 6pm, Copperfield’s Books in San Rafael

Kat Parra is an award-winning jazz vocal musician, composer, lyricist and arranger with an international perspective. In 2006, she quit her job as a graphic designer at Cisco Systems, Inc. to pursue her passion for music and she’s never looked back. Since then she has performed in Amsterdam, Brazil and Mexico as well as top-tier venues throughout the United States, earned the designation of “Best Latin Jazz Vocalist of 2010 and 2008” by Latin Jazz Corner, and received a 2008 nomination for “Latin Jazz Album of the Year” from the Jazz Journalists Association. She has created an engaging and unique repertoire with fresh and exciting new arrangements. Kat is as comfortable singing the American songbook as she is singing songs from across Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond. She sings fluently in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Ladino (Judeo-Espanyol).

Kat is celebrating the release of her 5th CD as a leader, SONGBOOK OF THE AMÉRICAS. In addition to Parra’s original music and lyrics, the CD pays tribute to women composers from North, Central and South America. With this multi-lingual and multi-musical experience, Kat Parra is able to transport her audiences to an exciting and vibrant journey of world and latin music.

Joining Kat Parra for this event will be Murray Low (piano), Masaru Koga (woodwinds), David Belove (bass), and Dan Foltz (drums).

Watch Kat in performance here.

This free concert is a collaboration between Jazz in the Neighborhood and Copperfield’s Books, which provides use of their space. Though there is no income from ticket sales, Jazz in the Neighborhood pays each musician a guaranteed fair wage. The concerts are made possible through contributions from our JITN membership, audience members, and sponsors such as the Magic Flute and Bananas at Large.

Charged Particles

Friday, April 27, 5:30 pm at Marin Country Mart

Murray Low, keyboards — Aaron Germain, acoustic and electric bass — Jon Krosnick, drums

A trio that plays a signature blend of funky, Latin, and swinging original jazz.

This is a Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund event where each musician will be paid $150 in advance, regardless of ticket sales. Jazz in then Neighborhood makes this possible by subsidizing 40% of their pay. Marin Country Mart guarantees the rest. For tickets and other information, please contact Marin Country Mart.

Marin Country Mart — 2257 Larkspur Landing Circle

Dima and the Al Molina Quartet

Sunday, April 8, 4:30pm at Bird & Beckett

Dima Birich, vocals  – Al Molina, trumpet — Larry Chinn, piano — Ron Belcher, bass

Trumpeter Al Molina and Dima blend their two voices presenting a repertoire and style paying tribute to Chet Baker and his musical works.  Covering music associated with Chet Baker from his beginnings in the early 1950s to his death in 1988, this ensemble showcases through music and lyric an etching of the feeling and the aura of the post-World War II/Korean War era when romance and melancholia filled the air.

This is a Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund event where each musician will be paid $150 in advance, regardless of ticket sales. Jazz in then Neighborhood makes this possible by subsidizing 40% of their pay. Bird & Beckett and the Jazz Philanthropists Union guarantees the rest. For tickets and other information, please contact Bird & Beckett.

Bird & Beckett — 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco

Real Vocal String Quartet

Thursday, March 29, 7:30pm at Piedmont Center for the Arts

Real Vocal String Quartet has been performing and recording for the last decade as a singing string quartet/string band. This year the group unveils a new line up and format with two five-string violins, cello and string bass, who are founder Irene Sazer, Sumaia Jackson, Helen Newby and Sam Shuhan respectively. The group writes and sings original compositions inspired by a multitude of genres, mixing fiddle tunes, jazz tunes, classical lyricism, pop rhythms and world styles. The evening will feature a sneak preview of pieces created under the auspices of their Gerbode Special Award in the Arts grant, including eight new pieces that are collaborations with artists from eight of San Francisco’s sister cities.

Piedmont Center for the Arts, 801 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont
$20 advance / $25 day of show / $5 student rush

Ratatat

Friday, April 20, 7:30 pm at Art Boutiki

Paul Hanson, bassoon and sax — John Gove, trombone — Dillon Vado, vibes — Greg Sankovich, keyboards — Jeff Denson, basses and vocals — Alan Hall, drums

This is a Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund event where each musician will be paid $150 in advance, regardless of ticket sales. Jazz in then Neighborhood makes this possible by subsidizing 40% of their pay. Art Boutiki guarantees the rest. For tickets and other information, please contact Art Boutiki.

