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Guides to live music (musicians, jazz clubs, etc.) in the San Francisco Bay Area:

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

SF Bay Area

Wycliffe Gordon with Special Guest Lavay Smith at Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, 8/4

Written by Ronaldo Oregano
Wycliffe Gordon and Lavay Smith Wycliffe Gordon will have a special guest on Saturday, August 4th when he performs in the “Jazz at the Lesher Center” concert series. Lavay Smith, internationally acclaimed jazz and blues crooner, will join Gordon for both his 5pm and 8pm shows. Smith is an internationally recognized Diva of Jazz and Blues, with a singing style influenced by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith, Little Esther Phillips and other legendary greats. Wycliffe Gordon has been touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz receiving great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his exceptional technique and signature sound, has solidified Gordon a place in musical history known as one of the top trombonists of his generation. Tickets are still available for the 5:00 performance, the 8:00 performance is sold out, but limited tickets may be available at the door.
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Sugar Pie DeSanto and Kim Nalley Tribute to Etta James at the Rrazz Roomin San Francisco

Written by Ronaldo Oregano

Etta James

The Grammy-nominated vocalist Kim Nalley possesses a range that spans nearly four octaves, one of many reasons for the critical acclaim that she has garnered throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Kim Nalley can go from operatic to gritty blues on a dime, projection that can whisper a ballad yet is capable of filling a room with no microphone, and has the ability to scat blistering solos without ever losing the crowd's interest or the intense swing. Dubbed “Queen of the West Coast Blues”, Sugar Pie DeSanto's first single was purchased by Chess Records after it became a regional hit. Chess offered Sugar Pie a contract and she spent the next seven years in the Chicago writing hit tunes for Little Milton, The Dells, Minnie Ripperton and many others including her cousin Etta James. Sugar Pie and Etta duetted on two recordings for Chess, "Do I Make Myself Clear" and In "The Basement". Nalley and SDeSanto with special guests Lady Mem'Fis, Angela Strehli and Denise Perrier will play the Rrazz Room at the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 18th at 8:00 p.m. and then Kim Nalley continues performances nightly through Sunday, Juy22nd.

Written by Ronaldo Oregano

"The format belongs to the Modern Jazz Quartet. The elegance injected with a spiritual groove belongs uniquely to the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group." - Andrea Canter, Jazz Police

Joe Locke and Geoffrey Keezer

The Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society will present a performance by the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group performance on Sunday, July 8th at 4:30 p.m. at the Douglas Beach House at 307 Mirada Road, Half Moon Bay. The Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group have recently reunited and released a new CD: "Signing" [click here for a Jazz Police review ]. On vibraphone, Joe Locke is a worthy successor to past vibe masters Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson. His releases over the past two decades, first as a sideman, then as leader, showcase his talent for playing with both lyrical beauty and incredible speed. Geoffrey Keezer was a piano prodigy who joined Art Blakey's famed Jazz Messengers at the tender age of 17. He has worked with virtually all of the living legends of jazz and has appeared on countless recordings both as a leader and as a side man. Geoffrey Keezer’s latest adventure, ÁUREA, is a groundbreaking recording of folkloric South American music mixed with Jazz, and was nominated for a 2009 GRAMMY award in the "Best Latin Jazz Album" category [click here for a Jazz Police review]. The Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group features Joe Locke on vibes, Geoffrey Keezer on piano, Mike Pope on bass, Terreon Gully on drums.