Art Boutiki — 44 Race Street, San Jose

Montclair Women’s Big Band

Friday, April 20, 8pm at Community Music Center

The Montclair Women’s Big Band is a Bay Area treasure. Founded in 1997 by veteran trumpeter Ellen Seeling and saxophonist Jean Fineberg, the group is an alliance of some of the region’s most formidable jazz women. Forging a singular blues-drenched sound with a deep Latin pocket and captivating original material, audiences are electrified by the band’s powerhouse ensemble, addictive grooves and inspired solos. This extraordinary swing machine will blow you away!

Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street, San Francisco
$18 advance / $20 day of show / $10 students & seniors

Cosa Nostra Strings, featuring Shaina Evoniuk

Wednesday, March 28, 7:30pm at California Jazz Conservatory

Cosa Nostra Strings, a project the Jazz Mafia collective, specializes in original hybrid-crossover music. Ranging from acoustic heavy metal to power ballads and everything in between, they utilize their unique instrumentation of cello, viola, violin, trombone, bass, and percussion to the fullest extent.  Co-led by Jazz Mafia founder Adam Theis on trombone and violinist Shaina Evoniuk, the quintet is formed by violist Keith Lawrence, cellist Lewis Patzner, and drummer Aaron Kierbel. This powerhouse crew features conservatory-trained classical musicians who bring a provocative, precise, punk-rock personality to a highly distinguished multi-style sound.

Violinist Tessa Schwartz will be appearing as Jazz in the Neighborhood’s Emerging Artist. Although still in middle school, Miss Schwartz is already a recognized bluegrass fiddler with three CD credits, and she fronts an all-girl, all-teen bluegrass band called North Country Blue.  She has performed in Jazz School workshops, including Joe Bagale’s High School Funk Ensemble, for several years, and hopes to be part of the Berkeley High School jazz scene starting this Fall.

This event is a CD release for Hitwoman Honey, Evoniuk’s debut album as a solo artist, composer and band leader, which follows on the heels of her successful career as an in-demand string arranger and side woman.

Jazz in the Neighborhood presents its Wednesday night series at CJC with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Rendon Hall in the Fiddler Annex, 2040 Addison St. Berkeley

Tiffany Austin

Wednesday, April 4, 7:30 pm at  California Jazz Conservatory

Vocalist Tiffany Austin’s tradition-rooted yet totally modern style has established her as one of the fastest rising jazz stars in Northern California. Before earning a law degree at U.C. Berkeley, she’d performed on three continents—around her native Los Angeles while attending college, then for a year in England, and eventually for five and a half years in Tokyo. However, instead of taking the bar exam, she decided instead to devote her life to her first love—music.

For this event Austin will be accompanied by Adam Shulman on piano, Ron Belcher, bass, and Leon Joyce, Jr. at the drums. The Jazz in the Neighborhood Emerging Artist will be Tai-Ge Min, a young vocalist whose styles include blues and gospel as well as jazz; plus she’s a funk and jazz drummer.

Jazz in the Neighborhood presents its Wednesday night series at CJC with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Anne Sajdera Quintet

Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 pm at California Jazz Conservatory

Anne Sajdera is a pianist, composer, and bandleader, whose music encompasses an unusually far-flung array of traditions. With musical roots spanning the globe, she melds American and Brazilian jazz with her training in European classical music to create an utterly personal sound that’s melodically verdant, harmonically sophisticated and rhythmically compelling. Her new CD is a explores the  modern jazz quintet  and features two award-winning young composer/instrumentalists from the Czech Republic, Miroslav Hloucal (trumpet) and Jan Fečo (alto sax) as well as some of the finest musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area.

The quintet for this event are Mike Olmos, trumpet; Lyle Link, alto sax; Anne Sajdera, piano;  Aaron Germain, bass; and Deszon Claiborne, drums.  The ensemble will perform original compositions, driving arrangements of traditional Roma melodies, and the music of modern jazz masters like Herbie Hancock & Kenny Kirkland.  At times lyrical, at times angular, yet always filled with the beauty of rhythm, this ensemble reveals a skillful and inspiring sound that reaches musically across two continents and several cultures.

Jazz in the Neighborhood presents its Wednesday night series at CJC with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Rendon Hall in the Fiddler Annex, 2040 Addison St. Berkeley

Ono, Link, Keys & Tana

Wednesday, April 11, 7:30pm at California Jazz Conservatory

Swinging, unadulterated, classic jazz standards and blues at its best played by Hammond jazz organist Midori Ono along with the legendary guitarist Calvin Keys, saxophonist Lyle Link, and drummer Akira Tana.

Jazz in the Neighborhood presents its Wednesday night series at CJC with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Rendon Hall in the Fiddler Annex, 2040 Addison St. Berkeley

Akira Tana with Midori Ono and Jeff Massanari

Monday, April 16, 7:30 pm at Cafe Pink House

Midori Ono, organ — Jeff Massanari, guitar — Akira Tana, drums

Midori Ono, a veteran jazz organist from Nara, Japan, is the featured artist for this trio performance. They’ll be playing jazz standards and originals that are associated with the Hammond B3 organ style of Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, Rhoda Scott, Trudy Pitts, and Jimmy McGriff, among others.

This is a Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund event where each musician will be paid $150 in advance, regardless of ticket sales. Jazz in then Neighborhood makes this possible by subsidizing 40% of their pay. Cafe Pink House guarantees the rest. For tickets and other information, please contact Cafe Pink House.

Cafe Pink House — 14577 Big Basin Way, Saratoga

Jazz Hands

Friday, April 13, 6pm at Copperfield’s Books, San Rafael

The Jazz Hands play original interpretations of jazz and great American songbook standards in a straight ahead jazz style but in an instrumental format that can’t be described as standard or straight ahead. With the inclusion of electro-acoustic mandolin along with drums, bass, and guitar, the Hands bring a new twist that provides a tonal color rarely heard in mainstream jazz. Leader Tom Bekeny is helping unlock the jazz potential of mandolin and is among the very few mandolinists today playing in an authentic mainstream jazz style. His bandmates are Greg Reginato, guitar; Bill Lanphier, bass; and Eric Thompson, drums.

This free concert is a collaboration between Jazz in the Neighborhood and Copperfield’s Books, which provides use of their space. Though there is no income from ticket sales, Jazz in the Neighborhood pays each musician a guaranteed fair wage. The concerts are made possible through contributions from our JITN membership, audience members, and sponsors such as the Magic Flute and Bananas at Large.

No admission charge — Copperfield’s Books 850 4th St. San Rafael

Ian Carey’s Takoyaki 4

Saturday, March 24, 7:30pm at Bird & Beckett

Ian Carey, trumpet — James Mahone, saxophone — Adam Shulman, organ — Evan Hughes, drums

Ian Carey’s Takoyaki 4 is a streamlined, street-food-style version of his successful Quintet+1.  The group will be performing a mix of original compositions by members of the group, including music from Carey’s 4-1/2 star Downbeat-rated album  Roads & Codes, plus selected jazz rarities.

This is a Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund event where each musician will be paid $150 in advance, regardless of ticket sales. Jazz in then Neighborhood makes this possible by subsidizing 40% of their pay. Bird & Beckett and the Jazz Philanthropists Union guarantees the rest. For tickets and other information, please contact Bird & Beckett.

Bird & Beckett — 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco

Susan Sutton Trio

Friday, March 23, 5:30 pm at Marin Country Mart

Susan Sutton, piano, — Piro Patton, bass — Kendrick Freeman, drums

The Susan Sutton Trio is a marvel of melodic invention and subtle interplay in the classic piano trio format, with the added feature of Ms. Sutton’s swinging vocals. Performing the standard jazz repertoire along with original compositions by Sutton and  those of the  famed pianist and composer Bryce Rohdes, the trio provides great textural and dynamic variety and is always highly listenable.

This is a Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund event where each musician will be paid $150 in advance, regardless of ticket sales. Jazz in then Neighborhood makes this possible by subsidizing 40% of their pay. Marin Country Mart guarantees the rest. For tickets and other information, please contact Marin Country Mart.

Marin Country Mart at 2257 Larkspur Landing Circle

Rowe / Hainsworth Quartet

Wednesday, March 21, 7:30pm at California Jazz Conservatory

Simon Rowe, piano — Jason Hainsworth, sax — John Wiitala, bass — Akira Tana, drums

The director and assistant director of the Roots, Jazz and American Music program at San Francisco Conservatory of Music join forces to head this quartet. In addition to being educators, they are of course fine jazz musicians with Mr. Hainsworth being a composer/arranger as well.

Percussionist Amelie Hinman will sit in as the Emerging Artist. Hinman is a student in the SFCM Roots, Jazz and American Music program and studies under Carlos Caro and Jake Nissly.

Jazz in the Neighborhood presents its Wednesday night series at CJC with financial support from AFM Musicians Union Local 6.

Tickets available through the CJC box office or at the door.
$20 general admission / $10 full-time students

Rendon Hall in the Fiddler Annex, 2040 Addison St. Berkeley

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Address:
P.O. Box 629, Fairfax, CA 94978

Phone:
415-737-JITN (5486)

Email:
info@jazzintheneighborhood.org